The case for a national open school

Pupils have returned to school – some after more than five months away from the physical classroom. But questions are still being asked.

What will the “new normal” look like? How will pupils catch-up on missed lessons? Will social distancing and local lockdowns mean students will have to spend some time learning at home this year?

The way that schools have coped with lockdown has varied. Some independent schools were streets ahead, already having already set up their own online learning platforms, whereas other schools had high numbers of disadvantaged pupils unable to access online learning at all.

The BBC provided a huge range of resources, such as its Bitesize classes, and the new government-supported initiative – Oak National Academy – produced millions of free video lessons with the help of volunteer teachers. Indeed, Oak National Academy is continuing to operate into 2020/21 as part of the government contingency planning.