Cheers NoBeer.
Been a rollercoaster season finale month in a roller coaster year.
In my work and local life have been working on covid non stop since March (retail, home delivery etc) and doing lots on local food bank stuff, all the time juggling mum.
was elated two weeks ago thinking "oh good she is in hospital so will be front of queue for vaccine" then week last Saturday got the call so was on edge all week waiting for symptoms.
Monday this week she was fine and we were planning discharge home on sat 19th. Then this afternoon the call to say suddenly O2 dropped to 85%.... so a worrying few days ahead.
Right off to sort out Brexit supply chain stuff.... can we just friggin can 2020 and Brexit please? Asking for a friend.

They are doing a chest xray this afternoon in case its a bacterial infection, but that sounds unlikely. If it is covid related O2 depletion then steroid treatment starts.

Hard times. Good luck to her and all of you.

All the best CHB. Nothing more useful I feel I can say

Kelvin

That’s the question I’d like answered. While it is true that having all kids in school, in a Covid safe environment is what we should aim for… what we really have (except in fee paying schools and in areas where the local authorities and schools are defying the government) in much of the country now is schools struggling to simultaneously teach on site and at home… with students at home getting a poor experience, and students on site risking catching the virus just in time for the first contact with their grandparents for months.

I don't think either are getting the optimum experience (or close).
I don't necessarily agree the aim for should be for all kids in school with or without Covid as I know it was a damaging experience for me and many thousands of others.

That aside ...

as if you are going to convince kids to put some hard work a week before Xmas.

or not - but why does it even matter? What is worth killing people for?
Private schools already broke up.... why is that acceptable but not state schools?
WTF is SO important about this week we send kids into Covid infected schools with the only way out being self isolate for XMAS?
Joking a bit but do we need to block the chimney... or will Santa have a list?

CHB... that's crap, sorry.

R4 this morning went to a school. Kids all sounded fed up, some appreciation of schooling and how it sets you up for life.
Some kids having to repeatedly self isolate due to friennds testing positive and missing weeks of lessons.
Pastoral lady gave a bleak veiw with reports of increased self harm, depression and talk of suicide. But she did quantify this was more likely a cry for help
Tough times, keep an eye on your kids.

My kids are fed up of the teaching situation, friends isolating etc. Eldest definitely stressing around A levels next year.

BUT they were even more fed up in lockdown one, when they had no social interaction with any friends when schools were completely shut.

Seems to be the view of most of our white, middle aged, middle class contacts.

Just reporting our experience, not trying to suggest what the solution is because I don't know

My daughter's school closed for Xmas last week. They had 32 teaching and support staff isolating or tested positive so couldn't safely operate in person. Went to online learning Thursday so nobody would lose out too much

Cases really gathering pace now and hospital admissions on the up again 🙁

Chb that's crap, as Graham said treatment is much better now, going she will be home for Xmas

@stcolin be glad you’ve already made the hard choices for Christmas… many others will have to face a hard choice to abandon their plans when the look at the numbers next week.

Many will face the choice, but I don't think they will change their plans.

Sorry to see that CHB.

My kids are fed up of the teaching situation, friends isolating etc. Eldest definitely stressing around A levels next year.

BUT they were even more fed up in lockdown one, when they had no social interaction with any friends when schools were completely shut.

Yeah so why force kids into school until they have to self isolate, especially as of today that means XMAS day.
What's the point for the kids when most of the class are not there ?
What's the point for the teaching staff ... trying to run 1-10 people in a class and 25-30 remote?
Why not just close the school building ... get Boris to dig into his pockets to feed the ones that can't and let them have a XMAS?

Another 2 positives today, unknown number told to self isolate ... one a member of staff and one a pupil.
Given the vanishingly low numbers that's quite significant.

The sydney cluster has taken a bit of a jump today:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-17/nsw-covid-19-cases-grow-to-17/12995276

Started with 2 cases yesterday - now 17.

Care homes in the area have been lockdown and testing ramped-up. Looks like the cluster is around the RSL (pub/working men’s club) similar to one of the other clusters we’ve had.

No lockdown for local residents yet, but they are encouraging people to stay at home until they’ve figured out where this has come from.

A few months ago we hatched a plan to travel from the Highlands to North Devon to see me folks for Christmas. We've not seen them for 12 months now. They are both mid to late 70's, no underlying health conditions but my dad is disabled having contracted polio when he was a kid.

We were going to drive down over two days, staying at Tebay overnight, stay with them for a week and then drive back over two days stopping off at Tebay again.

