Al primary schools in London to stay closed breaking news

[Trollsinthedungeon]

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jan/01/all-primary-schools-in-london-to-remain-closed-after-u-turn?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

Hope this helps people

@FrostedCranberries

How long are they closing schools for?

No-one knows. This is beyond frustrating for school staff and parents.

@Rainb0wDrops

Ah I see. I also need nursery so I can work and I'm grateful they are opening. If they close my work are understanding to a point as I wfh but in reality what that means is cramming my full working day in to the hours after bedtime and last time it almost broke me.

My nursery aged child is vulnerable to Covid so hasn’t attended since March (on medical advice). I’m a teacher and will be teaching from home again from next week and like you, will just have to make the best of it. I’m on the leadership team so a lot of my work can be done at night and over the weekend. It’s rubbish but there’s not much I can do about it.

That's it. I was okay but no longer feel happy going to work in a tier 4, non- London primary as of Monday.

I'm sure many parents will vote with their feet (if they can) and keep their children from school in other areas

@weepingwillow22

Anyone know what this means for special schools in London?

Special Schools are all under the discretion of the head

I think special schools will stay open, but if parents don't want to send their kids in they don't have to.

I wonder if it's also designed to reduce the numbers using TfL

Presumably they must stay open however for vast numbers as a child of any these parents list below is entitled to a place so they can continue their critical work from postmen to teachers, doctors to nurses and many others - financial services, IT, lawyers etc.

"Critical workers

Parents whose work is critical to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and EU transition response include those who work in health and social care and in other key sectors outlined in the following sections.
Health and social care

This includes, but is not limited to, doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributors of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.
Education and childcare

This includes:

childcare
support and teaching staff
social workers
specialist education professionals who must remain active during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response to deliver this approach

Key public services

This includes:

those essential to the running of the justice system
religious staff
charities and workers delivering key frontline services
those responsible for the management of the deceased
journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting

Local and national government

This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of:

the coronavirus (COVID-19) response, and the delivery of and response to EU transition
essential public services, such as the payment of benefits and the certification or checking of goods for import and export (including animal products, animals, plants and food), including in government agencies and arms length bodies

Food and other necessary goods

This includes those involved in food:

production
processing
distribution
sale and delivery
as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines)

Public safety and national security

This includes:

police and support staff
Ministry of Defence civilians
contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and EU transition)
fire and rescue service employees (including support staff)
National Crime Agency staff
those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas

Transport and border

This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response and EU transition, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass and those constructing or supporting the operation of critical transport and border infrastructure through which supply chains pass.
Utilities, communication and financial services

This includes:

staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure)
the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage)
information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response
key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services)
postal services and delivery
payments providers
waste disposal sectors"

Pp, some schools will remain open for critical workers, in the form of hubs, as previously done in 1st lockdown. They will be mixed ages and abilities in each class, and it will be childcare provision, oppose to a learning environment,

It needs to be all Tier 4 areas

There’s an online petition to close all schools in tier 4 and it’s got 500+ signatures in the last hour.

Special schools have been told to stay open and children should be able attend from day one. Which I personally am very grateful for. But parents have the option of keeping their kids home for the first week, on a case by case basis.

I'm in a tier 4 area & I do NOT want schools to close & I don't know anyone that does!! Those that are worried keep your children off & leave the rest of our children at school.

Even if it is just a hub school for all those many critical workers from court/lawyers to doctors, nurses to teachers, postmen to food people, IT to all sorts at least the parents can continue to work. This time unlike March when we thought it might just be for 3 weeks, parents of these critical workers do need to assert their legal rights. If the school does not make such provision then presumably it is liable at £10 per hour for the resulting childcare costs per child.

"I'm in a tier 4 area & I do NOT want schools to close & I don't know anyone that does!! Those that are worried keep your children off & leave the rest of our children at school. "

Well your want means that my CV teacher daughter has to put herself and my family at risk (I am a carer for my ECV mother, my daughter lives with us.) Thanks for that.
Children can be educated, albeit not as well remotely. I can't rep!ace my family members. We all agree that education is important, but not at the cost of so many lives.

Both parents need to be classed as key critical workers to take up a place at school during the school closures?

@flinstones it's not just about children though, is it? It's about school staff who don't get a choice.

news.sky.com/story/teaching-unions-tell-pm-do-your-duty-and-close-all-schools-in-england-to-limit-covid-threat-12177145

Unions meeting with Boris to discuss all schools closing

*Parker" I cannot remember from March. I think then schools and parents were often in dispute over it. Eg father drives a supermarket food delivery van as my son does (critical worker) and mother a nurse then obviously get the school place. If they both work different shifts but one is not a key worker I am not sure if the place is then available and I think it varied from school to school. As it will cost parents thousands of pounds in childcare costs it is a very important issue.

Last time the local schools by us were very empty during lockdown as where possible even key workers kept their DC’s at home so that the minimum were attending school (which was the aim). The key workers category is very wide ranging and imo many aren’t critical at the moment.

Letsghostdance you've described many jobs there not just teaching! Many of us go to work when we may prefer to stay at home.