Last week, around 14% of school age children attended for at least some of the week, including pupils in eligible year groups – Reception, Year 1, Year 6, Year 10 and Year 12 – the children of key workers and vulnerable children and young people.
Since the wider reopening of schools at the start of June, nearly 8,000 children have attended for at least one session, including a third of children in Reception and Year 1, 40% of pupils in Year 6 and a quarter of Year 10 students.
Councillor Dr Michael Hardacre, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, said: "Education is vitally important for all children and young people, and so it is pleasing that our schools have been able to safely welcome back so many children since the start of June.
"Schools are now open to pupils in 5 key year groups, vulnerable children and the children of key workers, and we are now turning our attention to how they can safely open to all school-aged children and young people from September.
“We also appreciate that many pupils haven’t been able to go back to school this term, and schools will continue to support parents and carers to educate their children at home throughout the rest of the summer term.”
While things may be slightly different at present, the city’s schools are finding different ways to engage with their pupils, both those in school and studying at home.
A team from Eastfield Primary School, alongside staff from Wolverhampton Wanderers Foundation, were busy out and about in the local community delivering English and maths workbooks for the school’s 420 children to complete over the next few weeks and the summer holiday period.
And The King's CE School in Tettenhall went ahead with its annual Pride of King's awards ceremony on Thursday night – holding it virtually rather than in person with the help of special guests including Joe Lycett, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Wolverhampton South West MP Stuart Anderson and ITV Central's Mark Kielesz-Levine. The ceremony can be seen at Pride of King’s 2020.
The latest information and guidance around coronavirus is available at GOV.UK and on the council’s own coronavirus pages at Coronavirus advice and information. There’s lots of advice on how people can protect themselves and their families from coronavirus from the NHS at Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The council’s Stay Safe, Be Kind campaign offers clear and simple advice about how people can help themselves, and how they can support others who may be particularly vulnerable at this time. For more information, please visit Stay Safe, Be Kind.
