Ofsted gives schools green light to cut back curriculum but warns this should not be out of 'convenience'

The head of Ofsted has given schools the green light to cut back on the curriculum but warned that teachers should not do so out just because it is “convenient”.

Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools in England, acknowledged that headteachers have some “tough decisions” to make about the curriculum when pupils return full-time in September.

But she cautioned that decisions should be made with children’s best interests at heart and said that “big chunks” should not just be cut out of the syllabus in a "blanket way".

“I very much hope that no one will be jumping to decisions to stop any subject across the board for all children,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“What’s important is that schools concentrate on doing as much as they can. No two ways about it, a lot of teaching time has been lost for some children so schools have got some tough decisions to make but those should be made in the interests of each individual child, not in a blanket way to do what is convenient for the school.”

Her remarks come after the Department for Education issued guidance which said that schools must ensure that any gaps in children's "core knowledge" are filled when they reopen in September.

This could mean making "substantial modifications" to the curriculum at the beginning of the academic year, the guidance said. For some pupils, entire subjects could be suspended to free space in the timetable for extra English and maths lessons.

Such a move should be made in "exceptional circumstances", following discussions with parents, and the full curriculum should be restored no later than the summer term.

Pupils in their first year of secondary school may need to be re-taught the Year Six syllabus for English and maths, and GCSE pupils may be asked to drop subjects so they can concentrate on getting good grades in English and maths.

Experts have previously warned that such a move could lead to a “cultural apartheid” with middle-class children receiving an education in subjects such as music and art while their peers from poorer backgrounds are made to focus on English and Maths.

But Ms Spielman backed the Government's plans, saying: "It may make sense for a small minority of children to perhaps drop a subject that they might otherwise have been doing.

“Or for some schools to decide that they will provide a curriculum with slightly less scope in some subjects in primary school to make sure that the core English and maths do get fully back on track. But that's very different to wholesale slicing out of big chunks of the curriculum".

A study published last month found that more than two million children have done virtually no schoolwork during the lockdown. One in five pupils in the UK – equating to around 2.3 million children – either did no home learning at all or less than one hour a day, according to a report by University College London's Institute of Education.

Researchers analysed the findings of a study in which over 4,500 British households were asked about their children's schoolwork during the second half of April.

They found that children spent an average of 2.5 hours each day doing schoolwork. This is around half the amount suggested by previous research, which implies that "learning losses are much greater than feared", academics said.

On Monday, Ofsted announced that inspectors will start to resume their work in schools from September but they will not “pass judgement” on whether pupils are catching up the learning they missed during lockdown.

These will be “visits” rather than inspections, and schools will not be graded. Instead, inspectors will hold “collaborative conversations” with headteachers and the outcome of these discussions will be summarised in a letter to parents.

Headteachers have criticised the plans to autumn “visits” from inspectors, saying they are unconvinced that these will have any real value.

Routine Ofsted inspections have been suspended since mid-March when schools closed their doors.

However, as schools prepare to fully reopen in September, Ofsted has announced its plans to partially resume its monitoring of schools with its full inspections due to start from January.