Yesterday, the Department for Education published guidance ‘to provide information on how primary schools can use flexibility to welcome back additional pupils this term’. The guidance states: ‘It is up to schools to decide which pupils to prioritise, based on their knowledge of their children and communities’.
Welcoming back additional pupils
‘It is up to schools to decide which pupils to prioritise…’ That’s good – that’s what we’ve been trying to do since the government announced that schools should begin to open more widely for pupils.
We’ve been planning carefully to manage increasing numbers in a safe way: while responding the the government’s goal for children in Early Years, Year 1 and Year 6 to return, we’ve also welcomed back more children of key workers, and we’ve also invited individuals from other year groups who might be considered vulnerable in some way.
Regrettably, because we’d already decided which additional pupils to prioritise ahead of yesterday’s guidance, our schools are already close to capacity. If you’re at home with your child and are really struggling in some way, please do get in touch.
A word of caution…
The guidance published yesterday states primary schools with extra capacity can welcome back pupils from any year groups. This is despite education secretary Gavin Williamson telling Parliament last week he was working on a ‘priority’ list for schools of which pupils to welcome back first. This is an example of the confusing messages coming from government.
The current situation means that plans and messages often change. However, please be cautious about the messages coming from government just now:
- they sometimes change, they sometimes get dropped (as appears to be the case with Gavin Williamson’s priority list), and they sometimes don’t match reality
- they don’t appear to stem from working closely with school leaders – certainly, we don’t hear things before you do
- there is a danger that they create false hope and mislead parents as to what is deliverable
The government has previously announced initiatives that haven’t quite lived up to the message: free laptops for disadvantaged home learners haven’t been delivered yet; free school meal vouchers didn’t work like they should leaving families not able to pay for their food at supermarket checkouts; and – one affecting us all – the prime minister’s ambition for all pupils to return for the last few weeks of the school year. Most recently, the prime minister has announced a ‘summer catch-up scheme‘ – let’s hope this is realistic, well-thought-through, and can actually happen.