All London schools now closed.

[stayingaliveisawayoflife]

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

Apart from the figures in London one of the other key contributing factors will be infrastructure.

Unlike most other areas, pretty much everyone uses public transport to get to and from school, and much of that public transport crosses boroughs, leaving the chance of infection much more open than anywhere else.

Close the schools and you immediately remove millions of people from the tube at rush hour.

The people turning this into a North/South divide or an anti-London thing need to stop.

London Councils threatened to take the government to court.

Other local authorities need to follow suit.

I'm guessing a lot of the local authorities with high numbers of Covid cases but inexplicably open schools are Conservative-run and are therefore not willing to rock the boat. Or they are not able to group together and afford such an action.

However, now the London Councils have forced a u-turn it's a good thing. A precedent has been set. It will be harder for the government to push the line other schools are safe to open.

And not just in tier 4, either.

I'm expecting more closures.

Please, people, leave go of this crazy, emotional, irrationalism. It's pure populist divide and rule stuff.

It is the government that is failing us: you, me, our children - all of us.

Look at the big picture - not imaginary grudges.

Be angry with a government that is filled with incompetents, hand-picked because they are incompetent.

The smart-but-too-rational-to-be-easily-controlled by Johnson's Brexit-at-all-costs crew were sidelined, silenced or kicked out.

It's not an accident this is a massive fuck up.

And I feel really sorry for schools trying to organise amidst this chaos.

London Councils threatened to take the government to court.

Do you have a link or hear this on radio etc?

@girasol

I don't know if I'm being dim, but I don't understand why the Primaries are being closed.

Before you jump down my throat (!) I'm fully aware of of the catastrophic Covid rates and if pushed I'd say that probably all schools should remain closed other than for KW and vulnerable kids.

But the point with postponing the return of Secondaries for a week or two was to allow time to put a testing regime in place - but that's not what is being suggested for Primaries (is it?!) so what is the game plan here? Is the government hoping that rates will start to drop by mid-late Jan such that it will be "safe" for the Primaries in question to reopen fully? Because that seems unlikely in the extreme...

So why aren't they saying that in all likelihood these Primaries will have to stay closed until at least Feb half term/possibly Easter (which is when it seems the vaccination programme might start to have an appreciable effect)? I feel like I'm missing something here, can anyone enlighten me? TIA

Testing is going to be difficult to set up; they want schools to do the job with very little in the way of resources. Maybe it is dawning on them.

And rates and deaths are rocketing, with schools at the epicentre, a new variant spreading that thrives on being in the schools and very few mitigation measures still in schools.

Meanwhile, the hospitals are on the point of being completely overwhelmed.

Sensible thing would be to admit the problem exists, shut schools like a lot of other places in Europe to reduce the numbers, and re-open with a proper plan. Maybe they could use some of noble giraffe's ideas for the proper plan?

@thecatfromjapan

The people turning this into a North/South divide or an anti-London thing need to stop.

London Councils threatened to take the government to court.

Other local authorities need to follow suit.

I'm guessing a lot of the local authorities with high numbers of Covid cases but inexplicably open schools are Conservative-run and are therefore not willing to rock the boat. Or they are not able to group together and afford such an action.

However, now the London Councils have forced a u-turn it's a good thing. A precedent has been set. It will be harder for the government to push the line other schools are safe to open.

And not just in tier 4, either.

I'm expecting more closures.

Please, people, leave go of this crazy, emotional, irrationalism. It's pure populist divide and rule stuff.

It is the government that is failing us: you, me, our children - all of us.

Look at the big picture - not imaginary grudges.

Be angry with a government that is filled with incompetents, hand-picked because they are incompetent.

The smart-but-too-rational-to-be-easily-controlled by Johnson's Brexit-at-all-costs crew were sidelined, silenced or kicked out.

It's not an accident this is a massive fuck up.

And I feel really sorry for schools trying to organise amidst this chaos.

Excellent post, Cat.

Have posters read what denotes critical workers? My SIL works in a central London school and based on the much wider list of what denotes critical workers, she is predicting that at least 1/2 to 3/4 of children will be in on Tuesday.
She is also clear that schools need to remain open. A lot of parents of the children are not literate/ don’t proritize education/ cannot read or write English. Those children are falling further and further behind.

All this means is that parents who don’t want to send their children in, now have a valid reason to keep them home.
But based on the parents in my youngest school (primary), we all will be sending our children in. It falls just outside the London boundary.

