:
Schools Law Brief
July 2020
Schools will now have broken up for the summer holidays and all staff will be in need of a well- earned break. No doubt schools will be keeping a careful eye on developments to plan for September and will continue to keep schools updated.
Since our last mailing, we have had further guidance about a return to school in September. The Government has now confirmed it would like all pupils in all year groups to return to school on a full-time basis at the beginning of the new academic year. Most schools appear to value the flexibility to determine appropriate arrangements themselves in the latest guidance. Please see our commentary on this:
Guidance on Full School Opening and Preparing for the New Academic Year
We had prepared FAQs to help schools with the phased re-opening. These are still currently available and we will update the sections on summer schools and holiday clubs. We will prepare new FAQs to take effect from September.
Planning for School Re-Opening - FAQs
Exam Assessment
We have also received new guidance relating to public exams, including details on appeals of this summer's GCSE and A Level grades and arrangements for an autumn exam series.
We attach our advice in the light of this, covering exam challenges and how to handle requests for information.
Guidance on Exam Assessments
Furlough Update
Last week the Chancellor delivered a mini-budget, setting out the Government's plan to aid the UK economy's recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
One of these which will no doubt be of interest to schools is the retention bonus for employers using furlough scheme. The cost of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will rise incrementally for employers from 1 August every month until it closes on 31 October 2020. Amid concern the rising cost will prompt employers to make furloughed staff redundant, the Government will make a one-off payment of £1,000 for every furloughed employee earning over £520 per month, who is retained until the end of January 2021. We are waiting to receive further guidance and details. We have already seen some large employers publicly state that they will not claim the bonus and no doubt schools will want to give careful consideration to the options.
The furlough scheme still continues to evolve and we have seen further HMRC guidance which addresses the interaction between holiday and furlough. This appears to be specifically intended for pre-booked holidays but has raised further questions as to how this might apply to the school holiday period. We have provided updated guidance to help schools consider how to approach this issue.
Can Teachers and Other Staff Be Furloughed over the Summer Holidays?
Employment Issues
Most schools will have a number of staff who have been shielding as a result of health issues and as such have either been working remotely, or furloughed. The Government has advised that shielding staff who are unable to work from home, should return to the workplace from 1 August, as long as protective measures are in place. As schools will be gearing up to full educational provision from September it may mean that schools need to plan for staff who have been shielding to return to the workplace. This may no doubt lead to some challenges and schools would be advised to commence an early dialogue.
Shielding Staff - Managing a Return to Work
Fees and Parent Contract
We know that many of you are still dealing with complaints and disputes about summer term fees, while thinking about how best to charge for September. Given the Government's intention to enable all pupils to return to full-time education in school from September and indeed to compel this, most schools are intending to charge full fees from September. Some, mindful of the ongoing uncertainty created by COVID-19, are varying their contracts with parents and offering to review matters at the end of term (with a view to then passing on any savings to parents which may have been achieved). We recommend that schools consider these issues carefully and, as always, we will be pleased to help with this. We would remind all School Fee Recovery Scheme members that they are entitled to half an hour's free advice on fee and recovery issues as part of their membership.
We have prepared a note regarding the interplay between fee disputes and complaints.
Fee-Related Parental Disputes
Access Our Coronavirus Resources on OnStream
We will keep materials updated on
OnStream
so please do log on for the latest guidance at any time. Although we are working remotely, we are available to all our client (by email or mobile number, details of which are available on our
website
) and so please do contact us for support.
Tier 4 Sponsorship FAQs
We have put together an FAQs document to address many of the queries we are currently receiving about how coronavirus is affecting Tier 4 sponsorship. Please contact
Tom Brett Young
to request a copy.
You can also catch up on our recent webinar on Tier 4 Immigration Essentials by clicking the banner below.
Navigate through re-opening
your School after lockdown
Coronavirus E-learning for staff available for September
Barney Northover
bnorthover
@vwv.co.uk
0117 314 5395
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