Education: Coronavirus

(asked on 19th October 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the adequacy of the teaching received by children in (a) the North West and (b) the South East.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 27th October 2020

Getting all children back to school for the start of the academic year has rightly been a national priority. Latest figures show that over 99% of state-funded schools in both the North West and South East are open, and regional teams are working closely with local areas to address any barriers to attendance. The Government is grateful for all the hard work of teachers and staff in supporting pupils during this time.

On 1 October, the Department announced a package of remote education support designed to help schools and colleges, build on and deliver their existing plans, in the event that individuals or groups of pupils are unable to attend school due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Schools will be able to access a new central support hub, where resources and information on remote education will be housed. This support has been co-designed with schools and includes a range of school-led webinars and resources intended to share good practice.

The Department is also investing £1.5 million of additional funding to expand the EdTech Demonstrator programme. This is a peer support network offering advice, guidance and training to schools and colleges in effective use of technology, including how it can support remote education.

The Department has made £4.84 million available for Oak National Academy, both for the summer term of the academic year 2019-20 and for the 2020-21 academic year, to provide free video lessons for reception up to year 11. It provides lessons across a broad range of subjects and includes specialist content for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. The support package can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.

Routine Ofsted inspections will remain suspended for the autumn term, though Ofsted inspectors are conducting visits in the autumn term. The intention is for Ofsted to resume routine school inspections from January 2021, which will include inspectors assessing the quality of education within schools, with this date being kept under review.

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