Parents and teachers are begging Boris Johnson to make decision on reopening schools in January - Daily Mail

Cabinet split over schools reopening as Hancock and Gove back teaching unions's calls to stay shut and parents beg for clarity with just days until classes are due to resume

• SAGE has told PM that a new tougher lockdown in January with schools closed is only way to take R below 1
• Michael Gove confirmed staggered reopening of schools in England from Monday - but primaries will open
• But in more uncertainty for parents and children, he said the plan remains 'under review' amid union pressure 
• All secondary schools will be shut apart from for children in Year 11 and 13 and for key workers' children
• Unions want all schools shut for a fortnight to allow for testing - some claim it could take much longer
• Parents and Ofsted concerned children are being set back 'years' because of sub-standard online learning 
• Are you a teacher or a parent? How do you feel about children being kept at home until February? Let us know: martin.robinson@mailonline.co.uk 

By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter For Mailonline

Published: 08:51 GMT, 29 December 2020 | Updated: 10:00 GMT, 29 December 2020

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Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure from his split cabinet, teachers and unions to shut schools through January despite parents' desperate pleas not to 'cruelly' rob their children of a classroom education after a year of immense disruption, it was revealed today.

The Prime Minister is considering consigning millions of children to more 'inadequate' online learning that the head of Ofsted believes sets back children 'years', particularly those from working class backgrounds. Experts say that months at home during the first lockdown saw many youngsters regress academically, socially and developmentally.  

SAGE scientists have urged Mr Johnson to impose an even tougher third national lockdown including keeping all schools closed throughout January to curb the new mutant coronavirus strain as it emerged 1,500 military personnel would be deployed to ensure that testing systems were up and running by the time pupils returned for the new term in January. 

But the majority of MoD staff will only offer advice on the phone or Zoom about the testing process and setting up facilitis, and will only visit schools when there are 'major issues'. There are already major questions about whether this will actually keep schools open.

The SAGE warning is said to have spooked Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove who are both said to have suggested that the reopening of schools might have to be delayed as daily infections hit 40,000, according to The Times.

In a meeting hosted by No 10, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson argued that they must stick to the plan of a staggered start to the new term, with children in years 11 and 13, and those with key worker parents, going to secondary school from Monday with the rest returning on January 11. Primary Schools would open as usual on January 4. 

Nicola Mason, head of Chase Terrace Academy in Burntwood, Staffordshire, has said the Government's mass testing plans for secondary schools with the support of the military had lead to a lot of 'stress and panic' for teachers.

She told BBC Breakfast: 'Things have just come through to schools very late and it has certainly lead to a lot of stress and a lot of panic over the Christmas holidays to try and get people recruited.' Ms Mason said her school had some community volunteers to help them carry out the testing programme 'but we've still got nowhere near enough. I'm not sure we will be able to do all of that in the four days that we've got before children come back'.

Andy Byers, headteacher at Framwellgate School in Durham, told The Times that he plans to test children in the sports hall, but has not been time to recruit, and vet the criminal records, of new staff with term due to start in four working days.  He said: 'Teachers need to plan. If the government is now thinking of a longer lockdown, it is reasonable to tell us in the next two or three days. We appreciate these decisions are difficult but putting them off makes it worse.'

Pepe Di'Iasio, head teacher of Wales High School in South Yorkshire said: 'We were all hoping that today we would receive some certainty from the education secretary. Instead we got more uncertainty. I'm meant to be writing letters to our staff, the parents, our governors, telling them what we are going to do. Right now, I've no idea what those letters will say'.  

NASUWT, The Teachers' Union, and National Education Union (NEU), have both written to Mr Williamson demanding that schools are shut to allow coronavirus testing to take place and for teachers to be vaccinated, leading to claims they are 'bent on exploiting the pandemic for political advantage'. 

