the return of students to schools and
colleges in england on march the 8th
is justified by the latest medical data
and what's called a robust covid testing
regime
will be part of the plan that was the
assurance given to parents and pupils by
gavin williamson the education secretary
who also addressed the fact that
students have missed so much work this
year
so he announced an extra 400 million
pounds on top of 300 million
announced last month for what's being
billed as a catch-up
program so let's have a look at the
figures out of that some
302 million pounds will be for primary
and secondary schools to spend
on their most disadvantaged pupils
another 200 million pounds
is for expanded tutoring programs and
200
million will be set aside for extra
face-to-face summer schools
for some secondary pupils our education
editor brahman jefferies has been
assessing the challenge
in two schools in the west midlands are
we ready what's our first sound
nice unload a haven for children
as families struggle on at this school
almost half the pupils qualify for extra
funding
but this crucial start to learning has
been badly disrupted
a three-year-old has had one year of
their life mainly in the home
and to try and develop language from
that we need them to get out and about
and experience it
we can make plans for a six-week summer
holiday we can add enrichment with some
of the money that they've said
but to get high quality staff and high
quality experiences for those children
we need to make a longer-term commitment
tonight the education secretary said if
children
need help they'll get it is that a
promise
that parents can hold you to schools
have always delivered for all children
right across the country and the reason
that we've given such a broad range of
tools for schools to be able
to bring to bear to help children we'd
hope that that would be able to meet the
needs of all
children whatever their background
for the very youngest children it's not
so much about
loss of learning but about all those
many
milestones in independence that school
helps them develop
being able to sit quietly and listen
the social skills they need to
communicate
mum stacy and claire are most worried
about the emotional impact
he does sometimes get scared to go out
he'll be like what if we die mommy and
he wants to wear a mask i really want
him to be able to catch up and be where
he is on the
basic skills and then mostly i think
it's more important for the social side
he just wants to see his friends i just
i really worry about the
their confidence levels everything was
basically focused around money
year 11 pupils at this school are
already getting tutoring
there's a bit more money today for this
kind of help
it's really valuable yeah any because i
just
don't feel um panic when i don't get
stuff in class because i can always go
back to them
and they'll help me in a big classroom
everyone has different strengths
and weaknesses whereas in one-to-one
tutoring i'm able to go over things i
specifically struggle in
today's money adds up to around 22 000
pounds for a secondary school like this
it's a bit less than a starting
teacher's salary for one year
and to put it into context the budget
for this school for a year
is more than six million pounds still
here they say it's extra for their
summer school for new pupils those year
sixes
have missed out a big chunk of
preparation work they've been doing in
their primary schools
um and and so now it's not just um
what is already a very difficult moment
of transition but we've got a much
bigger picture and a lot more
children that will will not be
necessarily quite
as gritty as we would like for schools
the next big job will be gcse and day
level grades
since exams were cancelled in january
teenagers have been waiting anxiously
more detail on what will be used to work
outgrades
is expected tomorrow brownman jeffries
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