coronavirus | Schools Week

Edenred’s national voucher scheme contract worth up to £234m, new documents reveal

The company running the government’s free school meal national voucher scheme was aware before its launch that as many as 1.3 million children may need vouchers, new documents reveal. The disclosure challenges ministers’ claims that the national scheme was overwhelmed because of “unprecedented demand”, leaving families going weeks without support. This poses some important questions […]

Coronavirus: DfE seeks more online education resources to promote

The Department for Education has launched a consultation process to identify more online education resources that it can promote to schools and parents. It follows the publication around a month ago of a list of online education resources, hosted by the DfE on its Gov.uk website. Now the Department says it is “reviewing and updating” […]

83% of heads say inability to implement social distancing would prevent pupils’ return

More than four in five headteachers believe the inability to implement “appropriate” social distancing measures in schools would prevent them from opening to more pupils. A survey of members of the National Association of Head Teachers reveals 83 per cent believe the difficulties associated with social distancing in schools could stand in the way of […]

Coronavirus: ‘Very real risk’ of spike if schools open too early, say teaching unions

The leaders of England’s two largest teaching unions have come together with others from across the UK and Ireland to urge “significant caution” over plans to reopen schools. Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the National Education Union, and Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, are among […]

Coronavirus: 6 key findings from the Sutton Trust’s research on university applications

More than two in five A-level pupils believe the assessment system in place this year will adversely affect their grades, while almost half believe the Covid-19 crisis will hit their chances of getting into their first-choice university. Social mobility charity The Sutton Trust polled pupils studying for their A-levels this year, and found many were […]

Coronavirus: Government must say why it wants to reopen schools, say heads

The government must explain why it wants to reopen schools in order to build “confidence and agreement” in its plans, headteachers have said. Leadership union ASCL has published a summary of its members’ responses to questions posed by the Department for Education about the reopening of schools. The document reveals the government is considering plans […]

Get creative to thank school stars, says campaign

A national campaign is urging pupils and their families to get creative and thank the school stars who are “working tirelessly in incredibly difficult circumstances”. Thank a Teacher, launched this week, aims to celebrate staff who go above and beyond. Using the hashtags #HowWillYouSayThankYou and #ThankATeacher, pupils are asked to come up with creative messages […]

Did the government take its eye off the ball on pandemic planning?

In 2008, the DfE produced detailed guidance on how to continue learning if schools closed due to a pandemic. But when Covid-19 hit, the government stood accused of being unprepared to ensure youngsters can learn at home. So, what happened? Twelve years ago the government published a plan of action to be taken by schools […]

Coronavirus: David Ross Education Trust furloughs dozens of staff

Dozens of staff at one of England’s largest academy trusts are to be furloughed on full pay, Schools Week has learned. The David Ross Education Trust, founded by millionaire Tory donor and Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross, claims it is only furloughing staff “whose roles are funded by the external income that we rely upon to fund […]