The chaos over schools came as:

• Britain could be put into 'Tier 5' restrictions - with England's hospitals are now treating more Covid patients than they ever did in the first wave;  
• The UK recorded 41,385 cases yesterday, in the largest one-day increase since the pandemic began. Department of Health bosses also recorded 357 more Covid deaths; 
• But in better news the head of the NHS believes all Britons over the age of 50 could be vaccinated by the spring; 

Boris Johnson has been put under pressure to delay opening schools by ministers including Michael Gove who yesterday opened the door to more online learning for children

Gavin Williamson was all smiles as he arrived for a meeting at No 10 Downing Street yesterday to discuss opening schools in January. He wants schools to reopen as planned

Keeping schools shut in January will harm children's prospects, ministers were warned last night (file image)

Military is drafted in to test thousands of children for Covid so schools can reopen 

All Britons over the age of 50 could be vaccinated by spring, the head of the NHS has claimed, adding that medics are 'in the eye of the storm' as hospitalisations and cases pass first wave peaks.

NHS England data shows 20,426 hospital beds were occupied by patients who had tested positive for coronavirus as of 8am yesterday morning, up from around 17,700 exactly a week ago. 

And the UK recorded 41,385 cases of Covid yesterday, in the largest one-day increase since the pandemic began.

Hospital bosses have begged the public not to party on New Year, with fears of any gatherings leading to another surge in infections.

Yet despite the chaos, the controversial Nightingale hospitals, built at great expense, are being quietly dismantled as there are not enough staff to run them. The majority of the seven £220 million Nightingale hospitals are yet to start treating Covid-19 patients in the second wave and the facility  at London's Excel centre has already been stripped of its beds and ventilators.  

NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens has described 2020 as the 'toughest year' the health service had ever faced - but also shared optimism that the situation would improve by spring, with 22 million Britons potentially vaccinated. 

He said: 'Many of us will have lost family, friends, colleagues and, at a time of year when we would normally be celebrating, a lot of people are understandably feeling anxious, frustrated and tired.

'And now, again, we are back in the eye of the storm with a second wave of coronavirus sweeping Europe and, indeed, this country.'

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The head of one of the UK's biggest teaching unions has called for schools to remain closed until Covid-19 testing schemes have been set up properly.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said: 'Eminent scientists have said that schools should remain closed; that's what unions I think have been responding to.'

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said: 'None of this is to create problems because we know those tests are going to help more young people to keep from being disrupted – it's a really good idea.'

Mr Barton welcomed the Government's plans for soldiers to offer remote support for testing, but warned it was unlikely to be enough.

'We're educationists, we can support the Government and it is good we are going to have some members of the Army,' he said.

'But for 3,500 secondary schools, 1,500 troops doing webinars probably isn't the Government response that we were looking for'.  

Former teacher and current school governor Calvin Robinson, writing in the Mail today, said: 'For secondary pupils, the announcement yesterday that many schools may not open fully until after the February half-term holiday is a cruel and deeply unnecessary blow.

'I fear hundreds of thousands of young people will spend the rest of their lives paying for this disastrous decision, foisted on the Government by callous and opportunistic unions bent on exploiting the pandemic for political advantage'. 

Speaking on Good Morning Britain today, Independent Sage's Dr Zubaida Haque said: 'I don't think it should be a question about whether schools should be open or shut, I think they key question is are schools safe enough right now?

'Can the government make schools safer? And in making it safer, can we then keep schools open. So we are in a crisis situation right now, the Government has delayed opening parliament because we are in a crisis situation and yet yesterday we had Michael Gove saying no it is fine and that we are going to have schools open next week and we are going to have a staggered return.

'And frankly that is not acceptable and it is not safe, not until we make schools safe.'

Asked how schools can be made safe, she said: 'Since June, Independent Sage have been saying we need to have smaller classrooms, we need to have children spreading out much more across many more different classes as opposed to 30 children in one class.

'Social distancing is impossible in that way. We need better ventilation, we need face masks for secondary school children in classroom and we need more laptops for students so they can do remote learning.'

The row over schools has sparked more uncertainty for students and their parents, who face having to home educate children often while trying to hold down a full-time job with just a few days' notice. But schools have said they don't believe they are ready to open safely, despite a pledge to send in the Army to test thousands of children for Covid so schools can reopen.

Michael Gove said yesterday that only children in years 11 and 13, and those with key worker parents, will go to school from Monday - with only primary schools expected to open as usual.

