MP Julie Marson disagrees with proposals for longer school days

School days should not be extended into the evening hours for many weeks in a row, Hertford and Stortford MP Julie Marson has warned.

Marson expressed the need for an effective approach to recover from the significant impact that the pandemic has had on student’s education. She feels that there is no sufficient substitute for classroom learning and supports pupils return to school.

“We need to balance the needs of families and teachers,” she said, when considering how students can catch up following school closure. She suggested that the approach must “not overburden any one area. Summer schools could have a part to play”.

Plans for summer schools and longer school days were proposed as a solution to ministers earlier this month by the chair of the Education Select Committee, Robert Halfon.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Monday that all students will return to face-to-face teaching from 8th March. He also announced a further £700m in funding that will be used to support catch-up education for pupils, which brings the total government investment to £1.7bn.

Barhey Singh, Joint Secretary at the Hertfordshire National Education Union, warned that “teachers will burn out and fall ill” if their already “long working hours” are extended. “Students will find it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time and will not retain the information,”, he said.

Singh stressed that volunteer or supply teachers would be required for extended days and summer schools but the money for this is not available. “For extra tuition to be effective there needs to be communication between the class teacher and the tutor employed to cover these extra lessons. How is this going to be achieved?”.

Ellen Hogg, Teaching Assistant at St Catherines Primary School, said: “I think that summer schools would be very beneficial to the children, as months of work could be caught up on.”

She highlighted that “the pandemic has severely affected the children’s education” and states that the school expects students to be “at least 6 months behind”. However, Hogg agreed that summer schools may have a negative impact on teachers who have already had their “workload increased greatly” over lockdown.

She stated that longer school days for young children “would be completely useless” as they would struggle to stay focused. Instead, she said, “the school will be supporting those who have not been able to complete daily work at home. We will provide high quality teaching and lessons in the afternoon which is unusual, and push children further and faster”.

Charlotte Blackwell, mother of a child attending Wheatcroft Primary School, expressed her concerns over the new proposals. “The kids need the summer break to get back to normal life, and I believe they will catch up. But longer days and summer school is not the answer”.