In today’s announcement (30 December) from the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson MP, we discovered that Barking and Dagenham is on a list which means our primary schools will only be open to children with a social worker and children of key workers on Monday 4 January. 21 other London boroughs are also on this list which appears to be based on case rates.

We are meeting with headteachers tomorrow morning (31 December) to work through the guidance and what this means. Based on government guidance, special schools and nurseries will be open to all children from Monday 4 January. Secondary schools will open for exam year groups from 11 January, with all students set to return on 18 January.

We appreciate this is really frustrating for parents and the council were neither consulted nor forewarned about this announcement. Please look out for correspondence from your child’s school in the coming days about what you should do.

We understand all of this is subject to government review and we will try to provide as much clarity as we can as the situation develops.