Education experts consider ideas on 'learning catch-up'

The education select committee held a virtual roundtable yesterday to consider ideas for supporting a 'learning catch-up' in response to school closures, including what can be done in the summer period.

It comes after an analysis by the Education Endowment Foundation found school closures because of the pandemic are “likely to reverse progress made to narrow the gap in the last decade”.

The virtual roundtable was attended by Anne Longfield OBE, Children’s Commissioner; David Laws, Executive Chairman of the Education Policy Institute; Natalie Perera, Executive Director of the Education Policy Institute; Professor Becky Francis, Chief Executive of the Education Endowment Foundation; James Turner, Chief Executive of The Sutton Trust; and Susannah Hardyman, Chief Executive of Action Tutoring.

The Department for Education is looking at summer school options to help disadvantaged pupils catch up, but children’s commissioner Anne Longfield pointed out there’s only about two weeks before the government runs out of time to set this up.

Such plans however shouldn't be mandatory, instead Longfield said you have to make any additional lessons “appealing, and get a whole range of people in to make them attractive and fun”.

Becky Francis, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, said it's important to move towards a “minimum common standard that we encourage schools to build on ambitiously going forward”.

David Laws, EPI’s executive chairman and a former schools minister, said giving schools planning time and guidance would be very sensible. He added schools will need to engage with pupils before the summer about any catch-up plans, adding announcement on this would be needed by early July at the latest.

James Turner, chief executive of the Sutton Trust, added the government needs a “national approach to catch up and we need that soon if it’s to be effective”.

While Ofsted inspections are currently suspended, it is yet to be decided about Ofsted's role during this period and when schools reopen.

Laws said there’s no reason Ofsted can’t do a report looking at best practice during lockdown without that being a “commentary on each school at time of disruption”. He said a “general lessons” piece of work would be “welcomed by most school leaders”.