22/09/2020: Quadrupling in schools sending pupils home in Covid cases

The number of schools in England sending home groups of pupils because of Covid-19 incidents has quadrupled in a week, according to the latest official figures. Based on attendance last Thursday, they . . . show 4% of schools not fully open because of confirmed or suspected cases – up from 1% the previous week.
BBC

21/09/2020: One-in-20 pupils at home with lockdown-related issues

Around one in 20 children in England are out of school due to issues linked to the pandemic and lockdown, the Children’s Commissioner has suggested. Anne Longfield stressed the number of schools who . . . have sent pupils home due to a Covid-19 case was very small. There were many others, she said, with special needs or emotional problems, who had not yet returned from lockdown.
BBC

18/09/2020: Schools in poorer areas lack catch-up cash

Schools in poor parts of England will struggle the most to help their pupils catch-up after the lockdown, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The last 10 years have seen real-terms cuts amounting . . . to 9% per pupil which fell hardest on schools in the poorest areas, says the IFS. And schools in poorer areas will get less of a boost from the extra £7.1bn earmarked for schools up to 2022-23.
BBC