This week I report on confirmation schools will not reopen until 8 March at the earliest, the latest information about Ofqual’s consultation on the replacement for this year’s A level and GCSE exams and the publication of new research around remote education in terms of pupils’ engagement and motivation

Government plans for the reopening of schools
The Prime Minister told Parliament on Wednesday that he hoped it would be safe to begin the reopening of schools from Monday 8 March. However, this was dependent on the Government reaching its target of vaccinating the four most vulnerable groups of people by 15 February.  More details on re-openings would be set out in the Government’s “plan for leaving lockdown”, due out in mid-February and the DfE has said it will keep its promise to provide two weeks’ notice before reopening.

The DfE has also confirmed that schools will close as usual during the February half term and are not expected to remain open to vulnerable children and the children of critical workers, as happened in last year’s lockdown.  However, staff will be on-call during half term for contact tracing purposes.

Ofqual consultation update and a proposal for externally-set papers
This morning Ofqual’s Chief Regulator, Simon Lebus, published a blog confirming that over 90,000 responses to its consultation had already been received.  The consultation closes this evening, and Ofqual has committed to announcing its plans in the week of 22 February. 

In his blog Mr Lebus confirmed several themes were emerging from the consultation and it was clear that there were no straightforward options for how exams are to be replaced. Mr Lebus addressed concerns from students that the proposal to have externally-set papers or tasks to help teachers to assess their students objectively were ‘mini exams’ and explained that an externally-set task would help teachers by providing them with an external reference point, giving them greater confidence in the grade they were awarding.

COVID-19: Pupil motivation around remote education is a significant concern
Newly published research by Ofsted has found that pupils’ engagement and motivation around remote education is a significant challenge for schools and parents and may prove barriers to children’s learning and development.

Results showed that it was an even greater concern for parents of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), as nearly 2/3 of parents of a child with SEND said they had been disengaged with remote learning, compared with almost 40% of parents of children without additional needs.

This week I report on confirmation schools will be given two weeks’ notice of reopening, the pausing of daily contact Covid testing in schools, confirmation the submission of this year’s EYFSP is no longer mandatory and consultations on alternative arrangements for GCSE and A Level results in the summer and new proposals for post-qualification admissions have opened.

Schools to get two weeks’ notice of reopening
Yesterday the Education Secretary announced in press interviews that the Government wanted to give schools as much notice as possible of full re-openings, so teachers and parents could get ready and children could prepare. Schools would be given a clear two weeks’ notice period however, he was non-committal on a return date saying it would happen “as soon as scientific and health advice is there”, and he hoped it would happen “before Easter”.

Daily contact Covid testing in schools paused
Until now the DfE has been telling secondary schools, special schools and colleges to use rapid lateral flow tests in three ways: to test pupils returning to school, to carry out weekly tests on staff and to do serial testing of anyone who has been in contact with a confirmed case of the virus. Contacts were to be given a daily test for seven days and allowed to stay in school if they tested negative rather than being asked to self-isolate. However, this week the DfE paused this last part of the school testing programme after a recommendation by Public Health England and NHS Test and Trace.

Testing of staff and pupils in secondary schools will continue and Public Health England has said secondary schools should continue to test pupils twice upon return to school, as has been the case since the start of January.

Other DfE news/consultations this week
This week the DfE has also confirmed arrangements regarding the EYFSP and is carrying out two consultations as follows:

• Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) no longer mandatory – it was confirmed the assessment was no longer mandatory this year and schools that decide to complete the profile and provide the information to parents and Year 1 teachers, will not be externally moderated. The requirement to submit the data to LAs or confirm whether they have completed it has also been removed.
• Consultation on alternative arrangements for GCSE and A Level results in Summer 2021 opens – Ofqual has now published its two-week consultation and you can use this link if you would like to respond. 
• Consultation on new proposals for post-qualification admissions (PQA) – a consultation into proposed changes for a PQA system into higher education opened today.  One model would see pupils apply to university after receiving their A-level results, while a second model would allow pupils to make ‘pre-qualification’ applications but would likewise only receive offers after results are announced. Under the first model there would be the need for a longer application window which would be created by moving A-level results day forward from mid-August to the end of July and pushing back university term start dates to “no earlier than the first week of October”. Under the second model, applications would be made during term-time, as they are now, but offers would come after results day. The consultation closes on 13 May.

This week I report on proposed plans for replacing this year’s exams, two new free governor webinars, publication of a new framework to support schools in reviewing their remote education provision and the relaunch of the Free school meals voucher scheme.

