Summer schools or repeat the whole year: six realistic ways our kids could catch up

The Prime Minister’s number-one priority is to get schools fully open again on March 8. While that may sound tricky in itself, a far more difficult target is to make sure that all children catch up on the education they have lost in the past year. 

Last year, more than 575 million school days were missed. No wonder, on a visit to a vaccination centre in West Yorkshire, Mr Johnson said repairing any damage caused to children’s education was the “biggest challenge” for the Government and he was “lost in admiration” at the efforts of parents homeschooling their children.

We know from the Government’s own figures that in the autumn term alone when schools were open, many children were forced to miss time due to self-isolation at home.

The range was considerable:  primary school children in England lost 3.5 days of schooling on average (although in urban areas such as Manchester that increased to more than six). Secondary school pupils were affected more, losing about 6.3 days of face-to-face schooling, on average, but more than 10 days in some areas.  Parts of Lancashire saw children lose about 13 days on average - almost three weeks of school time.

Making the picture even more complex, according to the Education Policy Institute (EPI), is a clear line between areas where most school time was lost and places which record lower GCSE results in normal times such as Oldham and Rochdale. Areas experiencing higher levels of disadvantage have also seen greater days of lost schooling per pupil, both amongst primary and secondary schools, with some exceptions including Islington. 

Anne Longfield, the children’s commissioner for England, said last week that the education deficit caused by school closures could require a five year catch-up programme. “As this goes on,” she said, “we are talking about a cohort of children that probably, for the next three to five years, will need that kind of consideration of the loss they’ve had.”

So how can the Government make a difference to level up quality and quantity of lost learning? Here are some possible plans:

Summer school

Last week, the PM said that a further £300 million of new funding will be given to schools for catch-up tutoring with a particular interest in developing summer schools to help children make up lost ground. 

However, there may be some conflict with the teacher’s union NEU as many teachers are already worn out and so staffing may be an issue. One idea could be to team up with existing private summer school providers - such as the prestigious Cardiff Sixth Form College, Canford School in Dorset or Eton - to open their facilities to local children on catch-up programmes.

There might also be a place for more summer schools based on vocational lines such as the Royal Veterinary College’s online school which is now open until March 2 for applications from students from Years 10, 11 and 12. The course supports young people who want to work in animal science. 

Changes to terms

A two week extension to the summer term is now being considered  by ministers, with the missed holidays being redistributed to autumn half term and the winter break. It follows news that at least one private school - Uppingham in Rutland - is altering term dates to reduce the length of the Easter holiday.  Its spring term will now end a week earlier than planned and summer term will being a week ahead of schedule too. 

While Uppingham’s move would leave the long summer vacation undisturbed, the Government's plans would see state-educated pupils continuing to attend class during the first week of August when many families will already have booked accommodation for holiday at that time.

Repeating the year 

Something of a nuclear option, the idea that entire academic years would be repeated is pleasingly simple - it is quite common for children to repeat a year's school if they have not reached a set standard in the US and not unknown in Spain, France or Germany.

But the idea of a whole cohort repeating an academic year is unheard of and carries huge implications socially for children as well as for our future workforce. An entire year of no university applications could bankrupt many institutions.

An entire year of no first year junior doctors would not be ideal either. Nor is it necessarily a panacea for children: according to the Education Endowment Foundation  evidence suggests that, in the majority of cases, repeating a year is harmful to a student’s chances of academic success, particularly among students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Studies also suggest that students who repeat a year are more likely to drop out of school prior to completion.

Finances could be a further factor: the EEF estimates a year’s schooling costs £6,000 per pupil per year so repeating an academic year for the entire cohort of English pupils (8.2m approx not including independently educated children) would be very expensive.

Collaboration

Rather than looking to fill the gaps, some teachers think we should make the most of the alternative skills pupils have developed. Rosie McColl, head at Brighton Girls GDST school, says “I have been thinking for some time about the educational landscape when we all return to school and to me it is about capitalising on all the incredible skills the children have learnt that they wouldn’t normally have instead of just focussing on the bits they might have missed academically.

“They have developed such self-reliance at a really young age – managing the workflow that comes in, mastering the technology and then working in a very collaborative way to help friends on the chat, share links and explain concepts to each other independently of the teachers.”

She adds: “These, along with the huge amount of resilience they have all had to develop, are enormously useful workplace skills and the last thing I want is for them to wither away when normality returns. So when we go back to school I will hold sessions with the children across the year groups that build on these skills and develop them so that learning becomes permanently a much more collaborative team effort at school. The pupils will teach us, the teachers, what they have learnt in terms of learning style and we will then harness all that to change bricks and mortar teaching.”

Tutoring

The biggest hurdle for the National Tutoring Programme, which was launched last year to address individual losses in education has been that it must be delivered within a school setting. So when schools were closed, tutoring could not be carried out unless the child had key-worker parents and the school had spare space which was safe to use with staff to oversee it. But once schools are safely opened to all, then the NTP should start to make an impact. It’s hoped the scheme will run after the need for post-pandemic support ends to reduce the attainment gap faced by disadvantaged children. 

Improved engagement

“It is perhaps more helpful not to focus on what has been lost,” says Neil Strowger, Trust Leader, Bohunt Education Trust, “but rather to double down on what we wish children to gain from this point. Lost engagement is as serious an issue as lost learning and disproportionately affects the disadvantaged. 

“We must resist the temptation to cram students with missing knowledge, as we cannot change the confines of working memory and doing so risks depressing their mental health further. I would advocate rich learning projects, preferably interdisciplinary in nature, and rooted in the world around us. A hybrid of the EPQ and qualifications such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, which focus on service and changing society for the better as we seek to educate, engage and rebuild." 

This is echoed by the head of Roedean School, Oliver Blond, who says: "Once the schools return we are going to be creating more opportunity for games, sport, creativity and children getting together so that we can help to rebuild face to face relationships. This part of the school experience is at the heart of education and lockdown has not just impacted on learning but on children's holistic development."

Improved digital access

The Department for Education has announced it is extending its Get Help with Technology Programme, by offering a further 300,000 laptops and tablets for disadvantaged young people. That’s something that chimes with Robert Harrison, Education Strategy Director, ACS International Schools who says his schools have been focusing on developing wider resources that support online learning. Harrison says: “That includes managed AI platforms for mathematics instruction, that allow students to continue independent learning that’s aligned with our core curriculum whether they are learning at home or in school.”

He adds: “We are using this period of lockdown as a skills-building exercise that will make learning easier upon return by taking advantage of increased screen time and a need for bolstering student engagement. For example, in PE we’re exploring things like HomeCourt, which uses digital devices to provide feedback and plan individualised improvement programmes. The point is that students can build digital skills that will transfer back across to classroom environments.”

How should children catch up with the learning they've missed? Tell us in the comments section below