Clinically extremely vulnerable teachers and pupils should not attend school in Tier 4 areas, the Department for Education has confirmed.

Updated guidance for schools has been published today following the creation of a fourth tier of Covid-19 restrictions amid concerns about a new variant of the virus.

The move came as the government announced that a raft of new areas in the South East and East of England are moving into Tier 4. 

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The Department for Education has said that clinically extremely vulnerable school staff are advised to work from home and where this is not possible, they should not go into work.

It has also said that shielding advice is currently in place in Tier 4 areas, and so all children deemed clinically extremely vulnerable are advised not to attend school.

Coronavirus: Extremely vulnerable school staff to work from home in Tier 4

Children who live with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable can still attend.

The guidance says: “Staff should talk to their employers about how they will be supported, including to work from home where possible.

“Schools should continue to pay clinically extremely vulnerable staff on their usual terms.”

All other staff in Tier 4 areas can continue to attend work, including those living with someone who is extremely vulnerable.

The guidance also states that schools in Tier 4 areas will be covered by the same rules on face coverings as those in tiers 2 and 3.

This means staff and students in secondary schools should wear masks in communal areas, but this is not expected in classrooms.

The guidance also states that sport and physical activity provided by schools for their own pupils can continue in Tier 4.

This includes sports clubs or activities before or after school, in addition to regular PE lessons.

The DfE has said pupils should be kept in consistent groups and sports equipment thoroughly cleaned between each use by different individual groups. 

Today the government announced that Sussex, Suffolk, Norfolk, the rest of Essex and Surrey, Hampshire - but not the New Forest - and Cambridgeshire are also moving into Tier 4. 

Following the creation of the new Tier 4 areas and concern about the rising cases of a new variant of Covid, there has been uncertainty about when schools will return in January.

When asked about this at a government press conference, prime minister Boris Johnson said he wanted secondary school students to make a staggered start from the beginning of January as planned but that this would be kept under “constant review”. 

When the government launched the second national lockdown last month, extremely vulnerable school staff were advised to work from home.

However, when this finished and was replaced by a triple-tier system of restrictions, the government had said that all staff could continue to attend school in the three local restriction tiers.