We knocked that plan on the head a couple of weeks ago and will make the trip if / when the the cases subside after the inevitable New Year lockdown and they have been vaccinated.

Good choice IMO

Very good choice.

The Home Secretary had her turn of going around the radio studios this morning telling people not to travel and not to see elderly parents… I’ve forgotten which minister it was doing the same yesterday… anyway, there is the real government message… they just have to deliver it in a back door way that means the PM can still accuse opposition MPs of “wanting to cancel Christmas” while he gets front pages on friendly newspapers about saving Christmas.

What’s the point for the kids when most of the class are not there ?
What’s the point for the teaching staff … trying to run 1-10 people in a class and 25-30 remote?

When the levels get as bad as you report, it makes sense to close school to all who don't really need to be there, certainly this close to Christmas.

Neither of my kids schools - in original Tier 3 areas - are that bad. 20-25% off isolating at a time, 1-2 positive cases a week at daughter's secondary (600 pupils) and 4-5 at son's 6th form college (1800 students). A lot of kids travel to and from on buses, no bubbles or distancing etc.

However, questions need to be asked about behaviours inside and outside of schools when some are being so badly affected and others aren't, and lessons/good practice shared and followed.

while he gets front pages on friendly newspapers about saving Christmas.

Not a friendly paper, but the Mirror nailed it this morning.

However, questions need to be asked

About the huge difference in the buildings used and the teacher to pupil ratios. It's not just "behaviour" (although that is key), it's also about the fixed starting point that schools have as to quality/layout of their buildings and how tight the staffing issue is for them even before they have teachers missing for Covid reasons. There were ways to mitigate this for schools in the worst positions... for example the use of other public buildings, especially ones closed to the public due to the pandemic anyway... but the government specifically banned schools and councils from taking such steps... because they wanted schooling to be as "normal" as possible... which is great if you're not attempting to teach short staffed in a building ill suited to social distancing of any kind.

Perhaps we should move this stuff to the thread we have about schools and the pandemic... this government has been failing some schools (and their communities) so much this year, that some of us could rant for pages...

However, questions need to be asked about behaviours inside and outside of schools when some are being so badly affected and others aren’t, and lessons/good practice shared and followed.

it does depend very much on the starting point. If nobody has it they could spend the day licking each others faces and still have no cases. How good the schools control measures are is not a good indication of performance.

Good to see lessons were learnt after the Excel debacle earlier in the year:

"Wales cases likely to be double those reported after IT system down"

No family Xmas Day dinner for Macron, positive test.

When the levels get as bad as you report, it makes sense to close school to all who don’t really need to be there, certainly this close to Christmas.

Non of the current situation makes any sense... which is why I have so many questions from different directions.

Who are the kids who "need" to be there? What's "need" even mean? If they truly "need" to be in school for some reason then having the virus or not doesn't change that. (yes I'm picking on the word because it's easy to say "need" but mean "would be good".

Specifically on secondary schools how many "need" to be in school? We are talking about kids aged 11+ ... they can just stay at home and if they have access to some sort of device log in remotely?
(I mean what do you think kids do in the school holidays normally? or for that matter if they get told to self isolate) - some of these kids are old enough to marry and have kids themselves (and it is proposed vote) but they can't spend a day at home alone?

It would be nice if Boris could dip into his pocket and make sure they have heat and power but we all managed without back in the 70's.

You asked why I brought up social services.... because those who are most scared of social services are just following and sending kids to school regardless of their health risk.
This will inevitably involve a lot of kids with older carers. I spent time with grandparents and older aunts and uncles when I was at school and all of us were terrified of social services and drawing attention.

I can pretty much sum up what my gran would have said in this and that's "you need to go to school to avoid social services poking their noses in". Whatever you believe about SS being involved (which I don't but regardless) this is what those in the greatest need will believe without a very clear statement.

However, questions need to be asked about behaviours inside and outside of schools when some are being so badly affected and others aren’t, and lessons/good practice shared and followed.

Copy paste ... same paragraph but from yesterday's letter.

It is vital that you remind your children to really try and keep their distance from their friends on the way to and from school and at break/lunch times. Unfortunately, there is not a lot we can do when the students are in lessons, as they have to sit near each other.

The only change from previous letters (before Nov) is they now don't have the paragraph about sending children home who refuse to remove masks in class.

Lessons learned?
Sorry but infecting kids and sending them to infect and potentially kill family members isn't something that in my book should need a learning experience.

