Summer camps for schoolchildren are being planned to take the strain off working parents as ministers admit the REAL academic ‘catch-up’ won’t start until classes begin in September
- The Government will announce plans for summer camps later this week
- They will offer art, sport and general well-being instead of English or maths
- A poll suggests 88 per cent of secondary schools expect to welcome pupils on Monday
Summer camps are being planned to help ease the pressure on working parents as government ministers admit that children won’t be able to catch up academically until September.
Plans set to be announced later this week by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson will outline activities offered by the camps such as art, sport and general well-being as opposed to subjects such as reading and writing.
This will come alongside an explanation into how schools will reopen in September.
However, responding to Boris Johnson’s promised academic ‘catch up’ the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers Paul Whiteman, said that politicians need to engage properly with school leaders, according to The Times.
Summer camps are being planned by the Government to help ease the pressure on working parents (stock photo)
Responding to Boris Johnson’s announcement of a ‘summer of catch up’ general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers Paul Whiteman (pictured) said: ‘The government has rushed to announce headline grabbing policies without properly engaging with the profession first’
He pointed out the existing recruitment crisis for teachers and said that social distancing and the coronavirus pandemic will not improve the situation.
He said: ‘As with the announcement that all children would return to primary school before the summer, the government has rushed to announce headline grabbing policies without properly engaging with the profession first.’
Mr Whiteman also plans to create a campaign to encourage retired teachers to step up and help schools over the summer.
Secondary schools are set to reopen on Monday for the first time since lockdown was enforced with years 10 and 12 the first to be welcomed back.
The camps would focus on activities such as arts, sports and general well-being rather than maths and English (stock photo)
Pupils will operate under a one-day-a-week system with only a quarter of classes being present at any one time.
A poll conducted by the ASCL said 88 per cent of secondary schools expect to reopen on Monday but their head, Geoff Barton, has called for a national education recovery plan to be published after he was left out of discussions for September’s planned re-openings.
More than 62 per cent of school and college leaders said they plan to admit all eligible pupils, other than those who are shielding or self-isolating, from next week.
But 26 per cent of the 833 school and college heads polled said they do not expect to bring in all eligible pupils, as a proportion of parents have already indicated that they do not plan to send their children in.
Around 70 per cent of primary schools are now open but many have chosen to only bring back certain year groups.
Earlier this week Gavin Williamson announced that government plans to bring all primary school pupils back before summer had been dropped.
This came after social distancing rules made it impossible for schools to accommodate all school children.
The Education Secretary has encouraged larger schools to bring back as many pupils as they can safely manage.