Edinburgh gets into trouble over its back-to-school plans

EDUCATION Secretary John Swinney has told Edinburgh council chiefs their plans for schools reopening – which will mean that some weeks pupils will get only one day in the classroom – are not good enough.

And he said councils should be looking to use leisure facilities, church halls and other venues to ensure pupils had as much face-to-face time with teachers as possible.

Parents echoed his verdict on the council’s plans and warned of a “massive timebomb” if the education situation was not improved.

Schools are due reopen on August 12, but the Scottish Government has made clear there will have to be a system of “blended learning” which involves learning at home as well as in the classroom.

Edinburgh’s plans, unveiled last week, mean only one-third of pupils in school at any one time due to physical distancing.

Pupils will only ever be in school for full days, rather than any part days, but the average time they will spend in class is 1.3 days per week. Some weeks they will attend two days, other weeks just one day. And Fridays are being set aside for teachers to support learning from home.

Asked in a radio interview about Edinburgh pupils only returning one day a week, Mr Swinney said: “I don’t think that’s strong enough.”

He said the Scottish Government and councils had agreed to maximise the time children and young people spent in school. “I’ve made it clear trying to get to 50 per cent of the time being able to be spent by a young person in school should be our objective.”

And he said councils needed to be innovative and use not just school buildings, but also leisure facilities, public halls, church halls and other vacant accommodation.

“What I don’t know yet – but my officials are scrutinising this point and they will do it in relation to all of the plans of all of the local authorities – is whether, in Edinburgh, for example, they have sought every opportunity to use other accommodation to maximise the time children and young people can be in school.”

At her daily briefing, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon backed up Mr Swinney’s comments, without naming Edinburgh.

She said: “It is our expectation that by the time schools return in August, councils will have put in place arrangements that absolutely maximise the time young people spend in a school environment having face-to-face learning.”

She said the government would scrutinise council plans “very closely”. “Where we conclude all possible steps have not been taken to maximise face-to-face teaching and learning we will ask councils to reconsider and revise their plans.

“Innovation and creativity will be required here, but where there are genuine issues of resources the Scottish Government will work with councils to address those.”

But she appeared to contradict weekend comments by Mr Swinney that a return to normal schooling was “unlikely” before the end of the new school year.

She said from August the aim would be to return to normal schooling as quickly as possible. “It is absolutely not the case that we are planning for blended learning to last a year or anything like it.”

Edinburgh mum Sarah Chisnall has linked up with other parents to form a campaign group 50:50, pressing for a minimum 50 per cent of pupils’ time to be in school from August, as well as a “massive improvement” in the online learning available.

They also want “innovative and creative thinking” about use of other buildings and recruiting retired teachers, trainee teachers and parent volunteers to help teach, supervise or mentor.

She said there was “a lot of unhappiness” about the Edinburgh plans. Some children had space to study, a computer to work on and parents able to help, but many had none of these things. “It’s a massive time bomb.”

Meanwhile, a petition calling for schools to open fully, with no social distancing, has attracted nearly 2500 signatures.

It appeals to the government: “Please do not put a wrecking ball through the education of every child in Scotland for a disease that poses an extremely low risk to them. Please, get the majority of our children back to school before irreparable damage is done to their education and mental health. We cannot wait until there’s no risk, or for a vaccine.”

Callum Laidlaw, Tory education spokesman on the council, said having pupil in 33 per cent of the time was not enough.

He urged consideration of extended hours, use of other premises and a government review of the two-metre guidelines for schools.

And he called for more detail on how schools would operate. “There is a huge vagueness to the proposals at the moment and that’s simply not acceptable. There are concerns about the 33 per cent, but also a huge number of questions as to how even that will be delivered.”

Education convener Ian Perry said the health and wellbeing of pupils and staff remained the council’s top priority as it prepared to reopen schools.

He said: “It was always our intention to maximise school attendance to see if we could increase the number of pupils going to school at any one time as long as it was safe to do so and when appropriate accommodation became available.

“As such, we’re actively exploring additional capacity across our wider estate – and the cost and other implications of doing so – and so I welcome today’s commitment from the First Minister that the Scottish Government will provide additional resources to maximise learning in schools.

“Clearly we must also take into account the current two metre physical distancing guidance and other national and health advice. We look forward to continuing dialogue with the Scottish Government as our plans progress.”