But he has also sparked fears that secondary schools could remain closed for longer than a week after admitting the plan to reopen them all on January 11 is already 'under review' amid rumours that students in Tier 4 could be at home until the mid-February half-term.   

Opening the door to longer closures, Mr Gove said: 'We do keep things under review and we will be talking to head teachers and teachers in the next 24 and 48 hours just to make sure that our plans which of course are accompanied by community testing are right and robust. It is our intention to make sure we can get children back to school as early as possible. But we all know that there are trade-offs'.  

The Government has bowed to pressure from teachers and unions who demanded that secondary school children should be taught online after the Christmas holidays to allow coronavirus testing to take place and for teachers to be vaccinated.   Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said that the reopening of schools in England should be delayed by at least a fortnight.      

Pressure has also been growing on Boris Johnson from within his own party to keep all pupils in school at the start the new term - but the PM has sided with SAGE scientists, who are pushing for schools, especially secondary schools to close for all of January, at least, because of the new super-strain of Covid-19, according to Politico. 

Mr Johnson was reportedly told last week by SAGE, led by Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance, that a stricter lockdown is required because the one in November, where schools remained open, did not keep the 'R' rate below 1, an adviser has claimed. Sage wants all schools, but ideally secondaries, shut for a month while keeping pubs and all non-essential shops closed.

But one Tory backbencher told the Telegraph: 'The view of most Tory MPs is that schools do need to stay open. We know that schools being open does increase the R rate. The question is, is that a price we are willing to pay and in my view it should be. Frankly, children don't get harmed so why on earth should we punish them?'  Tory MP Robert Halfon, education select committee chairman, said: 'The Government's got to do everything possible not to close schools.' He said school closures risked 'damaging the life chances of our next generation'.

Many parents have slammed the standard and frequency of online classes for the millions of children forced to stay at home during 2020, while critics have said that by agreeing to shut schools it will now make it increasingly difficult for No 10 to reopen them again.   

It will consign millions of students to virtual classes, which experts believe means children, particularly from working class backgrounds, are being set back 'years' because of sub-standard online learning. 

One mother told the MailOnline: 'I would like to register my disgust and outrage at SAGE wanting to keep schools closer till beyond February. As a mother whose three children have all been detrimentally affected by these lockdowns, I can no longer stay silent. 

'As a private tutor, I am telling you that online teaching is absolutely devoid of merit. During the last lockdown, a full school day was replaced by what was in effect two hours of online teaching. Teachers never responded to my child's queries, his homework was rarely marked. 

'I am currently paying for very expensive maths and science tuition to safeguard his future. Sage are handling this entire pandemic appallingly. Locking people up for months on end clearly is not working. I am absolutely fuming.'

Taking to Mumsnet, parents slammed the SAGE demand, with one writing: 'We've been in tier 3 forever. There hasn't been a single.case at my daughter's school. But also home schooling didn't work. 

'They set a maths and literacy worksheet a day which then fizzled out towards summer and that was it. That wasn't education and I've noticed the regression as a result. 

Another said: 'Secondary will be online at first, which is fine, but if I have to go back to the first lockdown situation where I'm trying to work and homeschool a primary aged child it will be awful. 

'My work say all the right things but were in practice incredibly demanding and my 'poor performance' over that time is still regularly being raised. I'd rather risk covid (low risk household) than further jeopardise my job.

Last week, one described how the first lockdown in March, which saw schools closed nationwide, 'nearly broke me'. They added that the 'guilt' they felt at seeing their child 'in front of a screen for 10 hours a day' was 'unendurable'. 

Former headteacher Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said last week that the school closures were 'disastrous and catastrophic' for the nation's poorest children and that teaching unions were 'playing a political game'. 

Ofsted's Chief Inspector Ms Spielman said earlier this month that online learning and repeated periods of isolation have 'chipped away' at the progress pupils have been able to make since returning to school in September - and that there is 'no substitute' to classroom learning.  

