Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have for outdoor schooling during the summer.

Current guidance states that schools should ‘consider which lessons or classroom activities could take place outdoors’ when planning.

As plans continue for a full return to education from September, we have announced a £1 billion COVID-19 catch-up package to directly tackle the impact of lost teaching time.

£650 million will be shared across state primary and secondary schools over the 2020/21 academic year. This one-off grant to support pupils recognises that all young people have lost time in education as a result of the pandemic, regardless of their income or background.

This package will make sure that every young person, no matter their age or where they live, has the education, opportunities and outcomes they deserve. Head teachers will have discretion over how funding is spent and we strongly encourage them to base their decisions in evidence-led practice.

On 19 June, the Education Endowment Foundation published a guide to help head teachers and teachers decide how to use this universal funding to best support their pupils, which can be found here: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Covid-19_Resources/Covid-19_support_guide_for_schools.pdf.

The guide encourages headteachers to consider offering provision over the summer and signposts a guide to running summer schools, published by Teach First on 19 June, which offers practical advice and support for schools looking to run such provision this year. The guide can be accessed here: https://www.teachfirst.org.uk/shut-in-not-shut-out/school-resources.