Despite yesterday's call from Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, for beauty salons to be allowed to re-open*, the Government last night decided to keep all of the current restrictions in place for Salford and Greater Manchester for at least another week.
These means that while, for other parts of the country, businesses including casinos, bowling alleys, indoor play areas and beauty salons can re-open, in Greater Manchester they cannot. The restrictions on gatherings in homes and gardens also remain in place. For full details see the Government's 'What you can and can't do' list – click here
The latest data for positive coronavirus cases in Salford and the rest of the country has not been released as the Government has 'not received' it, but a localised map of cases from 3rd to 9th August shows the following areas with infections...
Cromwell Road and Broad Street 9 cases
Higher Broughton 9
Salford Central and University 7
Ordsall and Salford Quays 4
Weaste and Seedley 4
Walkden South 4
Little Hulton South 3
Peel Green 3
Meanwhile, Salford's Deputy City Mayor, John Merry, has joined the chorus of condemnation over the Government's A Level methodology, which has seen 36% of results downgraded in England, with most from disadvantaged areas, whereas independent schools saw A and A* grades rise by 4.7%...
"I am extremely concerned, even with the additional measures announced by the Government late in the day, that students in Salford may not have got the A-levels they deserved today – and that it will be similar with GCSE results next week" said John Merry "It is simply wrong to take account of factors other than the student's own performance in assessing their achievement and it is certainly wrong to discriminate against students who have attended schools that have not achieved good results in the past. We will be supporting any school and student who wants to take issue with their grades.
"...These last few months have been and continue to be very difficult for both students and teachers and I have nothing but praise for their resilience and hard work" he added.
Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, also slammed the Government's methodology tweeting "I am calling a meeting of colleges in Greater Manchester tomorrow to discuss how we fight this. It cannot go unchallenged."
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, attacked Government Education Secretary Gavin Williamson...
"Williamson's plan is a real insult to young people and their parents, who depend on a credible system which is supposed to help students on their way to a bright future" she said "For those having to sit autumn exams, that future will now be postponed. For others, the competition for university places has been intensified due to different decisions being made in Scotland. And it remains to be seen quite how unfair the Government's plan will be for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
"Years of misconceived structures in the exams process have come back to haunt the Westminster Government" she added "Students have been downgraded for reasons which to them will be obscure. So not only will the result be devastating, but many will discover it has nothing to do with their own performance and everything to do with the past attainment of their school. Student prospects this year were governed by an algorithm, and the unfairness of that process has been fully exposed.
"Gavin Williamson's solution is no 'triple lock' but a menu of bad options" she explained " Teachers and pupils who know how mock exams differ even among subjects in the same school will wonder what counts as a 'valid' mock exam result, and the suggestion that this should be viewed as more reliable than teacher assessment is simply nonsensical. In other nations, pupils at least have the security of AS Level results giving a percentage of their final grade, rather than basing their entire future on a single set of exams.
"This is why the appeals process is more important than ever" she concluded "It needs to be accessible to all and resourced properly to cope with demand, so that no further delays are created in the lives of young people. And, in the longer term, the A Level system that was once hailed by politicians as a gold standard needs to be radically overhauled."
*For full details of Andy Burnham's press conference yesterday see previous salford Star article – click here
The Salford Star will bring the latest Government data for Salford cases as soon as it is published.
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