News

Information for parents and carers about the opening of early years providers, schools and colleges, safety in schools, attendance, transport, school meals and exams has been published.

The Education Secretary has confirmed that all children, in all year groups, will be returning to school in September. The Government has launched a £1 billion Covid catch-up plan that will lift outcomes for all pupils, with targeted support for those from disadvantaged backgrounds who are most at risk of falling behind because of this disruption. As part of this package, a universal ‘catch up premium’, worth £650 million, will be provided for all state school children in England to help them to make up for the lost teaching time in the next academic year. The Education Endowment Foundation has published a guide for schools on how the money could be best spent, which will include intervention programmes, access to technology or summer schools. Schools will have the discretion to tailor this funding towards their particular needs and the needs of the children they teach. The plan also includes a new £350 million National Tutoring Programme to increase access to high-quality tuition for disadvantaged children and young people. This £1 billion package is on top of the £14.4 billion three-year funding settlement announced last year - recognising the additional work schools will need to do to help students to catch up. Over the coming weeks, further information and guidance will be published to help schools prepare for a full return in September.

Resources

Following the terror attack that took place on Saturday 20 June 2020 in Reading, the following guidance and advice may be of assistance should any schools be seeking support in the aftermath of the incident.

Support

The Home Office’s Victims of Terrorism Unit website, includes access to support services, including mental health and other medical services.

Resources

Whether or not any schools were directly affected, students may have concerns over news coverage and online footage. The following online resources may be of specific assistance to educators (safeguarding leads and teachers) with discussions about terrorist attacks:

• The PSHE Association Frameworks: Primary and Secondary resources
• Educate Against Hate
• NSPCC

The following online resources may be of specific assistance to parents and children with discussions about terrorist attacks:

• LGfL: Talking to Children about terrorism (for parents)
• NSPCC: How should you talk to children about terrorism? (for parents)
• Childline: Worries about the world page (for children)

Additional Support

If schools have specific concerns relating to extremism in an education setting or require further support not covered by the services listed above, they can email counter.extremism@education.gov.uk.

Guidance

Keeping children safe in education (from 1 September 2020) is now available for information only and does not come into force until 1 September 2020.

Guidance for schools on writing statutory end of year reports for parents has been updated to confirm regulations have been laid to remove the requirement to report on national curriculum assessments and attendance, and explain the different requirements of annual and school leaver reports. 

Finance

The claim form for schools and academies to claim exceptional costs relating to coronavirus (COVID-19) has been published. Please read the instructions and video on completing the form.