If Boris needs one then look at what he did to care homes.

if it's all down to personal responsibility why have any rules at all? Some woolly guidance should suffice.

Kelvin

There were ways to mitigate this for schools in the worst positions… for example the use of other public buildings, especially ones closed to the public due to the pandemic anyway… but the government specifically banned schools and councils from taking such steps

This ban extended to using a recently decommissioned purpose built modern school that is sat empty.

AJ

it does depend very much on the starting point. If nobody has it they could spend the day licking each others faces and still have no cases. How good the schools control measures are is not a good indication of performance.

Yes, its a virus that spreads exponentially and takes a week or more to show symptoms and indeed many kids won't show symptoms anyway.
If someone wants to spend time tracking and modelling how many kids one infected kid will come into contact with in a week and how many they will come into contact with go ahead but it's a bit of a forgone conclusion in real life.

The unknown is the transmission which is behaviours. Are they indoors or out, wearing a mask or not... is there a Covidiot in charge who packs 200+ into a room with Kelvin's OH and orders the windows closed.

Kelvin

Perhaps we should move this stuff to the thread we have about schools and the pandemic… this government has been failing some schools (and their communities) so much this year, that some of us could rant for pages…

I understand that but equally schools are one of or the primary transmission paths.
OH is in school teaching, the kid is playing "hunger games" at his school... XMAS and seeing gran is already cancelled so personally this doesn't affect us.

What does really concern/upset me is the dripfeed of the virus into the community and especially this week when many kids will end up seeing older relatives indoors.

In part the relatives can make their own choices... but keeping kids in school this week will lead to many bad ones I fear and people dying.

I'm still rattled by the local kid who lost his grandparents... half of me want to know what happened to him and the other half is scared to even find out (assuming it was possible).

The spooky silence by the media makes me feel this hasn't ended in the best way.

Hmm... was preparing to cancel our plans to travel and see my mum for two days, we're Lothian, she's Argyll.

Was relatively comfortable with the idea of travelling, we've been pretty well isolated EXCEPT for our son in nursery. The Nursery itself is operating bubbles (8 kids to a bubble) and seems to have been pretty responsible (no parents in building, masks on when picking up/dropping off), but it's still an obvious path for transmission.

My mum seems quite relaxed about it, but my poor sister who has been living and working alone for months is desperate for us all to still meet up (she has effectively formed a bubble with my mum anyway). Doesn't help that for various reasons she has done Christmas alone with mum for the past two years anyway.

Looks like I have the option of 'ruining Christmas' for my sister who is otherwise blameless in all of this, or effectively exposing my mum to our son's nursery bubble.

Not looking for answers really, just sharing a little example of what probably everyone else is going through. I genuinely worry about my sister's mental health being alone, single etc. so think I'll do it for her as much as anything.

Without wishing to add to your load... Your mum is likely to receive vaccine in the next few months. If you really think your sister is suffering could she come and see you?

The one thing solid guidelines from government saying no traveling (for instance) would do is stop a lot of potential arguments and make making the right choices easier for a lot of people. FFS it's 1 day. 2 at most. Vaccine in the horizon.

Yep. We cancelled plans a few weeks back. My mum will be on her own.

I will drive to hers on 23rd, and drop off a few gifts, go for a walk outside.

On Xmas day we will have a zoom call, probably an extended family quiz.

She’s 72, so hopefully a vaccine in a few months, same as my in-laws, then we can all get together.

Good compromise. I wish my Mum was a short enough drive away to do the same with the outside walk and gift swapping. We'll do the zoom/facetime though, for sure.

Anyone up for trying to name the British mutation in the style of "Wu-Flu" then?

10er on us being imprisoned on this island by both Brexit and this new variant. No one will let us off/in!

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in 10 Downing Street right now.

The point raised earlier about stricter rules making it easier for families to say “No” is very valid. I’m sure in a lot of cases, all concerned are worried, but nobody wants to be the killjoy.

How about the Boris Bug?

Staying at home with no mixing for us. Travelling over 400 miles to a tier 3 area to visit my Mam and family is not going to happen.

It was a fairly easy decision for us with time, money and logistics of who we couldor couldn't see. Then I saw a local news video of covid issues and a surgeon in James Cook hospital talking about the situation, and my (pregnant) daughter was in it in scrubs with her back to camera, and I'm actually tearing up writing this now. FFS I missing seeing my family and my elderly and fairly doiting Mam, but I'd rather not put any of us at un-necessary risk.

Luckily other family are very close by for my Mam. Fingers crossed for seeing them at Easter.

If you really think your sister is suffering could she come and see you?

