Teachers warn Clegg over summer camp scheme

The plans, announced by Nick Clegg at the Liberal Democrat conference, are part of the government’s reaction to this summer’s rioting.

But while Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, welcomed extra funding for residential summer programmes, he said such schemes should not be seen "as an antidote to broken Britain".

Hobby said: "If what Mr Clegg has in mind are just literacy boot camps for poor children, they will squander the chance of doing something with enormous potential for all. Neither should summer camps be seen as punishment for children who have fallen behind or they will lose the support of the very families they seek to help."
 
He suggested the government should instead consider shortening summer holidays. One way of ensuring they make a smoother transition from primary to secondary school would be to avoid leaving them out in the educational cold for six weeks," he said.