Back to school; trust local leaders over Gavin Williamson – The Yorkshire Post says

THERE are three fundamental flaws with Gavin Williamson’s ‘back to school’ open letter to certain national media on the resumption of lessons.
A dinning area is cleaned at Outwood Academy Shafton in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, as preparations are made before the start of the new term.A dinning area is cleaned at Outwood Academy Shafton in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, as preparations are made before the start of the new term.
A dinning area is cleaned at Outwood Academy Shafton in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, as preparations are made before the start of the new term.

First, the Education Secretary has alienated teachers, families and studies with a succession of U-turns and policy calamities. Trust in him remains rock bottom, more so after the DfE’s 1ast minute change of guidance.

Second, Mr Williamson fails to acknowledge the likelihood that schools will be unable to deliver a full curriculum in the new academic year – and that they need to know, sooner rather than latter, how Ministers intend to judge A-levels, GCSEs and SATs.

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Third, the Minister’s national parameters need to recognise the fact that no two schools are the same and that the judgment of headteachers, LEAs and, crucially, public health directors should be trusted in the event of any Covid-19 outbreak.

A woman cleans at Outwood Academy Shafton in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, as preparations are made before the start of the new term.A woman cleans at Outwood Academy Shafton in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, as preparations are made before the start of the new term.
A woman cleans at Outwood Academy Shafton in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, as preparations are made before the start of the new term.

They have already learned lessons from the partial reopening of some schools before the summer holiday. Not only will they know how best to segregate pupils, but they’re far more likely to be trusted than an Education Secretary with a reputation for making a pronouncement on one day and then announcing the precise opposite days later.

Indeed, the fact that it is Mr Williamson’s name at the end of the letter which now risks increasing the angst of many parents at a time when they’re looking for local leadership on schools can be reopened as safely as humanly possible. In this regard, the role of public health directors is now a critical one while education policy remains at the mercy of a Minister bereft of any political and public credibility.

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Education Secretary Gavin Williamson.Education Secretary Gavin Williamson.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson.
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James Mitchinson

Editor

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