If she did that the safest is probably for the family to self isolate ASAP now and sister to stay for 7+ days to avoid taking it back.

I guess that will depend on their mum being alone for the time though.

Vaccine in the horizon.

It would seem a disproportionate risk with that in mind.

The unknown is the transmission which is behaviours. Are they indoors or out, wearing a mask or not… is there a Covidiot in charge who packs 200+ into a room with Kelvin’s OH and orders the windows closed.

Only 200? Try full school 1,000 kids in hall for weekly assemblies at my wife's school. Parents complained about children being cold so all windows now closed too. No social distancing at lunch & not staggered so again 1,000 kids going through dinner hall at lunch time so sitting shoulder to shoulder each day. Teachers not told which kids have tested positive, only when wee johnie doesn't turn up for class. On top of this, my wife hasn't received a single piece of PPE.

It's staggering, yet despite raising with senior management, business continues exactly has it has done before covid - "we cannot degrade the pupil experience" being the schools managements strap line.

Yay. Bristol out of Tier 3 on Saturday.

Absolutely fed up with the London-centric reporting.
Huge swathes of the country staying in tier 3 and have been forever, but no, lets concentrate of London.

Also, what is the point if the tiers if, even with falling rates, you stay in tier 3?

Absolutely fed up with the London-centric reporting.

Something only actually exists once it applies to the population of London. We all know that.

You'll know when that point is reached because you'll then be able to hear the hysterical bleating from outer space

Londoners stunned to receive same treatment as the North for a bloody change

Absolutely fed up with the London-centric reporting.
Huge swathes of the country staying in tier 3 and have been forever, but no, lets concentrate of London.

But all we had for months was the midlands, north east and north west and a bit of wales, Andy Burnham, manchester, leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Joe Anderson, Sheffield etc etc•

And why was that? because that was where cases were hitting 500-600/100k.
So now it’s going to be Sadiq Khan, dagenham and redbridge and the Medway towns.
first it was meat processing, then universities and now schools, the news follows current outbreaks or increases.

•apologies if your town or city wasn’t mentioned, don’t take it personally.

Only 200? Try full school 1,000 kids in hall for weekly assemblies at my wife’s school. Parents complained about children being cold so all windows now closed too. No social distancing at lunch & not staggered so again 1,000 kids going through dinner hall at lunch time so sitting shoulder to shoulder each day. Teachers not told which kids have tested positive, only when wee johnie doesn’t turn up for class. On top of this, my wife hasn’t received a single piece of PPE.

It’s staggering, yet despite raising with senior management, business continues exactly has it has done before covid – “we cannot degrade the pupil experience” being the schools managements strap line.

I think that should be some parents....
Some will be absolutely pooing themselves but I guess the majority will be like us and just have given up.
We gave up day 1 back to school (after inset day)... the lad came home Told to remove mask at school gate ... and said PE started by "put your hands on the person next to you". This was apparently the "Covid safe" PE in the classroom.

There's no point really is there.
He gets it, brings it home and mum takes it to her school.
How he's managed not to catch it or be in self isolation by now is just bad pure luck, it would have been nice to have it before XMAS.

He'll most likely be fine, his mum likely fine and I just don't care anymore. I'm only 53 and other than my autoimmune disorders in reasonably good health.

scruff9252, that's staggering! Are the unions, LEA (assuming it's not an academy) not involved? Not sure what the escalation process would be after that, local MP perhaps.

the news follows current outbreaks or increases.

erm or the testing follows ... it's hard to tell and I can't help feel a bit of both.

first it was meat processing, then universities and now schools

yeah imagine that....who'd have ever thought that for a coronavirus?

So glad my kids don't go to some of the schools some of yours do, which brings me back to my point earlier about them also having much lower infection/isolation rates.

I fell into a coma 5 months ago today

could anyone fill me in on how we defeated covid?

Last thing I remember is Johnson giving us the good news

Johnson realised he wasn't up to the task and resigned, Jacinda Ardern took over via Zoom and all was fixed.

Try full school 1,000 kids in hall for weekly assemblies at my wife’s school. Parents complained about children being cold so all windows now closed too.

That is insane!

@tthew, I know teachers that have quit, hoping to return to the classroom after the pandemic, because they have vulnerable people in their household and absolutely no agency over what happens in their workplace, even after involving the union and talking to the council (who were ultimately their employer). If the head wants to risk having hundreds of pupils, and all staff, crammed together without ventilation, there is nothing a lowly staff member can do... other than quit (and risk breach of contract implications).

