Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Secondary schools in coronavirus hotspots should move to a ‘blend’ of home and school learning, experts warn

As cases rise, ideas for ‘blended’ system include pupils spending a day and a half a week learning online at home

Kate Devlin
Whitehall Editor
Friday 23 October 2020 14:46 EDT
Comments
Boris Johnson says he 'shares frustration' over test and trace

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Secondary schools in parts of England with high coronavirus infection rates should move to a “blended” system, learning both in the classroom and at home, leading experts have warned. 

Dr Terry Wrigley, from the Independent Sage group, suggested students should learn online for around a third of the week.  

But he warned that support from the government for the infrastructure required to make such a model possible had been a “patchwork”.  

Amid fears more areas will soon be classed as tier 3, signalling very high levels of Covid-19 in the community, Dr Wrigley said: “In high infection areas, for pupils in secondary schools it’s probably very necessary to have some degree of blended learning.”  

This could include pupils spending a day and a half a week learning online at home, he added.  

But he warned of a lack of support, saying there had been “only a patchwork of provision for distance learning” from ministers.  

Dr Wrigley said the problem was particularly acute in England because it had some of the largest secondary school classes in western Europe.  

Some secondary schools currently have pupils in “bubbles” that contain hundreds of other people – their entire year group, he said.  

He warned that some schools were not isolating enough students and were “pouring petrol on the flames” of infection.  

The situation was “really very, very difficult to manage”, he added.  

Ministers have previously been urged to reduce the number of children in each class by allowing the use of makeshift classrooms in community centres and church halls up and down the land. But that option was dismissed by the government this summer.  

In the US, many pupils are currently taught under a hybrid model, where children attend part-time, on alternating schedules.  

Schools in England only reopened fully for the first time in September, amid pressure from parents struggling to hold down jobs and look after small children full-time.  

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in