Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that teachers and school leaders are able to take leave over the 2020 summer holidays.

We are not asking schools to open over the summer holidays and there is not an expectation that schools should open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers over this period. Teachers, support staff and headteachers deserve a break, to recharge and rest.

We are aware that some headteachers may be considering using their catch-up premium to provide summer school activities for their pupils. Where this is the case, they have the flexibility, discretion and autonomy to decide how they want to do this.

To support schools in planning how to use the catch-up premium, the Education Endowment Foundation has produced a guide which includes advice on summer schools and contains a link to a Teach First toolkit specifically focused on summer schools, for schools that choose to do this. A link to the guide can be found here:

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/covid-19-support-guide-for-schools/