Department of Health statistics show 18,227 Covid-infected patients were being cared for in hospitals across the nation on Christmas Eve - a 15 per cent rise in a week. Top officials say the highly infectious strain spreading rapidly across the country is to blame. For comparison, April 12 was the busiest day of the pandemic so far for hospitals in England, when 18,974 patients were occupying beds

Data shows how daily Covid admissions to to hospitals across the UK have risen since the end of November, after they dipped briefly because of England's national lockdown

Teachers and key workers 'will be added to priority list when Oxford vaccine is approved' 

Teachers and key workers are 'expected to be added to the coronavirus vaccine priority list when the Oxford University jab is approved'.

The government is believed to be planning to overhaul the current order, which is focusing on the elderly, vulnerable and care home employees.

Teachers and some key workers will be eligible for injections, according to The Sun.

Before it has onlyu been given to the elderly, unwell or health and care home workers. 

But Sage expert Sir Jeremy Farrar warned even if Britain hits one million vaccinations a week it will not curb the pandemic by February.

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Mr Gove has said that reopening schools in January will involve 'trade-offs' with other coronavirus restrictions. 

The staggered return was announced on December 17 - but 

'It is our intention to make sure we can get children back to school as early as possible,' he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

'We are talking to teachers and head teachers in order to make sure we can deliver effectively. But we all know that there are trade-offs.

'As a country we have decided - and I think this is the right thing to do - that we prioritise children returning to school.

'But we have a new strain and it is also the case that we have also had, albeit in a very limited way, Christmas mixing, so we do have to remain vigilant.

'We are confident that we will be able to get schools back in good order. Our plan and our timetable is there, and were are working with teachers to deliver it.'

Scientists have warned that the new coronavirus mutation appears to spread quickly among youngsters, and schools had high rates of infection before the Christmas holidays. 

But several senior Tories have told the PM that it should be his priority to keep all schools open even if it drives the 'R' infection rate upwards. 

Unions have asked that all schools should be closed for the first two weeks to allow coronavirus testing to take place and for teachers to be vaccinated -  

Scientists say that schools being open are likely to keep the 'R' rate at or above 1.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, has said the arguments for reopening schools in January were 'very finely balanced'.

Is the new Covid super-strain more dangerous for children? 

The new coronavirus strain may be 'particularly marked' in children, scientists have warned. Pictured: Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine modelled an increased susceptibility among children to the new strain (VOC) compared to the original strain (Preexisting)

The highly infectious mutant strain of coronavirus found in Kent could be more likely to affect children, scientists have warned.

Modellers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found the new virus strain is 56 per cent per cent more infectious.

Even if another national lockdown was implemented, it would be 'unlikely' to reduce the R to below one unless schools and universities were also closed, their study found.

But researchers do not believe the new strain is more deadly or causes any more severe disease in either adults or children.

Researchers said there is 'some evidence that the increase may be particularly marked in children'. 

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'I think the next few weeks going into January are going to be extremely difficult across the whole country,' Sir Jeremy, director of the Wellcome Trust, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

'Certainly my own view is that schools opening is an absolute priority. But society - and eventually this is a political decision - will have to balance keeping schools open, if that is possible, with therefore closing down other parts of society.

'It is going be a trade-off between one or other. You cannot have everything. You cannot have the whole of society opening, and schools opening and further education and universities, and keep R below 1 with this variant.

'I think there are some very, very tough choices. We are going to see these continued pressures at least over the next two or three months.'

Yesterday the Tory candidate for London mayor, Shaun Bailey, said the Government should delay pupils' return for a fortnight to give a 'fighting chance against the virus'.

Teaching unions have already called for a return to online lessons for at least two weeks and for teachers to be vaccinated before they go back to classrooms. All lessons were due to restart on January 4, but Education Secretary Gavin Williamson then announced plans for a staggered return for some secondary school pupils.

Under current plans, all primaries will return as normal on January 4, along with GCSE and A-level pupils and those on vocational courses.

Mr Williamson has warned allies he faces an 'enormous battle' to keep children attending secondary schools.

Downing Street officials and the Department for Education will hold talks today. 

Senior education leaders fear pupils have already lost months of schooling and youngsters sitting exams this year risk being unfairly penalised.

