This Council believes:

The impact of COVID 19 on the lives of all Trafford residents has been severe. Children’s education has been particularly affected with schools locked down for two significant periods over the last 12 months. Increasing unemployment and levels of poverty as a result of the pandemic have also provided a stark reminder of the reality of child hunger in the UK and the importance the provision of Free School Meals plays in combating this injustice. These damaging childhood experiences have been made worse by a series of incompetent decisions made by the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williams MP. These mistakes rank among the worst the government has made during the pandemic because of their impact, as well as being avoidable if the Secretary of State had demonstrated trust in teachers and their democratically elected representatives in Parliament and the unions. These serious mistakes include:

·          In March 2020 the government ordered schools to close with no clear direction or guidance on how they should conduct learning at a distance, either in what the online lessons should be or how pupils without technology could get access. The Secretary of State failed to deliver the number of laptops promised for disadvantaged students in the first lockdown. Now, by the Education Secretary’s own estimate, the roll out of one million devices will not be reached until the end of January – two thirds of the way through the current lockdown. With last summer squandered by the Department for Education (DfE), it is galling that this remains an issue. The result has been that the gap between pupils in high and low achieving schools has widened and continues to do so.

·          The catastrophe of the 2020 GCSE and A-level results stemmed from a decision that grade inflation should be avoided and a lack of regard for the injustices that Ofqual’s algorithm would produce, for individuals and social groups, as well as a failure to set up an extensive appeals process.

·          The U-turn on 2020 exam results after five days meant that universities had already filled up many places. That led to a scramble in which some would take more pupils (requiring more funding), some would force pupils to defer their places with a knock-on effect on 2021, and some would be left underfunded, without enough pupils to fill their places.

·          Experienced teachers, headteachers, unions and parents identified in July 2020 that GCSE and A-Levels in 2021 could not possibly take place fairly due to the wide ranging amounts of time Year 10 and 12 students had lost from the classroom and they called for internal assessments with external moderation. It took until early January 2021 for the Secretary of State to announce to Parliament that internal assessments would replace externally assessed exams but still without any details allowing teachers, students and parents to effectively plan for them.

This Council calls for:

·          Gavin Williamson MP, Secretary of State for Education to resign or for the Prime Minister to replace him immediately.  ...  view the full agenda text for item 51

It was moved and seconded that:

“This Council believes:

The impact of COVID 19 on the lives of all Trafford residents has been severe. Children’s education has been particularly affected with schools locked down for two significant periods over the last 12 months. Increasing unemployment and levels of poverty as a result of the pandemic have also provided a stark reminder of the reality of child hunger in the UK and the importance the provision of Free School Meals plays in combating this injustice. These damaging childhood experiences have been made worse by a series of incompetent decisions made by the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williams MP. These mistakes rank among the worst the government has made during the pandemic because of their impact, as well as being avoidable if the Secretary of State had demonstrated trust in teachers and their democratically elected representatives in Parliament and the unions. These serious mistakes include:

·           In March 2020 the government ordered schools to close with no clear direction or guidance on how they should conduct learning at a distance, either in what the online lessons should be or how pupils without technology could get access. The Secretary of State failed to deliver the number of laptops promised for disadvantaged students in the first lockdown. Now, by the Education Secretary’s own estimate, the roll out of one million devices will not be reached until the end of January – two thirds of the way through the current lockdown. With last summer squandered by the Department for Education (DfE), it is galling that this remains an issue. The result has been that the gap between pupils in high and low achieving schools has widened and continues to do so.

·           The catastrophe of the 2020 GCSE and A-level results stemmed from a decision that grade inflation should be avoided and a lack of regard for the injustices that Ofqual’s algorithm would produce, for individuals and social groups, as well as a failure to set up an extensive appeals process.

·           The U-turn on 2020 exam results after five days meant that universities had already filled up many places. That led to a scramble in which some would take more pupils (requiring more funding), some would force pupils to defer their places with a knock-on effect on 2021, and some would be left underfunded, without enough pupils to fill their places.

·           Experienced teachers, headteachers, unions and parents identified in July 2020 that GCSE and A-Levels in 2021 could not possibly take place fairly due to the wide ranging amounts of time Year 10 and 12 students had lost from the classroom and they called for internal assessments with external moderation. It took until early January 2021 for the Secretary of State to announce to Parliament that internal assessments would replace externally assessed exams but still without any details allowing teachers, students and parents to effectively plan for them.

This Council calls for:

·           Gavin Williamson MP, Secretary of State for Education to resign or for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51

After the fiasco of this year’s A-level and GCSE results, this Council is keen to ensure fairness for students next year. On 19 August, trade union leaders wrote to Gavin Williamson outlining what steps the Government must take to ensure no student is disadvantaged, as did Kate Green MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Education on 10 November. Students and teachers urgently need clarity on A-levels and GCSEs, in particular what contingency is in place if exams have to be cancelled again next year. It is imperative that the distressing experiences of 2020 A-level students are never repeated, and that this chaos justifies a wider review of how qualifications are awarded.

This Council calls on Government to:

•     Reduce the content assessed in GCSE and A-level exams next summer, across all subjects, by making some topics optional to allow for the different order in which content will have been taught across the country.

•     Put in place arrangements to make sure that no student misses out on the opportunity to receive their qualifications as a result of having to self-isolate during next year’s exam period. This government must work with exam boards to make reserve papers available in all subjects. This would make it possible for students who miss an exam opportunity to sit it at a later date.

•     Create a level playing across the country for all students sitting exams next year. The pandemic has hit and will continue to hit the regions to varying degrees. The government has hinted at flexibility to boundary grades but must go further and seriously consider a regional approach to norm-referencing performance to reflect the varying degrees of school attendance levels across the regions.

•     Publish its plans now for a worst-case scenario whereby exams cannot go ahead next year due to the impact of the pandemic. A credible Plan B is required that must have the confidence of parents, teachers, school leaders and unions.

This Council calls on the Leader of Trafford Council to:

•    Write to the Secretary of State for Education asking him to respond as a matter of urgency to all of the above points.

RESOLVED: That the Motion be deferred to a date to be determined.