Plans for replacing this year’s examinations
This week the DfE published a letter from the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, to Ofqual outlining the process to agree proposed alternative arrangements for 2021 exams as follows:

• Teacher assessments should be informed by a ‘breadth of evidence’ – provision for training and guidance will support teachers to reach their assessment of a student’s deserved grade. However, this need for evidence must be balanced against minimising additional burdens for teachers and schools.
• Grades to be issued “as late as possible” – a teacher’s final judgement on a student’s grade ought to be as late as possible in the academic year to maximise remaining teaching time and ensure students are motivated to remain engaged in education.
• Ofqual to explore setting external exams – the setting of tasks or short papers would enable teachers to draw on this resource to support their assessments of students.
• No algorithm to standardise grades – schools and colleges are to undertake quality assurance of their teachers’ assessments and “provide reassurance to the exam boards”.
• Any grade changes should ‘be the exception’ – the process will not involve second-guessing the judgement of teachers but confirming that the process and evidence used to award a grade is reasonable. Changes should only be made if those grades cannot be justified, rather than as a result of marginal differences of opinion.
• There will be an appeals route – any student who doesn’t believe their grade reflects the standard of their work can appeal, details of which should be “explored fully” in the consultation.
• International Baccalaureate and other general qualifications – a similar approach to GCSEs and A-levels should be taken.
• Alternative arrangements for BTECs and other vocational qualifications – external exams scheduled to take place in the next few months for vocational and technical qualifications that enable a student to demonstrate the proficiency required to enter directly into employment should “continue to proceed with protective measures put in place to ensure they are conducted in line with PHE measures”. However, for all other VTQs with written exams, including BTECs and other qualifications in league tables, it is “no longer viable for these exams to go ahead. Views on alternative arrangements for these qualifications should be sought in the consultation.

Free governor webinars
Staff mental health and wellbeing – as schools are confronted with more challenging weeks ahead, Governors for Schools are launching term 2 of their Wellbeing Governors campaign focusing on school staff mental health and wellbeing. Their free webinar on how and why school governors should support staff mental health and wellbeing is taking place on Thursday 28th January from 12 to 1pm. To register use this link.

Understanding the role and impact of Careers Link Governors – the Careers and Enterprise Company is offering governors a free webinar on 3 February from 6-7.30pm. It will explore the key information a governor should be aware of, including the role of a careers leader, the importance of careers in the curriculum, as well as the how to maximise the careers link governor role. To register use this link.

Guidance on reviewing remote education provision
A framework to help schools and further education providers in England identify strengths and areas for improvement in their remote education provision was published this week. Whilst not statutory it can support schools to meet basic requirements using the resources and tools they currently have and take their remote education provision further, with links to useful resources.

Relaunch of Free school meals voucher scheme
The Government’s national free school meals voucher scheme will relaunch next Monday and be run by original supplier Edenred, with schools now given the freedom to provide food in whatever way they see fit.

Guidance issued last week told schools to work with caterers under a “food parcel first approach” to replace free school meals for children at home. Only where this was not possible could schools then use vouchers instead. This week’s new guidance states schools “have the freedom to decide on the best approach for their pupils and have a range of options which include lunch parcels, local vouchers or the…national voucher scheme”.

What a tumultuous first week back…

On Monday, the Government declared primary schools were safe and should be open whilst secondary schools had a staggered return with examination year students due to return first. The next day the Prime Minister announced another national lockdown and schools would be closed to all except vulnerable pupils and the children of critical workers until at least February half term. All other pupils would learn remotely. Concern has been raised that the rationale for continuing to keep nursery schools open and the impact across early years settings has not been made clear.

Remote learning
The Education Secretary confirmed schools are expected to offer online lessons and should be providing between 3-5 teaching hours a day, depending on a child’s age. If parents feel their child’s school is not providing suitable remote education they should first raise their concerns with the teacher or headteacher and failing that, report the matter to Ofsted.

Devices and access to online content and free data
The DfE’s rollout of devices and access to online content and free data continues as well as the BBC confirming they will be offering 14 weeks of educational programmes across age groups, as well as the Oak National Academy continuing to provide video lessons for all ages across all subjects.

Examinations cancelled
The 2021 summer A level and GCSE exams have been cancelled and we wait to see what will be offered in their place, although thankfully last year’s algorithms will not be used. It is expected a short consultation will open next week on the options for alternatives to the exams to ensure every young person gets a fair grade for their work. We have also had confirmation that this year’s SATs have been cancelled.

Free school meals provision
The Education Secretary has confirmed that Free School Meals arrangements will continue, families will be offered food parcels or provided with an alternative local solution and if that isn’t possible the national vouchers scheme will re-open, funded by the Government.

Virus testing programme
Finally, the rapid testing programme for secondary schools will continue for those on site, with daily testing of close contacts available to students and staff and weekly testing available for staff. Primary staff will be included later this month as planned, and more detail will be set out in due course about reaching all secondary students as they return to face-to-face education.