What are everyone’s thoughts on the Education experts thoughts about delaying the school year? This was from Nursery world.
The proposals for children return to settings and school in the autumn term 2020 are:
In September children will return to the year/age groups and adults they left in March to re-settle, build on their current starting points and re-establish where they are in their learning and development as well as in their relationships and routines. This will be a time to consolidate prior learning, including the learning gained during lockdown, and to build on any positive practice developed through new ways of working with families.
Children who were due to start Reception in September will remain in their nursery setting, pre-school, nursery school, or nursery class. They will start their transition visits to Reception classes including a settling-in period in partnership with their parents, with plenty of time to build relationships with their new teachers and develop their self-confidence.
Children due to start in Year 1 in September will instead return to their Reception classes. With a curriculum focused on crucial aspects of recovery, such as rebuilding relationships and reducing anxiety, and an emphasis on promoting/stimulating their physical, emotional and language development, they would fulfil EYFS expectations and ultimately be ready for the Y1 curriculum.
Children due to start in Year 2 in September will remain in Year 1. This will help teachers and children secure the foundations of the Y1 curriculum. Any attempt to ‘catch up’ what is seen as ‘missing’ in order to achieve end of KS1 targets would simply result in (a) leaving out chunks of the curriculum or (b) rushing children through the curriculum. Both would result in vital connections not being made between new and prior learning and, consequently, knowledge and understanding being weakened, standards falling and a pervading sense of failure impacting negatively on children’s wellbeing.
Spring Term 2021: All children will transition to their next year groups and new children will start in Reception. In effect this will be the start of a shortened school year.