All London schools now closed.

[stayingaliveisawayoflife]

Emergency meeting today agreed it. All boroughs left off now included.

@CountessFrog

I’m in the north.

I also know that there were 16 patients in our ICU with covid by October half term and there are currently 9

Ok thanks that makes sense in terms of hit (not knowing all details obvs)

@CelieandNettie

Now just waiting to see if Kent County Council do the same. I'm due to go back Monday in a local primary school

It won't be Kent's decision

People are missing the point of the tiers. If you have to take into account the tier and then awhile load of other things, the tiers have failed in their job and are just random categories assigned to areas.

There’s no point comparing your area’s rate now to London’s. Look at the increase in positive tests which are new variant and the overall increase in positives. Then work out how far behind London your area is. Why would the government want to wait two weeks until the north’s hospitals are as overwhelmed as London’s? I can’t believe we’ve had the bad luck to have this bunch of useless prevaricators in charge of the government during a national crisis.

Mostly that new variant hasn’t hit North as it has London SE

Should be all schools til 18th.

This is just unfair to all primary teachers now.

@StealthPolarBear I agree our tier 4 isn’t the same as Kent tier 4 but rules wise only the primary school decision is different so it would be confusing if Kent were on tier 5 and us tier 4 with matching rules.

Our numbers are slowly rising but not frighteningly so. We have only had one case in our local primary since March.

And the BBC have woken up. ]]www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55511169]]

Unlike me with my links. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55511169

I think it may be to do with the rate of increase in London that's caused this decision. Just before Christmas my borough was around 100 per 100k population. Within two weeks it went up to over 600. If it continued to rise at that rate the hospitals would be completely overwhelmed. They may also have data that suggests that schools were more highly involved in the level of transmission in London atm than possibly in other areas.

I don't think that all Tier 4 areas have identical Covid situations with regard to rate of increase or underlying causes for the spread. All this things are so different for London is really getting on my nerves. It's just as shit to be on lockdown/Tier 4/shielding/self-isolating here as it is anywhere else.

I should clarify - I support the closure. But as the parent of a child in primary in London, it is shit for the govt to let us know this at 6pm on Fri aft.

@Wannabangbang winter vomiting bug. Cold symptoms but not covid symptoms, too unwell for school. Having to self isolate following app message. I’m still deciding which I will use tbh.

thanks m0therofdragons will check that out. I work in a school and have a 5yo and a 10yo. Not sure how I'm supposed to go back to work (it's a secondary and planning to reopen) while my DH works full-time at home and educates our children...

poor working parents shafted again.

Some tier 4 areas have pretty low infection rates though. I'm in tier 4 and we have 169 cases per 100,000.
I don't for one minute think there's London favouritism going on here. The figures are absolutely terrifying.
(When I say low I mean compared to national average)

They need to stop dithering and do this nationally.

@loulouljh

poor working parents shafted again.

It should have been obligatory for people to have furlough approved for childcare reasons.

Rate of increase must surely be one of the factors affecting the tier an area is in.
Otherwise tiers are meaningless. Be aware of your tier but then also cpnsider:

• current rates
• trends
• hospitalisation
• hospital capacity
• deaths
• movement in and out of the area, usually
• tiers of neighbouring areas
• ditto all the above, per neighbouring area

This is not a tier system. This is utter shit.

Schools will still be open to vulnerable and key worker children. Schools will not be closed.

Bbc clearly doesn't see this as worthy of a breaking news alert. Whereas the fact brecit happened (as we all knew it would yesterday) was.

Tier 4 here in the North East and I've had no intention of sending my primary school age DD back. My prediction has always been that BoJo will be back behind his podium this time tomorrow shutting schools in all Tier 4 areas. If he doesn't, they will be shut by default in a week.
Negligent and late to act as always.

There's a huge variation between the infection rates in the first places to be put into tier 4 and places which were added later.

The town where I live and teach had very low rates in the Spring and Summer but is now twice the national average. My primary school will only be open for vulnerable and key worker children on Monday.

Dd goes to 6th form college in the next town. It previously had one of the lowest infection rates in the country but is now 3 times the national average. That town will have the same pattern of school openings as where we live.

The rest of the county was put into tier 4 later, has lower rates and primary schools are opening on Monday.

Mostly that new variant hasn’t hit North as it has London SE

yet

Midlands. My area is 214 per 100000, but 10 mins to the west and it's 700+ and 15 mins to the east and it's 980+ ! If the new variant isn't here yet then we are clearly fucked.

If the kids go back, surely those numbers will rise everywhere!

I reckon my year 9s could very easily work out the problem here. I fully expect the government are under pressure from everyone with half a brain cell to close schools but for some reason, they are bowing down to pressure from a bunch of tossers on social media.

Teachers have been preparing for online teaching (live lessons-i have finally sorted out Teams) and it won't be like the spring. But like many of my colleagues, I worked bloody hard during that time and was available and talking to students 'live' all day and well into the evening.