Making the school day longer and altering school holidays are said to be among the options being considered by the government to counter the impact of the pandemic.
With fears over pupils falling behind, the Department for Education is reportedly considering plans to lengthen the school day to help children catch up.
The plans could include extracurricular activities and out-of-hours classes being run by charities and volunteers, with teachers not necessarily asked to stay late, reports suggest.
A change to the school calendar, to extend the autumn and Christmas breaks and keep schools open longer in the summer, is understood to be another proposal being looked at.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Robert Halfon, chairman of the Commons Education Select Committee, said: "They are definitely considering all these ideas. I think they are receptive and thinking about it seriously."
And he told The Times : "We have to reform the school year. There has to be change; things cannot carry on the way they did pre-Covid. From my discussions with No 10, everything is up for debate."
Oldham headteacher Glyn Potts, who runs Blessed John Henry Newman RC College, agrees that now could be the ideal time to overhaul the school calendar with the pandemic bringing 'the opportunity to think differently'.
He said: "Whilst I am not an expert and there would need to be considered steps in this process, we should use the disruption of Covid to design an education calendar and system that reflects a modern world.
"Whilst no teacher would argue for the loss of six weeks of summer holidays, we do need to consider the impact of such historic practice. For example, should the academic year not run in parallel with the calendar year? Should school holidays be spaced out more evenly thus building in a routine of learning and gaps that can support minor regional variation.
"Perhaps limiting the summer holidays to four weeks and spreading out the remaining dates and terms would give a more even year and avoid any possibility of regression over the summer holiday."
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He believes it could be beneficial to parents, who often struggle to manage through the long summer holidays, and could even make holidays cheaper for families.
"It is also likely to be more supportive of parents who know the challenge of such a long break," he added. "It would possibly be a gesture of gratitude to parents to make changes, support pupil learning and well being as well as afford the opportunity to break the monopoly of school holiday pricing for travel agents. We all know too well the impact on holiday pricing of one week either side of a holiday period."
And Mr Potts says there are other benefits to making changes too, perhaps even having pupils from different areas off school at different times. Summer time exams could also be moved, he says.
"Could taking a regional approach that limits large holiday blocks ensure that services such as youth provision, police and social care can be more strategic in their allocation of resources?" he said. "If, for example, Oldham students were in school but Tameside not, would that allow for greater support?
"Finally, the execution of exams in the summer is a missed opportunity. This is the time that students should be engaged in outdoor learning, wellbeing and the pursuit of health. Instead, we push them in to exams during the hot summer and throw hay fever etc for them to deal with.
"I am not saying that any of these ideas are perfect or without challenges, but surely now is the time to consider how we may better serve parents and students moving forward."
Teaching unions haven't exactly welcomed the idea of lengthening the school day or altering the calendar.
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Association of School and College Leaders’ general secretary Geoff Barton, said: “We are conscious that there is a great deal of speculation about lengthening the school day or altering term dates. All of this raises a myriad of questions, not only about exactly how this would be done, but about how useful it would actually be.
"The biggest issue is how receptive pupils and families might be to the idea of spending hours after school in more lessons, or their holidays being rearranged at relatively short notice, when what they probably most crave is a return to a semblance of normality rather than yet more disruption.
“We understand that these ideas are well meaning but they seem to us to be something of a red herring in terms of catch-up, given that what we really need to focus on is how best to support children within the normal timetable. What schools most need from the government is sufficient funding to enable them to deliver that support, and the time and space away from the usual rigmarole of Ofsted inspections and performance targets to focus on teaching and learning.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Research evidence shows that there are better methods to help pupils than lengthening the school day. The government must filter out loud calls for superficially attractive schemes and listen to the experts instead.”
The DfE hasn't commented on the proposals but a government spokesperson said: “We will invest a further £300 million in tutoring programmes, building on the existing £1 billion Covid catch-up fund, but the Prime Minister has been clear that extended schools closures have had a huge impact on pupils’ education, which will take more than a year to make up.
“The government will work with parents, teachers and schools to develop a long-term plan to make sure pupils have the chance to make up their lost education over the course of this Parliament – and we have just appointed Sir Kevan Collins to the role of education recovery commissioner, to specifically oversee this issue.”
The Prime Minister has said he hopes to have schools back open on March 8, but the date isn't set in stone and largely depends on infection rates over the coming weeks.
A 'plan for taking the country out of lockdown' will be published the week commencing February 22, with Boris Johnson adding: "Our aim is to set out a gradual and phased response. Beginning with reopening schools, which must be our national priority."
