Schools remained open only for a limited number of pupils, including the children of NHS staff and other key workers and young people considered vulnerable. Parents of the majority of students were advised to home-educate their children, with the government releasing online education resources to help.
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Students' lockdown challenges
Pupils have faced many challenges over the past five months, with A-level and GCSE exams being cancelled. This led to a situation labelled a "farce" when the government initially agreed to base A-level results on teachers' assessments but instead used an "exam algorithm" at the eleventh hour.
This meant 40% of results were suddenly downgraded and thousands of pupils were left in tears, with their university hopes in tatters. Education secretary Gavin Williamson had to make an embarrassing U-turn on 17th August and return pupils' grades to the original estimates set by teachers, following a national outcry.
When GCSE results were released on 20th August, they were based mainly on teachers' assessments submitted earlier this summer, rather than the controversial algorithm. However, there was disappointment for BTEC students when they were informed, with just hours' notice, that their results would not be published on time after all.
The examining board asked schools and colleges not to publish results for levels one and two vocational courses because it was recalculating grades after the fiasco with A-level results.
While efforts are being made to get the education system back to normal by reopening schools in September, it is of the utmost importance that children can return to the classroom safely. The Department of Education guidelines, released on 7th August, are aimed at clarifying how this can be achieved.
Benefits v risks
The decision to reopen schools has been a difficult one, as the importance of children receiving a good education has to be balanced with the risks of Covid-19. Schools are required to carry out a risk assessment before reopening, to consider how they can put control measures in place to operate safely at full capacity.
The essential measures include making sure that any pupils who feel ill stay at home. Staff and pupils in school must carry out "robust" hand-washing and other hygiene measures, such as catching sneezes in tissues and binning them straight away.
The school must employ enhanced cleaning arrangements, while actively engaging with the NHS Test and Trace scheme. Social distancing must be employed when it is "reasonably practicable" to minimise the potential for contamination. However, this will largely depend on the size and layout of each school.
Avoiding excessive contact
There's no "one size fits all" and the risk assessment needs to consider how children will be grouped together so contact can be avoided between the groups as much as possible.
This will also mean keeping teaching aids, stationery and other educational equipment stored safely so that items are not used by too many people.
Guidelines suggest individual and frequently used equipment, such as pens and pencils, should not be shared at all. Books and other shared resources can be used by pupils within a "bubble" or group, but they must be cleaned regularly. Any resources that are shared beyond classes or "bubbles", such as art, science and sports equipment, should be cleaned meticulously.
Equipment must always be cleaned before different classes use it. Ideally, it is suggested that there should be more than one lot of shared equipment, so it can be rotated. Each set should be left unused and out of reach for a period of 48 to 72 hours.
Seating and cleaning
All classrooms must have forward-facing desks to avoid pupils sitting in layouts such as a semi-circle, where they might face each other. Staff must maintain a distance from the pupils and from each other as much as possible.
For the teachers planning the big reopening in September, it will be challenging to have the classrooms prepared to meet stringent safety standards. It will mean extra pressure for the teachers, who will have to supervise younger children to make sure they wash their hands regularly, use hand-sanitiser and maintain social distancing.
The school must provide numerous cleaning stations containing hand sanitising gels and wipes. At strategic intervals throughout the premises, there should be somewhere to dispose of the used wipes.
A cleaning schedule must be put in place that ensures the normal routine is generally enhanced. It must include the more frequent cleaning of classrooms and other shared areas that are used by different groups. Frequently touched surfaces should also be cleaned more often.
Face masks
Currently, the guidelines do not make it compulsory for pupils to wear face masks, although media reports suggest that it "should not be ruled out", as the legislation is updated regularly, based on advice from health chiefs.
Over-11s must wear face masks on public transport and in shops, but they will not have to wear them in school. The government says this is because pupils meet the same people in school every day, so it isn't as high risk as public transport and shops, where you might come into contact with many different people on a daily basis.
Some schools in Scotland have already begun to reopen from 11th August, so getting them all up and running in the rest of the UK has been deemed a "top priority" by the government.