Academies depart from Greenwich council advice that schools should close from tonight

Two London academies, run by two of England’s largest quasi-private chains, appear to be at odds with the local authority in which they operate over whether or not they should close from tonight because of Covid-19.

Harris Greenwich and Ark Greenwich Free School have both pledged to stay open from tomorrow for at least most of their year groups, despite the leader of Greenwich council having urged all schools to close because of the danger of an “exponential” rise of cases in the south London borough.

In an open letter released last night, Dan Thorpe, leader of Labour-controlled Greenwich council, said the move followed a briefing he had had from Public Health England, warning that the authority now had its highest rate of infection since March.

“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,” he wrote.

However, it has since emerged that not all schools want to do so.

In a letter to parents, also dated yesterday, Rhys Spiers, head of Ark Greenwich Free School, wrote that the school would be open as usual, in what could be read as an indication that he would not be told what to do by the leader of the local council.

He wrote: “It has been brought to my attention that information is circulating on social media that Councillor Danny Thorpe has asked all schools in the Royal Borough of Greenwich (RBG) to close from Monday evening.

“I will of course continue to monitor the situation closely, however until I am instructed to close by the Government Department for Education (DfE) and/or Public Health England (PHE) our school will remain open to all scholars [I guess this means all pupils] as normal. Parents may wish to note that there has not been a confirmed case of coronavirus at our school since October.”

Meanwhile, at Harris Greenwich, a secondary run by England’s second-largest chain, there are also plans to stay open to all but years 8 and 9.

In a tweet posted late yesterday evening, the academy’s twitter account said: “We will be open on Monday 14^th December to Y7, 10, 11, 12 and 13. Covid cases permitting, we intend to remain open to those year groups until 3.35pm on Thursday 17^th December. Hope this clears up some of the confusion this evening.”

Someone tweeted in response that “I don’t understand this course of action”, given Greenwich’s move, adding that “we have received a letter from our younger child’s primary school written by Greenwich council themselves”.

Yesterday, Harris Greenwich had announced that years 8 and 9 would be closed for the remainder of the term after a child in year 9, with a sibling in year, tested positive for Covid-19.

It will be interesting to follow developments in Greenwich, and elsewhere, in the coming days.