Remote Education: Coronavirus

(asked on 21st July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support parents who have to stay at home as a result of their children being required to self-isolate and (b) limit the disruption to the education of children who are required to self-isolate as a result of covid-19.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 6th September 2021

Since 16 August, pupils under the age of 18 years old have no longer been required to self-isolate if they are a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Instead, pupils identified as a close contact will be given age appropriate testing advice. They will not need to self-isolate while they wait for the result of any tests. If the result is positive, they should self-isolate in line with the guidance. Information on financial support can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme-claiming-financial-support/claiming-financial-support-under-the-test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme.

Since June 2020, the Department has announced more than £3 billion to support education recovery for children and young people in nurseries, schools and colleges. Recovery programmes, as well as targeted help with provision of laptops and internet access, have been designed to allow head teachers the flexibility to support those pupils most in need to help them catch up after a period of disruption to their education or during periods of self-isolation.

The Department recognises that COVID-19 may cause further disruption in the 2021/22 academic year. We have issued a new temporary remote education continuity direction for academic year 2021/22, to provide clarity about what is expected and ensuring consistency with the last academic year, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/remote-education-temporary-continuity-direction-explanatory-note. Schools affected by the temporary continuity direction must provide remote education for state-funded, school-aged pupils whose attendance would be contrary to local public health advice, Government guidance or law relating to COVID-19. Schools must adhere to the expectations for remote education published here: https://get-help-with-remote-education.education.gov.uk/statutory-obligations.

Where required, schools are expected to offer pupils 3 to 5 hours of remote education per day, depending on Key Stage. This includes recorded or live direct teaching alongside time for pupils to work independently to complete assignments that have been set.

A comprehensive package of support continues to be available to schools to help them meet the remote education expectations: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-with-remote-education. The Department understands that this is a challenging time for parents, carers and children. We have published information for parents and carers on remote education and how they can best support their child while studying from home, where this is needed. This can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/supporting-your-childrens-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19. This includes resources and advice to help parents and carers on how to establish a routine with their child, and how best to support mental health and wellbeing during this period.

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