EDUCATION unions have slammed the Tories’ “shameful” threat of legal action to force a London council to keep its schools open. 

Greenwich Council leader Danny Thorpe says that he received a directive from the Department for Education (DfE) on Monday that schools be kept fully open until the end of autumn term on Friday.

The south-east London borough had announced on Sunday that primaries, secondaries and colleges were advised to close several days early and move to online teaching because Covid-19 infections in the area have been increasing.

Cllr Thorpe said that, as of Monday, more than 4,000 pupils and 300 school staff in Greenwich were self-isolating.

The “exponential growth” in Covid-19 cases formed the basis of guidance to move teaching online, the Labour councillor said. 

After the legal threat, Cllr Thorpe said that he could not justify the use of public funds to fight the government in court, but that he “cannot agree that this is the correct choice for our schools.”

The increase in infections and concerns over a new quicker-spreading variant of the virus in the south-east have led the government to put London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire under Tier-3 restrictions from Wednesday.

London’s Islington and Waltham Forest councils have also made the decision to close schools early, it was revealed today.

Schools minister Nick Gibb sent the two boroughs a letter warning that the DfE could legally force their schools to stay open. But BBC London reported that no legal action had been taken and that the councils were sticking by their guns.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said that the government “really has taken a step too far” in making threats to schools.

“The fact that [Education Secretary] Gavin Williamson and the Prime Minister refuse to see sense and allow the professional judgement of headteachers and local authorities to take precedent is shameful and yet another grave error of judgement in a long line of such errors,” he said.

“Parents, students and school staff will not forgive this wilful neglect of their safety.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that many parents may still keep their children at home this week despite the government’s “hollow victory” over Greenwich Council.

The PM’s official spokesman, when asked if private schools should also stay open, said that “all schools should remain open for children and that’s the best place for them to be.”

Eton College closed temporarily and moved teaching online last week after a number of boys and staff tested positive for the virus.

The government also announced today that every secondary school and college in England will be given access to rapid coronavirus testing from January.

All staff will be eligible for weekly rapid tests, while students will be eligible for a week of daily testing if they have been in close contact with somebody who has tested positive.

Primary schools will then “be supported to roll out testing as quickly as possible over the spring term.”

The NEU said it had been calling for wider testing “for months” and that the government’s announcement “gives almost zero notice for unions to assess the plans, or for schools to implement them.”

NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach said that mass testing is “not a panacea” and should be deployed within a wide range of safety measures.

He warned that rapid tests should not be used to keep schools open where it would be safer to have full or partial closures.