[Music]
so this is usually an iot
area where children work in close
proximity with adults as well
because of social distancing we've had
to shut that area down
but using it for a different purpose now
adapting
in the time of pandemic and now
preparing for some return to normality
i think we've got to ensure that we
reduce
children's anxieties staff anxieties and
parent anxieties
and we've got to do all of that on march
the 8th rather than over
a staggered period but with a heavy
legacy from
largely shuttered schools more support
to help with the recovery the government
announced today
that it will now be providing a total of
1.7 billion pounds
to help children catch up on lost
education
the new money means an extra 22 000
pounds
for the average secondary school and six
thousand pounds
for the average primary school from a
new one-off
302 million recovery premium fund
in all an extra 700 million was unveiled
today
300 million of which was announced by
the prime minister
last month a guarded welcome from one
primary school head teacher
every bit of fund is going to make a
difference we can use that funding
creatively
um i mean i guess there's always the
argument that it's never going to be
enough
um a school of this size we're large 730
children in a primary school
um six thousand pound goes nowhere um
but hopefully we get we get more than
that
i said we're larger than average but it
is definitely needed um
i think i read today that it will be
down to some school to school's own
discretion as to how some of that money
is spent i think that's a great decision
because schools know their community is
the best
and we will know where to target that
area a monumental challenge faces
schools
across the country and in particular in
deprived areas
such as here in london's tower hamlet in
helping pupils recover ground
lost during the pandemic just this week
william hague acknowledged the scale of
the task
when he called for a school's recovery
plan to rival the national vaccine
rollout
a hint perhaps that the government
should be even more ambitious
in this area gavin williamson says he's
rising to the occasion
as someone who has two daughters at
school
i'm absolutely certain that we are going
to do
everything we can do for all of our
children to make sure that they do not
they're not set back by this pandemic
that their life chances are in
any way not stinted we're going to do
everything we can do to make sure that
they can reach their absolute potential
this is why we're willing to look at
every single matter in order to be able
to drive their attainment
into the future and we are not going to
be timid
in terms of you know our aspirations for
them
and the actions that we'll have to take
to deliver for them
can i just ask you one education analyst
believes the government
needs to go further while 700 million
sounds like a lot actually the scale of
the challenge
means that it's it's really quite a
modest amount for the government to be
investing
we need a bigger bolder and longer term
plan to support young people to catch up
with their education
but also to support their well-being
because they've missed out a lot in the
last year
tranquility for the moment soon a return
to
full school life though a broken year of
learning
will cast a long shadow