But all we had for months was the midlands, north east and north west and a bit of wales, Andy Burnham, manchester, leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Joe Anderson, Sheffield etc etc

Inadvertently, you've made my point.

I'm down in the Midlands, have been in tier 3 for a long time and no-one ever talks about us! The North West had Andy Burnham shouting about things, London is London, we have Andy Street who is absolutely useless.

Cases are down, hospitality is shafted, and still no change. I'm just fed up.

If I hear another minister call schools "Covid secure"... well... there's nothing anyone can do... is there? Other than make sure we act as a barrier between schools and the rest of the community, and hope everyone else does the same (ie act on the advice from Sage and government ministers to keep away from others outside the school environment, and ignore Boris' messages about having a jolly extended family knees up to save Christmas).

hospitality is shafted

Dropping to teir2 still means hospitality is shafted... they need financial help, not being told they can open their doors to people told not to go through them.

So Secondary schools are having a 'staggered return' after Xmas. Exam classes to go back as normal, others will be online.....what better time to announce it than lunchtime on the last day of term eh?!?!

What they actually mean is.....R rate is going to be through the roof in January after the 2 weeks of Christmas free for all so basically a full lockdown but exam classes can go back.....we'll leave it until May before we inevitably cancel exams.

**** me January is going to be grim 😔

140,000 people vaccinated so far according to Nadhim Zahawi

At that rate (108k) just 10 years to get one dose into all English citizens. Better to remain silent and thought a fool surely?

So Secondary schools are having a ‘staggered return’ after Xmas. Exam classes to go back as normal, others will be online…..what better time to announce it than lunchtime on the last day of term eh?!?!

In England.
Scotland cancelled exams already.

Edit - replying to sandwich.

Not just me that was unimpressed by that number then?

That's (very roughly) each vaccination centre getting one delivery of vaccine.

Hancock said the other day they hope to get a couple of million done by Xmas. They'd better get a wriggle on then... 🙄

I’m down in the Midlands, have been in tier 3 for a long time and no-one ever talks about us! The North West had Andy Burnham shouting about things, London is London, we have Andy Street who is absolutely useless.

Cases are down, hospitality is shafted, and still no change. I’m just fed up.

Just watched the news and they were live from Otley and then Birmingham talking about the drop in numbers and teir levels.

Though I guess the issue isn’t the reporting it’s Westminster (that Tory run place in the middle of a huge Labour run conurbation)

So glad my kids don’t go to some of the schools some of yours do, which brings me back to my point earlier about them also having much lower infection/isolation rates

Are they handling it well, or have you just not been told about any cases/been advised of the actual bare minimum?

I know my wife's school are only isolating the absolute bare minimum of pupils when a test comes back positive, not telling teachers who may have taught that pupil and sure as shit aren't notifying parents of the rest of the class.

So Secondary schools are having a ‘staggered return’ after Xmas. Exam classes to go back as normal, others will be online…..what better time to announce it than lunchtime on the last day of term eh?!?!

This is ridiculous - how Gavin Williamson has the nerve to carry on in his job is beyond me..

The latest... today is the last full day of Secondary School here... and the news dribbling out from the government is that January will be home learning... so the schools have just hours to prepare pupils for shifting to distance learning next term...

Slow hand clap for the government that can do NOTHING at the right time. Dangerous incompetent useless...

i wont disagree with your last three words kelvin, but to suggest that schools only have hours to prepare for distance learning in two and a half weeks is a little much.

@kimbers sorry to disappoint you but there’s been a new President in the US* which has caused a delay and Covid will now be over by Easter due to the delay.

*or any other reason you’d like to use to distract from the truth.

This is ridiculous – how Gavin Williamson has the nerve to carry on in his job is beyond me..

How that muppet ended up in the job in the first place is the question most of us have been asking since he was appointed

i wont disagree with your last three words kelvin, but to suggest that schools only have hours to prepare for distance learning in two and a half weeks is a little much.

Plus also a lot of schools are prepared. Our have has the ability via Google classroom since the start of term and Jnr just finishing his first whole week of schooling at home, seems to work well.

Understand the general sentiment though, 2 weeks to prepare over a Christmas is anything but kind to he teachers.

i wont disagree with your last three words kelvin, but to suggest that schools only have hours to prepare for distance learning in two and a half weeks is a little much.

