Greenwich revokes school closure plans after DfE legal threat
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Greenwich Council has revoked plans to close schools early for Christmas after the Education Secretary threatened the borough with legal action.
In a letter to parents following the decision to keep schools open, council leader Danny Thorpe revealed that, as of Monday, more than 4,000 children and 300 staff members were in self-isolation across the south London borough.
Islington has also issued similar advice, asking schools to return to online learning as London moves to tier three - the highest level of restrictions - from midnight.
However, The Department for Education yesterday (14 December) issued a temporary continuity notice to Greenwich Council demanding leaders retract the guidance to close schools.
Gavin Williamson said that if Greenwich did not follow the direction, DfE could apply to the High Court or County Court for an injunction against the council under the Coronavirus Act 2020.
Gavin Williamson said: “It is simply not in children’s best interests for schools in Greenwich, Islington or elsewhere to close their doors. Schools and colleges up and down the country in all tiers have shown incredible resilience in the face of this pandemic - and it’s down to the hard work of teachers and staff that millions of children and young people have been able to benefit from a face-to-face education and be with their friends.
“I have always been clear that using legal powers is a last resort but continuity of education is a national priority. That’s why I won’t hesitate to do what is right for young people and have issued a direction to Greenwich Council setting out that they must withdraw the letter issued to headteachers on Sunday.
“The Regional Schools Commissioner will continue to work closely with Greenwich Council and schools in the borough, as we have done with schools across the country, to support them with any operational challenges they face and ensure children can continue to receive face to face education.”
Greenwich Council has today agreed to retract advice to schools to close.
Thorpe said: "Yesterday the council received a directive from the government that schools in the borough must remain fully open until the end of term.
"With Covid-19 cases rising rapidly in the borough, I cannot agree that this is the correct choice for our schools. However, I also cannot justify the use of public funds to fight the decision in the courts. Consequently, I have no choice but to ask our schools to keep their doors open to all students rather than just continuing with online learning.
"From the start of this pandemic, both myself and the whole council have worked tirelessly to support our whole school community. The action we took on Sunday was based solely on doing the right thing for our borough, not a protracted legal argument with the government, which absolutely nobody needs at the end of an extremely difficult term.
"The council has issued a response to the government, which outlines our serious concerns about forcing our students to attend school in person and our intention to reluctantly comply with the Secretary of State’s directive."
Yesterday, DfE wrote to schools in both Greenwich and Islington calling for them to “reconsider their position” on closing three days earlier than planned.
In a letter sent to schools in Greenwich by Claire Burton, regional schools commissioner for South East England and south London to Greenwich, seen by CYP Now, Burton says: “I am deeply disappointed and concerned by your message to all schools.
“There is no place in the contingency framework for unilateral action such as Greenwich Council has taken,” she adds before reminding the council of DfE’s powers under the Coronavirus Act 2020 to force children to attend school.
“The Secretary of State may make a direction to require schools to enable all pupils to attend full time, other than pupils who are required to self-isolate in accordance with the schools’ opening guidance. The department would consider issuing such a direction, if needed,” it adds.
In an open letter sent to schools on Sunday, Thorpe said he had taken the decision to close schools after being briefed by Public Health England that the pandemic in Greenwich is "now showing signs that we are in a period of exponential growth that demands immediate action".
"We now have the highest rates of infection in Greenwich than at any time since March, and for these reasons I have therefore asked all schools in Greenwich to close their premises from Monday evening and move to online learning for the duration of the term, with the exception of key worker children and those with specific needs," Thorpe said.
Richard Watts, leader of Islington Council, said: “There is a serious and very worrying rise in coronavirus across London, with cases doubling every few days. We must all take action now to stop this deadly disease spreading serious illness and death to the people we love.
“Following public health advice, we are advising that schools close from the end of Tuesday and move to online learning, except for children of key workers and vulnerable children.
“This is a very difficult decision – however the public health situation in Islington and London is so serious that we have to do everything we can to stop this deadly virus spreading in our community and across London.
“Throughout the pandemic our top priority has been to keep our residents safe and supported. We are working closely with schools to give help and support they need in these very difficult times, including support with e-learning.”
Meanwhile, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called on the government to consider closing all schools in the capital due to the spike.
"With significant outbreaks among 10- to 19-year-olds, the government must consider asking schools and colleges to close early and re-open later in January, with extra resource provided to support online learning," a statement made by Khan said.
A DfE spokesperson said: “It is a national priority to keep education settings open full time and it is vital that children remain in school until the end of the term.
“Schools, colleges and early years settings across the country have worked tremendously hard to put protective measures in place that are helping reduce the risk of the virus being transmitted and our regional school commissioner teams continue to support local authorities and school trusts to remain open and help resolve any operational issues.”
The majority of schools are set to close from Friday evening for two weeks for the holidays.
