EDUCATION Secretary Gavin Williamson spoke today (June 9) on schools reopening during the coronavirus outbreak.
The Education Secretary reversed the government’s previous policy on getting kids back to school as the restrictions over the coronavirus are reduced in favour of a more "flexible" approach.
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Gavin Williamson spoke in the House of Commons at just after 1.30pm today.
He had originally been thought to speak at 11.30am.
He laid out a more "flexible" approach to kids returning back to the classroom.
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Mr Williamson acknowledged that some areas of the UK, such as the North West, had concerns over the risk of contracting the coronavirus if pupils returned to school in the near future.
He said that remote learning would be the main strategy in the government's plans.
He emphasised the government's "cautious" approach and said the safety of pupils and teachers remained their top priority.
Mr Williamson added that the government was working to bring back all pupils in September.
He said: "We are not able to welcome all primary for a full month before the summer."
But there won't be any local plans to keep all schools in any one area shut.
"We do need to bring schools back in every part of this country," he said.
Gavin Williamson said the Government "will not hesitate" to act if the R rate reaches above one in local areas.
He told MPs: "I know that schools need time to put in place the strict protective measures we have asked for and we continue to work with the sector to make sure any schools experiencing difficulties are supported to open more widely as soon as it is possible.
"Some schools in areas such as the North West are concerned about local rates of transmission.
"I can assure them that Sage's R estimate for the whole of the UK is below one.
"If robust data shows that local action needs to be taken, we will not hesitate to do so. But we are not in that position."
Williamson gave an indication of how many more pupils in England have returned, but he is also set to say that primary schools will no longer have to prepare for the return of all pupils, as previously proposed by the government.
It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock said at Monday's Downing Street briefing that secondary schools in England may not fully reopen until September "at the earliest".
With the new statement it is expected schools will now be given the choice to increase numbers - but it will be up to them to decide whether they can bring in more classes and will take away the "pressure" to get ready.
Many pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 returned to lessons on June 1.
Children in other year groups will now not be back in school until September.
Children in England began returning to primary schools in a phased process from June 1, with Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils heading back first.
Class sizes are now only 15 pupils or less - so if each class occupied two classrooms, school leaders argued that they would have no space for all year groups to return.
Geoff Barton, leader of the ASCL head teachers' union, said: "The 'ambition' to bring back all primary year groups for a month before the end of the summer term was a case of the government over-promising something that wasn't deliverable.
"It isn't possible to do that while maintaining small class sizes and social bubbles, so we aren't surprised that the policy has been jettisoned.”
Secondary pupils in Years 10 and 12 are to begin returning for some sessions in school from June 15.
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