Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support will be provided for home teaching from September 2021 in the event that children and young people are required to self-isolate as a result of covid-19.

From September 2021, the Department continues to expect schools to provide remote education for pupils whose attendance would be contrary to Government guidance or legislation around the COVID-19 outbreak. Schools should maintain their capabilities to deliver high quality remote education for the next academic year.

The remote education service continues to provide information and support that is available for teachers and head teachers, which is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19. This includes the ‘review your remote education provision framework’, which was produced to help support schools in England to identify the strengths and areas for improvement in their remote education provision, available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-your-remote-education-provision. A good practice guide for school head teachers with accompanying school-led webinars, annotated lesson plans for remote teaching, case studies and resources to support good practice is available to view here: https://get-help-with-remote-education.education.gov.uk/good-teaching-practice. The Department has provided funding to Oak National Academy to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception up to Year 11.

To support access to remote education and online social care services, the Department has distributed over 1.3 million laptops and tablets to schools, academy trusts, local authorities and further education colleges for disadvantaged children and young people, as part of a £400 million investment. The Government is providing this significant injection of laptops and tablets on top of an estimated 2.9 million already owned by schools before the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Schools and colleges can access free peer-to-peer support on effective use of technology in education through the EdTech Demonstrator programme, which has been funded by the Department until the end of March 2022. Further information is available to view here: https://edtechdemo.ucst.uk/events/regional-launch-events. The support offered is tailored to the needs of each school and college. The Department has also worked with Sandringham School to create ‘Sustaining Digital and Remote Education, A Toolkit for School Leaders’, a free resource to support schools in developing and implementing effective remote education strategies, available to view here: http://www.digitallyempowered.co.uk.

Support is also available for schools to set up either a Google or Microsoft platform. These platforms bring together the school community, pool resources and give pupils the opportunity to work with their peers remotely. To date, over 6,700 schools have been supported to enrol in a platform and over £7.4 million in grant funding has been paid out to set up the platforms for staff and student users.