It’s nearly time to go back to school, pupils are being told.
The Prime Minister has said a swift return in September is ‘vitally important‘ – and parents are now being urged to shop for shoes, buy new backpacks and grab the stationery kits.
Education facilities are all set to reopen as planned, and for many, this news will come as something of a relief.
Teaching effectively during coronavirus has been like trying to navigate choppy waters in a midnight storm, and both teachers and parents will be grateful for some stability that the school return will bring.
Nonetheless, the disruption of the past six months or so has led to new measures being introduced in schools and colleges.
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These are designed to support any pupils hoping to catch up on missed work, offer children opportunities to resit exams and, most importantly of all, keep everyone in education protected.
Here’s what families should know right now about going back to school.
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Exam resits
Any pupils who ended up with grades at GCSE or A Level they were ultimately unhappy with will be able to retake these tests in the autumn.
Pupils should speak to their teachers/schools as soon as possible in order to arrange resits.
The registration deadline for retaking A Levels is September 4, with resits taking place in October.
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Those wanting to retake GCSEs must register by September 18 (except English and Maths, for which the deadline is October 4) to resit in November.
New assessment for Year 6 pupils
New compulsory assessments are being introduced for all pupils starting Year 6 in September 2020.
Occurring in summer 2021, these tests aim to determine how much learning children have lost due to COVID-19 whilst also prepping them for the step up to secondary school.
The Government commented: “Children and young people have missed a critical period of their education due to schools having to close to the majority of pupils to control the spread of coronavirus.
“It is vital that we better understand the impact of coronavirus on children’s education and give support to schools that need it the most.”
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Classes and curriculum
On its website, the Government has stated that the school curriculum should ‘remain broad’ so that ‘the majority of pupils are taught a full range of subjects over the year, including sciences, humanities, the arts, physical education/sport, religious education and relationships and health education.’
COVID-19 measures however are likely to impact a number of classes, and the Government has published general guidance for education facilities on how to keep a full curriculum.
Regarding the subject of PE, which could potentially be seen as trickier to control, the Government added: “Schools have the flexibility to decide how physical education, sport and physical activity will be provided whilst following the measures in their system of controls.”
Face masks
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Face coverings have now been made mandatory for pupils Year 7 and above in schools in high-risk areas, such as Greater Manchester.
Pupils and staff will be asked to wear face coverings in corridors and other communal areas where social distancing is challenging.
Greater Manchester officially launches five-year climate change action plan
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester has officially begun its five-year climate change action plan, with the overarching goal of becoming a net-zero city region by 2038.
The comprehensive pledge put together over a number of years itself will see Manchester City Council and the nearby local authorities put into action a number of key measures that will help to reduce not only central carbon figures but, eventually, across the 10 boroughs in turn.
Over the last 15 years, emissions have been reduced by approximately 64%, saving an estimated 44,344 tonnes of carbon through cleaner building energy, street lighting and other electronics, as well as the increasingly green and over-growing Bee Network.
They have also insisted that it isn’t just about cutting down on greenhouse gases; the aim is to make the city region and the surrounding areas more sustainable, affordable and create a better standard of life.
Our five-year plan to tackle climate change launches today. 🌏
It details how we’ll continue to deliver dramatic reductions in the amount of carbon we emit (the biggest contributor to climate change). 🏙️
As per the summary on the Council website, in addition to creating more efficient homes, they’re hoping to provide more access to nature and good-quality green space, “public transport you can rely on”, and “better health and wellbeing for those who live, work, study and visit here.”
With a steadily recovering local and national economy (touch wood), they’re also hoping for an influx of new jobs, too.
Summarising the key bullet points leading up to the end of the decade, these are the next steps currently outlined by the Council:
Lower carbon emissions
Grow the use of renewable energy
Improve low-carbon travel in the city
Improve air quality
Grow the city’s natural environment and boost biodiversity
Improve resilience to flooding and extreme heat
Engage and involve our workforce and our city’s communities
Reduce waste and grow reuse, repair, sharing and recycling
Support a move to a more circular economy
Minimise the negative impact of events held in the city
Develop our knowledge of our indirect emissions and lower them
Create a green financing strategy and explore new funding models for the city
Influence the environmental practices of other organisations
As for emissions, the target is now to drop the present output by another 34%, which will prevent almost 43,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from being pumped into the atmosphere.
Having touched upon the continued expansion of the Bee Network infrastructure, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is also set to install multiple new travel links over the coming years, including both new tram stops and train stations – further
You can read the climate action plan in full HERE.
Manchester’s firework displays are ‘back with a bang’ as they return from 2026
Emily Sergeant
Council-organised firework displays in Manchester’s parks are set to return from next year, it has been confirmed.
You may remember that these once-popular events have not been held since 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic initially prevented them from taking place from 2020 onwards, and then following that, they remained paused on a trial basis while the Manchester City Council sought to ‘reprioritise funding’ to support a wider range of free community events across the city.
But now, as it seems, the door was never shut on their potential return.
An ‘improved financial position’ now means that the Council is in a position to bring firework events back, while also still continuing to support other community events.
Papers setting out the Council’s financial position show that fairer funding being introduced by the Government next year will leave the Council better off than previously anticipated, he the reason firework displays have been brought back into the mix.
The Council has admitted that ‘pressures remain’ after so many years of financial cuts, but this new funding creates the opportunity to invest in the things residents have said matter the most to them.
“Manchester prides itself on free community events and we know many people have missed Bonfire night firework spectaculars,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council.
“That’s why we are pleased to confirm they’ll be back by popular demand in 2026.
“We know that generations of Mancunians have enjoyed Council-organised displays and that free family events are a great way to bring people together… [and] now that this Government is actually investing in Councils like ours rather than the cuts we had since 2010, we can bring back Bonfire events.”
The Manc -
25th August 2020 
