Boris Johnson shouldn’t be thinking about Plan B or Plan C, there should only be a Plan KSO – Keep Schools Open
JUST as it looked like we were slowly getting children back on their feet and catching up with their learning, the question of whether schools will open or not in January suddenly looms again.
Despite the heroic efforts of teachers and support staff who have worked tirelessly to keep students learning, the four horsemen of the education apocalypse — a widening attainment gap, an epidemic of mental health problems, a rise in safeguarding hazards and a loss of life chances — have been galloping towards our young people.
The damage caused by school closures is stark.
Primary school pupils were found to be around two and a half months behind when they returned to school, and children with special educational needs were around four months behind.
The attainment gap between rich and poor — already large pre-Covid — has worsened, undoing any progress the Government has made over the past decade.
As is so often the case, it is disadvantaged children that have suffered the most.
Meanwhile, the number of children being referred for mental health support has increased by 62 per cent.
Eating disorders among young girls have gone up by 400 per cent.
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Sadly, we also know that children have suffered enormous safeguarding risks.
Perhaps we might not have had the tragic death of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes if he had been in school, as authorities would have been able to better identify the awful abuse he had been suffering at home.
This year, the Child Safeguarding Panel has received 536 severe incident notifications from local authorities.
These include 223 deaths and 284 instances of serious harm, which represents an increase of 19 per cent from the previous year.
Distressingly, a significant number of these were babies.
Are we really going to allow these things to happen all over again?
If the Government can protect the NHS and our economy, then why can’t it protect our children’s futures?
First, the Prime Minister should back the calls of not just myself, but the current and former Children’s Commissioner as well as the Chief Inspector for Ofsted, to keep schools open.
Second, the Government should adopt my proposed School Infrastructure Bill that I introduced to the House of Commons in September.
Backed by two former children’s ministers and the past and present Children’s Commissioner, my bill would introduce a “triple lock” of protections to safeguard against any future school closures.
It would give the Children’s Commissioner a veto on closing schools, require a Parliamentary vote and a further vote every three weeks.
Third, ministers need to make it clear to schools that they should not be gold-plating public health guidance and should not send more children or staff home than is absolutely necessary.
Already in the last fortnight, 200,000 children were not in school due to Covid-related incidents.
Already in the last fortnight, 200,000 children were not in school due to Covid-related incidents.
Fourth, if the NHS can have an army of volunteers, then the Department for Education should recruit a similar army too.
Comprised of former teachers, Ofsted inspectors and retired educationists, this group could step in to support schools with supply teaching to keep children learning.
Fifth, over the past two years, children have been denied the right to take their exams.
With all the problems this has caused, such as grade inflation, it should not be allowed to happen for a third time.
At the very least, preparations should be made, including booking external venues or “nightingale exam centres”, where children can take their exams while remaining socially distanced.
Finally, even with school reopenings, and despite children being sent home to isolate, more than 100,000 pupils have simply not returned to school.
These are the “ghost children” of the Covid generation.
They are lost to the system, not on the school roll, and their whereabouts are unknown to local authorities.
These are 100,000 children who could be at risk from multiple safeguarding hazards.
I have been raising the issue of these ghost children since well before the summer.
I am glad that the Children’s Commissioner has recently announced an inquiry alongside the Secretary of State’s data panel, which has been established to find out where these children are.
If we close our schools again, will we see another 100,000 children go missing?
If we close our schools again, will we see another 100,000 children go missing?
The Government needs to make a decision.
Our future generations should be nurtured and looked after.
When the Government weighs up the, thankfully, minimal risks of Covid to children’s physical health, it must balance these risks with the very great damage that school closures pose to their educational and mental health outcomes.
Children must not be the guinea pigs for our national response.
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If people can attend nightclubs and can shop in supermarkets, then we should not be shutting down our schools.
This week, instead of setting out a Plan B or a Plan C, the Government should set out a Plan KSO — Plan Keep Schools Open.
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