"School is the best place for children to be"
Plymouth teacher, Reah Partridge, says she is looking forward to getting back to the classroom
A Plymouth teacher says the Government’s plans to reopen schools is 'definitely the right move'.
Reah Partridge has told Greatest Hits Radio her thoughts on the Prime Minister’s roadmap out of lockdown.
On Monday (22 February) Boris Johnson confirmed that the first step of easing measures in England would see all children return to the classroom on March 8.
Reah says she is 'really looking forward to having the children back in school':
"I think school is the best place for children to be so it’s quite a relief to find out we will be going back."
During Monday’s announcement, the Prime Minister said getting children back into school has been the 'top priority'.
Mr Johnson also confirmed that by this point March 8, everyone in the top four vaccine priority groups will have received the first dose of their vaccine and developed the necessary protection from it.
There will be at least five weeks between each stage of the roadmap so experts can study the data; and the Government say the timeline set out could go more slowly, depending on the latest data on things like vaccine take-up and hospital admissions.
Reah believes they have made the right decision:
"It does seem like the Government are recognising the importance of education and recognising that it’s tricky for children to be out of school and for their parents. So I think the funding they’re providing and the priority of opening schools has definitely been the right move."
Schools have been the focus in the news this week. On Wednesday (24 February) the Government announced that they are setting an additional ÂŁ400 million aside to help pupils catch-up on missed learning.
The money is on top of the ÂŁ300 million announced for catch-up projects in January.
It is hoped the cash will also be spent on tutoring, as well as running additional clubs and activities.
Reah says it is a 'good start':
"It’s hard to know exactly what amount will be needed to help and I think any time missed from school is going to have a big impact on children, on their wellbeing and on their education.
"We can definitely put that money to good use in the sense of funding booster sessions and extra catch-up sessions; and also providing extra resources to help the children and certainly help those children where the gap has widened perhaps, so we can ensure that all children make up for that lost time at school."
It was also announced that exams for GCSE and A-level students in England are being replaced by teacher assessments.
Grades will be based on a range of things, including mocks, coursework, and in-class essays.
Last year's controversial computer algorithm - which awarded some pupils low marks - will not be used again.