All schools in England are going back from 8 March, the prime minister has confirmed, with schools able to decide a phased return during that week.
There will be mass Covid testing in secondary schools - with parents expected to carry out the testing at home, after three tests in school.
Home testing for secondary pupils will be twice weekly - but with no testing so far planned for primary.
Face masks will also be required in some secondary school classrooms.
The Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set out his "roadmap" for the return to school from 8 March, with individual schools able to organise how different year groups go back during that first week.
Attendance will be compulsory when schools go back, with penalty fines able to be imposed.
"All the evidence shows that classrooms are the best places for our young people to be," Mr Johnson told MPs.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said "the priority must be for all children to be back in school as quickly as possible and to stay in school".
But Geoff Barton, leader of the ASCL head teachers' union, warned that getting all pupils back at the same time "runs the risk of increasing the rate of infection and prolonging the damaging cycle of stop-start schooling".
Testing and masks
After three Covid tests in secondary school and one home test, there will be twice-weekly tests carried out by parents and carers at home.
The tests are voluntary and will operate "based on trust", officials said.
But it remains uncertain how parents will feel about carrying out the lateral flow tests, which are usually swab tests, taking a sample from the back of the throat and from the nose.
Schools will continue to provide some testing facilities for those children whose parents might not be able to carry out testing.
When schools return face masks will be required in some secondary classrooms.
The Department for Education said there would be a requirement to "wear face coverings indoors, including classrooms, where social distancing cannot be maintained".
Starting date
Schools will be able to make their own decisions about how the return will be organised, with discretion over a phased return for the first week, such as the whether some year groups are brought back earlier.
An alliance of teachers' and head teachers' unions had warned that sending back 10 million children and school staff at the same time was "reckless" and risked triggering a fresh wave of infections.
Head teachers raised a specific concern about the logistics of Covid testing - saying that in a secondary school with more than a thousand pupils it will take some time to ensure that all pupils have been tested before they are able to safely mix with other pupils.
Head teachers' union leader Geoff Barton warned it could take two weeks to get all pupils back in class.
Catch-up classes
Another £300m has been added to the £1bn catch-up funding announced last year, in recognition of the amount of time pupils will have missed in school.
There will be announcements on how this is likely to be spent, such as on summer clubs, tutoring, after-school lessons, activities and sports.
A school catch-up tsar, Sir Kevan Collins, has been appointed to lead on this recovery, with particular concerns about the biggest negative impact falling on the most disadvantaged.
Exams
Cancelled GCSEs and A-levels are going to be replaced by teachers' grades, with more details expected on Thursday.
There will be "mini-exams" which are intended to "inform" the judgements made by teachers, rather than be used to decide results.
The mini-exams will be marked by teachers within schools and are likely to be options for schools to use to assess pupils, rather than being compulsory.
Results could be published earlier than usual, allowing more time for appeals ahead of university admissions.
Vocational exams are also expected to use teachers' grades, but with different arrangements for qualifications requiring practical skills.
Schools back in Scotland and Wales
- In Scotland, younger primary pupils have gone back to school, along with some exam year students in secondary school. A wider reopening has yet to be decided.
- In Wales, younger primary years have also returned on Monday - with older primary pupils set to go back on 15 March if Covid levels continue to fall.
- In Northern Ireland, younger primary pupils will return to classrooms on 8 March.
Universities
These have remained open for students taking hands-on subjects, such as medicine, while other courses have switched online.
But no date has been decided for when most other courses will return to face-to-face teaching.
The prime minister said a decision would be announced by the end of the Easter holidays, which would also be around the end of April, with students promised at least a week's notice of any return to in-person teaching on campus.
A number of universities have already announced they will stay online for most courses for the rest of the academic year.
"back" - Google News
February 22, 2021 at 10:53PM
https://ift.tt/3aHx1wE
Schools back 8 March in England with Covid tests taken at home - BBC News
"back" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2QNOfxc
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Schools back 8 March in England with Covid tests taken at home - BBC News"
Post a Comment