Only on here do I see this response about wanting to keep children at home. In RL I know no one wanting to keep their children at home.

@AlternativePerspective

Apart from the figures in London one of the other key contributing factors will be infrastructure.

Unlike most other areas, pretty much everyone uses public transport to get to and from school, and much of that public transport crosses boroughs, leaving the chance of infection much more open than anywhere else.

Close the schools and you immediately remove millions of people from the tube at rush hour.

They actively want chaos. It deflects from the train wreck they have created. They are not Governing. They are following social media pressure. Totally reactionary.

@girasol yes - and I wish they could keep the schools closed even longer - but I can just imagine the chaos that would cause!!! I am lucky - if my dc were still school aged I would be able to keep them home and also home educate. If I were in that position I would be doing so now. If any parent is able to do that I really would encourage them to do so. I would not be sending my child into school for at least 2 weeks and then I would be keeping my eye of the figures. And I do live in a part of the UK with a low transmission rate. If I were in London or the SE or in S Wales my children would not be returning to school - probably not this half term - but I know not everyone is able to/ can afford to do that.

There is an area near me in the South which is in tier 4, rate of over 800 per 100,000. It has gone up by over 80% in a week. The local hospital is one of the ones listed as overrun with Covid patients.

The area is outside London and the primary school is open on Monday. It’s madness.

I am in tier 4 there has been no cases in my granddaughters school, but if they close the schools again I'm moving out which will mean my daughter will not be able to work

@AlternativePerspective

Apart from the figures in London one of the other key contributing factors will be infrastructure.

Unlike most other areas, pretty much everyone uses public transport to get to and from school, and much of that public transport crosses boroughs, leaving the chance of infection much more open than anywhere else.

Close the schools and you immediately remove millions of people from the tube at rush hour.

I find this quite rare for primary level (SE London)

@loulouljh

poor working parents shafted again.

shafted how??

@suzy2b

I am in tier 4 there has been no cases in my granddaughters school, but if they close the schools again I'm moving out which will mean my daughter will not be able to work

why are you moving out? where to?

Apparently the London Boroughs clubbed together and threatened to Sue the Dept of Education

twitter.com/Zubhaque/status/1345076705111781376?s=20

@AlternativePerspective

Apart from the figures in London one of the other key contributing factors will be infrastructure.

Unlike most other areas, pretty much everyone uses public transport to get to and from school, and much of that public transport crosses boroughs, leaving the chance of infection much more open than anywhere else.

Close the schools and you immediately remove millions of people from the tube at rush hour.

I grew up in SE London.

Walked to primary school. As did all my friends.

No one got a tube to Primary where we were (maybe folks who live right in the centre of town did - but not near us)

Shafted??? Because they are them in an impossible situation. I cannot work and educate my kids. That is how working parents are shafted.

Unlike most other areas, pretty much everyone uses public transport to get to and from school

Erm no we don't, certainly not at primary level.

I agree with the poster above. I do not know of a single parent-working or stay at home-that wants to keep their children at home. Not one. There seem to be loads on here. God knows why.

I know plenty that do, on my son's reception class WhatsApp group alone there were at least 8 or 9.

For those with children in schools/educational settings.

My advice is to check parent mail/emails DAILY. If not twice daily. It's a nightmare.

Nope. Not one parent in RL echos the sentiments on this thread. I technically class as a critical care worker based on the vast list and as such, my children will continue to be sent to school.
I’m not having their education continually disrupted (not to mention the vast mental/ emotional issues schools had to deal with post the last lockdown).

I am and my bestway friend has even took all her kids off the roll. I don't blame her if they don't let me home educate until we are out of tier 4 i will be doing the same. Education can be caught up on, a family with a dead mother or a mother who loses her child isn't worth any education in my eyes.

*best

Have to concur that most people don't use public transport to get to primary school in London. Most schools have very small catchment areas.

I'm in a borough that was meant to open. It's shit for me and the kids that we are back to homelearning (I also WFH so 3 days a week I'll be limited as to what I can do on those days) but I'm kind of relieved as it just didn't feel safe for them to go back.

@Wannabangbang that’s your decision to make. Then don’t be one of the posters in a year time complaining about how other children are ‘ahead’ of yours because other parents did ensure education remained a priority.

The fact that you can also commit to home educating suggests to me that you are literate and have the means to do so. Do you have a FT job? Because I couldn’t even begin to fathom homeschooling and holding down a job.

Either which way, many do not have the choice you are making in front of them