Julian presses Prime Minister to confirm school return date
February 10, 2021
Julian has today questioned the Prime Minister on the Government proposed timetable for students to return to school.
At the moment the Government has indicated that students will return from the 8th of March, however concerns have been raised that this leaves open the possibility of a phased return, which would see children in some year groups waiting even longer.
Mr. Sturdy was keen to impress upon the Prime Minister the need to provide clarity for parents and children and to request a guarantee that if the Government do decide on a phased return this will be started straight after half-term to allow all students to return to school by the 8th of March at the latest.
After Prime Minster’s Questions Julian Sturdy said:
“I have been contacted by a large number of constituents who are really worried about the impact that long periods away from school are having on our children’s educational development and mental health. I was pleased therefore to hear that getting children back to school will be prioritised as part of the first stage of easing lockdown at the beginning of March. Given the success of the vaccination programme and the falling infection rates both locally and nationally, I am of the view that the drawbacks of keeping children out of school now firmly outweigh the benefits.
I remain concerned however that a phased process, similar to last summer, will see some year groups in some schools not return for several weeks yet. I tried to impress on the Prime Minister that if this is the Government’s plan, the process needs to be started earlier, preferably straight after half-term, so that the 8th of March return date can be met for all students. I hope that this will be the last period of nationally enforced school closures during the course of the pandemic and we can now get back to the very important work of ensuring each and every child is given the best possible educational opportunities”