But Mr Bailey, who has claimed he has Mr Johnson's personal backing as the mayoral candidate, said schools were one of the main transmission points for the virus.

He added: 'We must make the most of the Christmas break to defeat Covid-19 where we can.

'I am proposing a two-week circuit-breaker for schools. During this time we can stop our children mixing and get our teachers tested.

'This gives us a fighting chance against the virus without causing maximum disruption.'

Millions more Britons face being plunged into Tier 4 this week as the mutant Covid-19 strain continues to spread across the country 

Tory MPs have told Boris Johnson that school closures risked 'damaging the life chances of our next generation'

Just 388 people under 60 without health conditions have died of coronavirus in England's hospitals

The figures show that 1,979 previously healthy people died in hospitals in England after testing positive for Covid-19 between April 2 and December 23. Just 338 of these people were aged 40 to 59, with another 44 aged between 20 and 39, and just six under the age of 19, according to the data

Just 388 people aged under 60 with no underlying health conditions have died of Covid-19 in England's hospitals since the start of the pandemic, NHS data has showed. 

The figures show that 1,979 previously healthy people died in hospitals in England after testing positive for Covid-19 between April 2 and December 23.

Just 338 of these people were aged 40 to 59, with another 44 aged between 20 and 39, and just six under the age of 19, according to the data.

Meanwhile 45,770 deaths were recorded among those with pre-existing conditions, of which 21 were aged under 20, 263 were between 20 and 39 and 2,926 were aged between 40 and 59.  

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Up to 11million lateral flow tests will be made available for schools and colleges from January 4, providing testing capacity for up to 5.5million.

The National Education Union called on the Government to go further, and said it wanted all children to be tested before they returned.

It said all lessons should take place online for two weeks while testing was set up and teachers had their vaccinations.

Former defence minister Tobias Ellwood said troops should be deployed to carry out tests and keep schools open. He said soldiers had successfully helped test hauliers queuing at Dover to clear the backlog of lorries waiting to cross the Channel. 

A mass testing study in England's schools revealed that one in every 79 people tested positive in November, without knowing they were infected.

The Office for National Statistics data showed 1.24 per cent of pupils and 1.29 per cent of staff went in because they did not know they had the virus.

Infection rates were highest in secondary schools, and tests in the worst-affected areas of the country found around one in every 67 tested positive.

A Government spokesman said rapid testing would help keep secondary schools open, while reducing the risk of transmission in communities.

They said: 'We want all pupils to return in January as school is the best place for their development and mental health. But as the Prime Minister has said, it is right we follow the path of the pandemic and keep our approach under constant review.'

Doctors fear the NHS could be overwhelmed within days as hospital admissions surge due to the highly infectious Covid strain raging across the country.

The total number of patients in hospital with the virus is likely to exceed the peak from the first wave, with 21,286 coronavirus patients being treated on December 22 - the most recent day data is available for. In comparison, the figure on April 12 was 21,683.

The fears come as millions more Britons face being plunged into Tier Four this week, with the next tier review on December 30 amid rising infections and hospitalisations.

Doctors in London said their hospitals resembled a 'war zone', while Members of the Scottish Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties warned the mutant strain 'could lead to the NHS being overwhelmed', according to The Times. 

Paramedics in the capital are receiving almost 8,000 call-outs daily, and Boxing Day was described as one of London Ambulance Service's 'busiest ever days'. The 7,918 calls received by London Ambulance Service (LAS) on December 26 was up more than 2,500 on the 5,217 received on the same day last year, and medics are receiving support from other ambulance services in the South.

One paramedic said that crews were waiting around six-hours on average to hand over patients, who were often being treated in ambulance bays because of a lack of available bed. He told the BBC: 'It's been a horrendous time. Ambulance staff are finding the whole situation very stressful.' South Central Ambulance Service, which serves Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hampshire, has also warned that it is 'extremely busy' and that 999 should only be dialled in a 'life-threatening or serious emergency'.

Top medics today insisted the NHS will cope with the current spike in Covid cases but warned there would be 'a cost' to pay. Dr Katherine Henderson, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, told BBC Breakfast: 'The cost is not doing what we had hoped, which is being able to keep non-Covid activities going.'

