Summer classes could be offered to English school pupils in order to help them catch up on lessons missed during lockdown, says a report. Ministers are looking at whether to provide funding for catch up classes held over the summer holiday period, aimed at school pupils who have fallen furthest behind. Whitehall sources told the Daily Mail, that officials are now examining a plan that sees schools offer half day classes. The model is based on one used by some Harris Academy schools in London. Currently, most catch up funding goes towards paying for one-to-one or small group tutoring. Kids could take ‘up to 5 years to catch up’ The emergence of the proposals comes a day after Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield warned that the loss of schooling in the pandemic could see some children take up to five years to catch up. Speaking to The Spectator, she said: “As this goes on, we are talking about a cohort of children that probably, for the next three to five years, will need that kind of consideration of the loss they’ve had. Both in learning but also in that wider socialisation and confidence in their lives.” Schools across England were closed for the first three months of the first national lockdown last year, and the Prime Minister announced on Wednesday (27 Jan) that schools would not fully reopen until 8 March, at the earliest. The Sun revealed earlier this week that children in lower years will likely be the first to go back, with kids in key exam years also high on the list. The Prime Minister has currently pledged a further £300 million in catch up funding for schools, promising that the Government would devise a “long term plan” to help minimise the impact of lost education through lockdown.