THE education minister has stressed that help and support will be available for students catching up with schoolwork following lockdown.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Welsh Government press conference, Kirsty Williams said support would be available for those concerned about the challenges ahead regarding the catch-up process following months of home schooling.

She said: “This week is a very big week for children and young people, parents and carers and the teaching staff right the way across Wales. Staff are busy working on the final touches to make sure that schools and colleges are safe, secure, welcoming and ready for the return of learners this week.

“Since going into lockdown in March, the education family in Wales has shown its ability to adapt safely and has shown its resilience. I am incredibly proud of how everyone has acted in response to this pandemic and what has been achieved.”

Schools closed their doors to the vast majority of students to limit the spread of coronavirus in Wales on March 20 – just days before the national lockdown was announced on March 23.

Some parents have expressed concerns that their children heading into key years for examination - being Years Six and Eleven – and questions have been raised over the practicality of having these youngsters return to the classroom with a mountain of almost half a school years work to catch up on as well as the new material.

Addressing these concerns, Ms Williams told the Leader: “Each individual local authority across North Wales will be receiving financial support that they can make available to their schools so that they can help those children catch up.

“The priority is indeed on those years where public examinations are being sat or those students who we know lockdown will have been particularly challenging - some of our poorer children and those children who have found home learning difficult for a whole variety of reasons.”

Reassuring concerned parents, Ms Williams stressed that there will be support available in schools across the region and professionals will work to help them catch up.

She says that schools will be planning “from the very moment these children get back” how best to support them in their education going forward and prepare the next cohort of exam-takers to be prepared.

She said: “At this time, our intention is to hold examinations next year. Qualifications Wales is liaising with other bodies whether it would be wise to move those examinations to a different point in the year primarily to maximise teaching time and ensure that all specifications can be taught.

“Clearly, there is a knock-on effect and we need to ensure those examinations can be properly assessed by examiners.”

Ms Williams says that the WJEC exam board has been working on specifications for teaching subjects this year to make them as manageable as possible.

As examples, the minister said this could mean reducing the number of case studies needed to be taught for a particular subject or lowering the number of texts a Literature student would need to learn about.