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2020-12-29 08:51:00Z
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Covid-19: NHS in 'eye of storm' and the dogs fighting loneliness - BBC News

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Tuesday. We'll have another update for you on Wednesday morning.

1. Health workers 'back in eye of storm'

NHS front-line staff are "back in the eye of the storm" as coronavirus cases in the UK reach record highs and hospitalisations soar, the health service's boss in England says. Sir Simon Steven describes 2020 as probably "the toughest year most of us can remember", in an end-of-year message to workers. NHS England has said that the number of people being treated for the virus in hospitals in England is now 20,426, which is higher than the previous peak of just under 19,000 in April.

Getty Images

2. Military to support mass testing of students in England

Members of the armed forces will be on standby to help roll out mass testing to secondary schools and colleges in England from next month, helping students return safely. Ministers are under pressure to clarify the return-to-school policy after preliminary evidence suggested classrooms may need to close to curb the new coronavirus variant.

Reuters

3. Parents warned of 'sharp rise' in eating disorders

Increased isolation from friends, exam cancellations and increased use of social media may be contributing to an increase in eating disorders among young people, doctors warn. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is urging parents to look out for signs of eating disorders in children and young people.

Getty Images

4. Student nurse who nearly died returns to work

A student nurse who almost died with Covid-19 earlier this year has returned to work. Natasha Jenkins, 35, was in the second year of her nursing course when she contracted Covid and ended up on a ventilator. Eight months on, she is not fully recovered, but is, thankfully, much better.

5. The friendship dogs fighting Covid loneliness

A charity in the north-east of England is helping those feeling isolated during the Covid-19 pandemic with virtual visits from their dogs. Wag & Company came up with the idea to help combat loneliness when their friendship animals were no longer able to visit elderly people's homes.

Wag

Get a longer news briefing from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning, by signing up here.

And don't forget...

Find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page.

With more areas of England brought under the toughest tier four Covid restrictions on Boxing Day, and new lockdowns in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, read our guide to the current rules.

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In some cases, your question will be published, displaying your name, age and location as you provide it, unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published. Please ensure you have read our terms & conditions and privacy policy.

Use this form to ask your question:

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2020-12-29 08:09:00Z
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Covid-19: Military to support mass testing of students in England - BBC News

Reuters

Members of the armed forces will be on standby to help roll out mass testing to secondary schools and colleges in England from next month.

The Ministry of Defence said 1,500 military personnel will provide support for the testing scheme, which aims to help students return safely in January.

Some secondary school pupils are due to return after the Christmas break.

But the government is facing calls to change its plans due to the spread of the new coronavirus variant.

• Impact of new variant on children investigated
• Will schools be closed next term by variant of virus?
• How does mass testing work?

A majority of secondary school pupils in England are due to begin the term studying remotely, to give head teachers time to implement a coronavirus testing programme for students and staff.

The MoD said the majority of the 1,500 personnel will form local response teams, providing support and phone advice to institutions needing guidance on the testing process and set-up of testing facilities.

According to the department, support will be done "predominantly through webinars and individual meetings", but teams would also be on standby to provide in-person support at short notice.

Students will swab themselves in the vast majority of cases, under the supervision of a school staff member or volunteer who has been trained for the role, and teachers are not expected to take a role in the testing process.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the armed forces would share their "considerable experience" of using rapid mass testing kits - known as lateral flow tests - that do not require lengthy lab work to provide a result.

The military has previously helped organise mass testing in Liverpool and more recently in Kent to clear the backlog of lorries caused by France shutting its UK border.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: "It is a true cross-government effort to make sure secondary schools and colleges have the support, guidance, materials and funding they need to offer rapid testing to their staff and students from the start of term."

Getty Images

It comes as two teaching unions warned that allowing students to return after the Christmas break will put them at risk of catching the new fast-spreading coronavirus variant.

Preliminary research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has suggested schools and universities might need to close on top of existing tier four restrictions to bring the new variant under control.

On Monday, Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, called on the education secretary to allow schools to move to remote learning for all pupils - except those deemed to be vulnerable or the children of key workers - in the highest tier areas.

And Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, the joint general secretaries of the National Education Union, said schools and colleges should remain closed for at least the first two weeks of January, except for vulnerable children and the children of key workers.

However, senior Conservative MP Robert Halfon, who chairs the Commons Education Committee, said keeping children in schools and learning must be the government's "priority".

He said: "What needs to happen is volunteers - perhaps the armed forces, perhaps mobile units outside schools or in school playgrounds - making sure pupils and teaching staff are tested and also rolling out vaccinations as a priority for all those in schools."

Cabinet minister Michael Gove said he expected Year 11 and Year 13 pupils to return in the first week of January, with the rest going back to the classroom later in the month.

But he added that the matter was kept "under review".

A meeting was held between ministers, Downing Street officials and the Department for Education on Monday to discuss the plan further, but the department would not comment on its outcome.

How are the UK nations returning to school?

• England: Secondary school pupils in exam years will return at the start of term while others begin their learning online. Face-to-face learning is expected to resume for everyone by 11 January. Primary schools will return as normal
• Scotland: Schools will start term on 11 January with learning taking place online until at least 18 January.
• Wales: Term will start with online learning, but the majority of pupils are expected to resume face-to-face lessons by 11 January. A full return to the classroom is expected to be complete by 18 January
• Northern Ireland: All schools will initially reopen for face-to-face teaching at the start of term, but years 8 to 10 will move to remote learning from 25 January for at least two weeks

Schools in all the UK nations are remaining open for vulnerable children. England, Wales and Scotland have also committed to maintain face-to-face teaching for children of key workers.

• SCHOOLS: What will happen if children catch coronavirus?
• SOCIAL DISTANCING: Can I give my friends a hug?
• LOOK-UP TOOL: How many cases in your area?
• LOCKDOWN LOOK-UP: The rules in your area

Monday saw the highest number of new cases since mass testing began in the UK, with a record 41,385 positive tests reported.

NHS England said the number of people being treated for the virus in hospital was 20,426 - higher than the previous peak of about 19,000 in April.

The head of NHS England, Sir Simon Stevens, said health workers are "back in the eye of the storm".

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2020-12-29 02:43:00Z
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COVID: NHS boss Sir Simon Stevens issues warning as hospital admissions top first peak - Sky News

The country is "back in the eye of the storm", according to the head of the NHS, with the number of patients being treated for COVID-19 in England's hospitals overtaking the peak back in April.

Figures from NHS England have revealed that there were 20,426 patients being treated in hospitals as of 8am on Monday, compared with the 18,974 patients recorded on 12 April.

Also on Monday, the UK recorded its highest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began with 41,385 positive tests.

During a visit to an NHS vaccination centre, the chief executive of the NHS, Sir Simon Stevens, praised staff but said: "Now again we are back in the eye of the storm with a second wave of coronavirus sweeping Europe and, indeed, this country.

"Many of us have lost family, friends, colleagues and - at a time of year when we would normally be celebrating - a lot of people are understandably feeling anxious, frustrated and tired."

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But sounding a note of hope, Sir Simon added: "We think that by late spring with vaccine supplies continuing to come on stream we will have been able to offer all vulnerable people across this country COVID vaccination.

"That perhaps provides the biggest chink of hope for the year ahead."

His comments come on the day that the patients who received the first vaccinations three weeks ago will receive their booster jab.

They also come as the pressure continues to grow on the NHS at a time of year that is already difficult.

Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden, president of the Doctors' Association UK, said in a widely shared Twitter thread that she and her colleagues are "at breaking point".

The senior intensive care registrar wrote: "Today we learnt that we have more patients with COVID in hospital than ever before in the England. This is not a drill. Please believe us.

"We are incredibly thin on the ground. NHS staff have not been prioritised for the vaccine and are going off sick in droves with the new strain.

"Trusts are so desperate they are tweeting out for medical students to help in ICU. This was confirmed by a consultant on the ground.

"When staff have spoken up on Twitter they have been told this is all a hoax. It's not.

