Greenwich schools closing tomorrow

[Starch1e]

Leader of Greenwich council tweeted an open letter this afternoon asking schools to close from Tuesday. Our school is complying.
I need a meltdown emoji. Work is stupid f*king busy this week for me and DP and I cannot do it with 4 & 7 year old at home

When Kent was in Tier 3 suddenly everyone in Bromley wanted to be classed as London whereas previously when London was they wanted to be Kent. They are happy to laugh at themselves about this though

@scrivette this is very true!

@BertNErnie People "feel" how they feel I guess. What has the underground got to do with it? Is Enfield part of London as the tube goes there? Likewise Uxbridge? These places are zone 5/6....

In Bromley:
Who do you pay your council tax too and do you pay towards the GLA? (Yep)
Do you vote in the GLA and London mayoral elections (Yep)
Would you get any joy if you called Kent County council about your bins/streetlighting/parks? (No - they would tell you to call London Borough of Bromley)

@BertNErnie

Former babe, those who live in Bromley often claim to be a London borough she to the fact that that's what is on their council tax bill but honestly it's most definitely not a London borough.

Bromley does border Kent yes but it's still quite far from Greenwich. Bexley is the border between Bromley and Kent (I know both areas well)

I would say yes, there are people commuting from one borough to the other but it's likely the other way around - Kent to Bromley or Greenwich as the rates of pay are higher in London

Its a 7 minute drive ffs

@Rosehip10 as you said, it's about how people feel. Just to answer your question yes I guess would include Enfield as I had friends who grew up there and it was not far to get to for me when younger and but Uxbridge is definitely pushing it in terms of if I qualify it as a London borough or not.

As I said it's horses for courses. You don't have to agree with me.

@AxMan76 where is a 7 min drive?

It would take longer than 7 mins to get down the A20 from Bromley to Greenwich.

Although if you counted Eltham, yes you would get there quite quickly but I've never done that drive in 7 mins either.

Bromley North to East Greenwich. You're off your tits

@BertNErnie

So for me, Bromley and Bexley don't really count as official London boroughs other than their postcodes mean they are included. I've always technically counted London boroughs as those that are on the underground system.

I'd definitely say Bromley is more Kent than London.

Well in that case Greenwich has only been a London Borough since 1999 when the Jubilee Line extension opened and I don't think Lewisham is a London Borough to this day, even though it's more central than Greenwich.

Let me guess - you're not from South London are you?

All this is irrelevant, just look at the map. The current centre of the clusterfuck is South Essex, East London (North and South) and North Kent - i.e. Thames Estuary - and they're all joined up. It doesn't matter which bits you think count as proper London.

@HalfPastThree

This makes no sense. Primary school children hardly spread it, and we've known this since April. If they think older children are spreading it, why on earth are they closing primary schools? What are they doing?

Yes they DO spread it, speaking from personal experience!!!

London Borough of Lewisham is a London Borough.

Anyway sorry to derail this thread.

Ultimately people do commute between Greenwich and Kent, yes. Children and adults alike. There are also a large number of commuters who travel from Kent into London daily (I was one of those) via the Blackwall tunnel or the Dartford toll.

Greenwich has 17 wards, with those towards the east and south of the borough being those who border Bromley and Bexley. Therefore it does seem that the virus is being brought back and forth between the boroughs which will account for some of the increase.

Schools with exponential rises in cases should most definitely be able to close to the majority of students for safety reasons and the threat of legal action against Greenwich from Williamson is outrageous.

I really hope Danny Thorpe holds strong on this and doesn't bow to the pressure of the DFE as quite frankly, this isn't about keeping pupils and the wider community safe for them, it's about them wanting to regain/maintain control at all costs.

@scrivette

London Borough of Lewisham is a London Borough.

Of course it is but it doesn't have a tube station.

@LangClegsInSpace as I said, my opinion is my opinion and yes I'm most definitely not from south London so really, anything south of the river isn't somewhere I'm 100% familiar with.

Posters don't have to agree with me, that's your choice. If you are offended I don't count certain boroughs as officially 'London' I'm sorry you feel that way but it doesn't change my stance.

I stand by my opinion, I don't count Bromley as a 'proper' London borough despite it being one.

Also am not off my tits thanks @AxMan76.

I'm not offended I just think your arguments are ridiculous and irrelevant.

And you are entitled to your opinion, that's absolutely fine.

I'll not detail the thread any longer, my last post regarding my opinion on Greenwich school closures is there for Sotheby's who might be interested to read.

• Anybody Interesting typo!

@Mustfly

Kids must stay in school. That's the bottom line. Any teacher who feels a true love and vocation for the children in their care would want that. I say that as a parent, as a friend of many teachers and sister to a teaching assistant. If any teachers had died, if any children were seriously ill, then I'd feel differently. But they're not and i don't. I work for an emergency service where covid has been rife...absolutely zero chance of shutting us down and thank god for that. It's a risk our people take day in day out on the front line, but actually no-one has died or been seriously ill of covid in nine months in a work force of 11,000. My son in secondary school has been in isolation twice, the second time his best friend and his family all had covid. He didn't catch it, despite being in the bus, in class and out at lunch with him. My eight year old hasn't missed a day and only one class has had an isolation all term (a year one teacher caught it from her husband). And my son's preschool has had not one case since March. The benefit that they have had from going to school, in a world where they've been deprived of play dates, family visits, sports clubs intermittently, birthday parties...it's immeasurable. I will never ever support school closures again...education is not optional, it is vital and transformative for their whole lives.

This is fucking offensive.

Teachers and other school staff have died, so I'm not sure what you are saying.

It's because I care about the children I teach, I understand that some of them are extremely anxious about being in school for all sorts of reasons and many are absolutely desperate not to have to isolate over Christmas.

I understand that there is more to a child's life than education.

Is Amersham a London borough? It's on the underground, I thought it was in Bucks. Also I'm pretty sure there are parts of Essex on the underground e.g Epping.

What is that pp smoking?!

Borough is most definitely a London Borough.

Since when was having a tube station prerequisite for being a London borough?

I'd advise to have a Google for the 32 London boroughs to put yourself straight!

*Bromley is most definitely a London Borough!

[quote Waxonwaxoff0]@Isthatitnow online education only works if parents have time to do it. As a single parent who can't work from home - if school shuts I will be out at work all day having to leave DS with various random family members for childcare, I will not be there to ensure he's getting work done so he will fall even more behind. Whereas a SAHP who doesn't have to work will be able to spend more time helping their child with education and there will be an ever more widening gap.

More provision should be made for vulnerable children to be able to stay home if their parents wish and learn online. Schools shouldn't be shut to every single child when some of us need our children in school.[/quote]
What would you do if your child had to isolate for 10 days?