Covid-19: London council tells schools to teach online

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By Branwen Jeffreys
Education Editor

The London borough of Greenwich has become the first in England to ask all schools to move learning online from Tuesday amid rising Covid cases.

The council's Labour leader Danny Thorpe has written to parents and head teachers saying it is justified by the "extreme risk" of the virus.

The National Education Union said the decision was "very sensible".

But the Department for Education said it remained a national priority to keep schools open full time.

In two letters, to parents and to head teachers, Mr Thorpe explained why he is asking schools to close.

"I wouldn't be asking for this unless the risk was extreme, but with numbers rising so rapidly it is clear action is needed," he wrote to parents.

As a result, he said, the escalating number of cases demanded immediate action, and all schools were being asked to move teaching online from Tuesday.

The council is advising them to keep buildings open for vulnerable children and those of key workers, but for all other pupils to learn remotely.

Mr Thorpe wrote to parents he was "extremely sorry" for the disruption this was likely to cause.

To head teachers he wrote it had become clear rates of Covid-19 were rising extremely rapidly and he couldn't "in all good conscience standby by whilst the numbers are doubling".

The call from the local authority will put schools in a difficult position as ultimately they will have to make their own decisions.

Ark Greenwich Free School, which has the same autonomy as an academy, said the secondary would be remaining open.

The head teacher Rhys Spiers took to social media to tell parents they had not had a confirmed case of coronavirus at the school since October and "our teachers are in school ready to warmly welcome your children to lessons".

Schools which rely on the local authority for support may feel under more pressure to move teaching online.

Kevin Courtney, general secretary of the National Education Union, said the request by Greenwich was very sensible.

"Local government is having to step in because central government is ignoring its responsibilities," he said

The move by a Labour led authority will be regarded as a provocative move by the government, which said it remained "a national priority" for schools to remain open.

Leaders 'need flexibility'

Schools who have said they would like to move learning online have been firmly reminded that the government has the legal power to require them to stay open.

But head teachers unions said a more flexible approach was needed.

Paul Whiteman, from the NAHT, said the government was obsessed with a one size fits all approach, driven from Whitehall, that was not working for anyone.

"But it is working against any reasonable education objective, school leaders need flexibility to organise the best education possible in this crisis," he said.

Geoff Barton, from the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "The government's determination to force schools to provide direct classroom teaching for all pupils regardless of local circumstances with coronavirus rates is far too inflexible. "

A spokesman for the Department for Education said it was "vital" that children remain in school until the end of term.

He said: "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."

The Regional Schools Commissioner for the South East of England and South London would be continuing discussions with Greenwich, he added.

In a letter to the prime minister Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called for an immediate increase in testing provision across the capital - including regular asymptomatic testing being rolled out to students and staff at the city's secondary schools and colleges.

"Time is running out to get the virus under control in our city," he said.

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