Thread by @DanLThorpe

Despite our teams & heads not hearing anything all along, it appears that schools will be going online after all. Here in @Royal_Greenwich I took the decision earlier this week to ask schools to change the way we did things here in #Greenwich

bbc.com/news/education…

I was deeply disappointed by the actions of @GavinWilliamson & the @educationgovuk who decided it would be better to see us in court rather than cooperate in the best interests of what was happening on the ground here in #Greenwich

The behaviour of the Government in creating an unnecessary row about legal powers would have been better spent sorting this out. Mass testing in schools has been something myself, other London leaders & @SadiqKhan have been banging on about for weeks.

Here in @Royal_Greenwich we were attacked by @amanda_spielman and @Ofstednews for taking the ‘easy option’ in closing schools, but all schools would have remained open under our plans. Will you be criticising the same short term decision we were attacked for I wonder?

What this highlights for me is just how uncoordinated this government are. We’ve had @educationgovuk department taking us to court whilst @DHSCgovuk are announcing plans affecting schools in #Greenwich & across the country. On the last day of term.

My teams here in @Royal_Greenwich have been flat out piloting testing in schools, doing our bit to try and introduce the mass testing we need to make the difference. I’m pleased that we’ve highlighted just how important this is for all schools.

We await further details from the Department about what is happening and will support all our schools in #Greenwich to understand what this means for them - whether they are academies or maintained - as we have done every day since March.

Finally, can I say thanks again to everyone who has got in touch and offered messages of support. Our data has continued to worsen. On Monday, in #Greenwich our infection rate was 254/100,000. Today it is 291/100,000.