And it's not as if they have no experience of delivering it either. Yes crap timing, yes dither and delay yet again, but doesn't really register against the scale of incompetence that we've seen (that's the normal scale, not the Grayling one)

but to suggest that schools only have hours to prepare for distance learning in two and a half weeks is a little much

I said prepare the pupils... they won't see them after midday tomorrow here... so they literally only have a few hours of the pupils being in school to prepare them for working from home in their next teaching week. If they'd announced this a week ago, all subjects would have had lesson time in which they could tell pupils what is expected of them at the start of next term, and made sure they had the materials to work from etc.

Plus also a lot of schools are prepared.

A reminder that THIS MORNING minsters in the Dep of Edu were insisting that schools were NOT ALLOWED to move to at home learning, and threatening councils will legal action if schools did move to home learning. So while many have done plenty of preparation, it would be surprising if the preparation in all schools for SOMETHING THEY WERE TOLD THEY MUST NOT DO was as complete as it would have been if they had forewarning that is was to become SOMETHING THEY MUST DO.

With the Tier 3 thing in Greater Manchester (well... the whole of the north), absolutely nobody thought we'd be coming out of it, but now the obvious question is; when will we ever get out of it?

With the this ridiculous government seemingly hell-bent on this ludicrous '3 households for 5 days' idiocy over Christmas, leading to the inevitable huge third wave in January, probably requiring us to go into full lockdown again (Tier 4?), when would we be realistically looking at getting back to Tier 2, never mind Tier 1?

March? April? Next summer? The summer after that?

Will there be any businesses left by then?

.

The only thing I feel happy about today is us staying in Tier 3. I think it is the right decision. My gut feeling (never proves me right btw) is that perhaps February onwards we could have some restrictions eased.

My anxiety is back to where it was back in October when the situation was getting worse. The mental health impact is serious, and will only get worse.

Wooo. Reading Berkshire Tier three. That means its about 8 miles from my house. I hope the virus can read the county signs.
I wonder if Didcot will get crowds from Reading heading this way for their late shopping on Saturday? I'd better get down the butchers tomorrow.

All too depressing. I'm off for a ride.

The irony of Covid is my sister, who runs an ICU is down with Covid and quite poorly, my sis in law who works in the ICU is now IN the ICU with Covid. Not good and very worried about her.
This virus is a proper pig, we've been uber careful at all times and I get very annoyed when i see 'friends' just cracking on.

Not just me that was unimpressed by that number then?

That’s (very roughly) each vaccination centre getting one delivery of vaccine.

They need to get a wriggle on as after 1 January I expect that there will be a complete logistics **** up!

Of course it will be a **** up, the ports are already backed up

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55329573

The irony of Covid is my sister, who runs an ICU is down with Covid and quite poorly, my sis in law who works in the ICU is now IN the ICU with Covid.

Really feel for you and them. So sorry to hear that.

In that last few months the focus really has moved away from hospital staff... and the family members I have working in hospitals say things are harder than ever right now.

My anxiety is back to where it was back in October when the situation was getting worse. The mental health impact is serious, and will only get worse.

You won't be alone. And there in is the rub.. don't be socially alone, even if physically alone... contact anyone, by any means... phone, text, zoom, facetime, email, social media, forums... keep talking. Everyone you talk to will be helped by you doing so, as well as it helping you. Keep. Talking.

Now... the really glib bit... this is one winter... we can do this... if we help each other.

Kelvin - well said.

We're all in this together.

Plus also a lot of schools are prepared. Our have has the ability via Google classroom since the start of term and Jnr just finishing his first whole week of schooling at home, seems to work well.

The school maybe prepared but what about the kids, Some families don't have the luxury of a home computer or multiple home computers / iPads so all the kids can learn at the same time. Almost 10k kids live in poverty in lewisham (where I live) and even more in places like Tower Hamlets. My neighbour is a teacher in Tower Hamlets and they have a school wide rule where they don't expect any kid to do any at home learning, its offered but some kids are just unable to do it. I understand the need for letting kids home school but we are in real danger of a generation being left behind. Something needs to be done, if its give all kids laptops give them laptops. This virus 100% makes the class divide even starker.

I wonder if Didcot will get crowds from Reading heading this way for their late shopping on Saturday?

Retail remains open even in tier 3 - just checked as we are now in tier 3 in Bucks ☹️

Something needs to be done, if its give all kids laptops give them laptops. This virus 100% makes the class divide even starker.

The government pledged to do this at the beginning of the first lockdown. However, like most things they announce, it appeared to be there purely to grab the next mornings headlines and pretty much nothing has been done to actually deliver it.

If only they'd prioritised it like they prioritised handing PPE contracts out to their mates