"Try holding an iPad for a patient to say goodbye to their family. Or having to ventilate a colleague. This is real and happening right now. Staff are broken and need support now more than ever."

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust revealed that an internal incident was declared at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in southeast London on Sunday "as a precautionary step due to the high number of COVID-positive patients we are seeing at the hospital".

The trust added that all patients received the treatment they needed and the situation is being monitored.

And the capital's ambulance service described Boxing Day as one of its busiest days ever.

Consultant emergency physician Adrian Boyle told Sky News: "You feel terrible and a sense of helplessness when you can't offload an ambulance because your emergency department is full.

"It creates this sense you are failing your patients just because there's a sheer lack of space to look after people."

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Ambulances used as makeshift COVID-19 wards

The medical director of Public Health England, Dr Yvonne Doyle, said the "very high level of infection is of growing concern at a time when our hospitals are at their most vulnerable".

"We have all made huge sacrifices this year but we must all continue to play our part in stopping the spread of the virus which is still replicating fast."

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2020-12-29 02:11:16Z
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COVID: Military called in to help testing in schools as government refuses to delay return date - Sky News

The military is being called in to help secondary schools and colleges with coronavirus testing at the start of the spring term.

Some 1,500 personnel will give planning support, training and phone advice to English schools needing help with the testing process and setting up facilities.

The government is pressing ahead with plans for primary school, older secondary school and college pupils to return in early January - despite scientists claiming a delay is needed if rising infection rates are to be brought under control.

Each secondary school and college in England will be offered testing, with £78m allocated to support this, the government has said, adding that schools will be given the kit they need.

In most cases, students will be expected to swab themselves under supervision of a school staff member or volunteer who has been trained for the role.

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The military support of the programme begins this week and will consist mostly of webinars and meetings, although there will be teams capable of deploying at short notice to provide closer support if needed.

There are currently 2,914 military personnel supporting government departments and civil authorities in the coronavirus response.

More from Covid-19

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: "The UK Armed Forces are stepping up once again this holiday. This week I have authorised over a thousand Armed Forces personnel to assist schools returning after the Christmas break.

"They'll share considerable experience of testing across the country and the successful school pilots conducted this autumn.

"We are grateful for the professionalism and commitment they and our colleagues in teaching are showing to get students back into the classroom and on with their education."

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Schools to return, exams to go ahead, says Gove

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove told Sky News that - for now - the government remained committed to its plan for pupils to return from 4 January under a staggered schedule.

"Our plan is that primary schools will go back but with secondary schools it will be the case that next week only children in Year 11 and Year 13 - those who are doing their GCSEs, their BTECs, their A-levels - those will go back," he said.

A recent paper on the new COVID variant by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine warned that even action similar to November's second national lockdown across England - in which schools remained open - is "unlikely" to reduce the rate of infection to below one "unless primary schools, secondary schools, and universities are also closed".

Both London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Conservative mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey have called for schools to reopen later than planned in January.

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Delay to school return 'needs to be extended'

NASUWT, the teachers' union, wrote to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson on Monday to urge him to allow schools to "restrict onsite provision to pupils who are deemed to be vulnerable, together with children of frontline/key workers, and that such restrictions will apply in the case of those schools and colleges serving communities in the highest tier areas".

Meanwhile, the Politico website reported the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) - led by chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance - has urged ministers to keep secondary schools closed next month in a bid to dampen the rise in infections.

On Monday the UK recorded its highest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, with 41,385 positive tests.

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2020-12-29 00:56:27Z
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Boris Johnson under pressure to delay school reopenings - The Times

Boris Johnson is facing increased pressure from cabinet ministers and scientific advisers over the reopening of schools as more than 40,000 coronavirus cases were recorded in a single day for the first time.

As the number of patients with Covid-19 in English hospitals exceeded the peak of the first wave, there was new uncertainty for parents after the government confirmed yesterday that the plans for primary schools to reopen next week along with Years 11 and 13 were under review.

The Times has been told that Matt Hancock, the health secretary, and Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, suggested at a meeting hosted by Downing Street that the reopening of schools might have to be delayed.

Mr Gove said that the school term could

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2020-12-29 00:01:00Z
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