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

@dreamingbohemian

I genuinely don't understand why closures can't be on a school by school basis. What is the logic?

If your school is relatively unaffected it stays open, if cases are skyrocketing, it closes. Why isn't this possible?

It would be if heads were allowed to make decisions about their own schools but they aren't, I think hence the council wide action.

PHE could order individual schools to shut though I think

There seems to be an opinion that somehow one London Borough can be "a proper one" and others are not.

@sansasnark its a moot point as the vast majority of secondary schools are academies who do not answer to the LA, hence academies in Greenwich saying they are not closing. I doubt PHE said explicitly to Greenwich Council leader "we ask you to close schools". Whether you agree with it or not, it is a choice by lb Greenwich to send the letters

@Burpeesshmurpees

Yes clearly talking out of their arse, that sums them up!

Yes I acknowledge this is my random opinion and one which is not factually correct. I don't need to go back to check all 32 boroughs as I know what they are. Again my
Non acknowledgement of some is my own personal opinion and not one that can be taken for fact.

I had no idea it would provoke such a reaction

I'm not a fan of South London no. I know some areas but not many as I have always been a north of the river person.

There was most definitely a north/south divide when I was growing up which probably clouded my view somewhat I'll admit!

I don't take offence to people name calling or saying things such I'm talking out of my arse as that's not actually possible so if it makes people happy to keep going please do

I only clicked on this thread as DC1 is at school in a London Borough which is not a million miles from Greenwich.

It's hilarious that a debate about schools in Greenwich has got posters out hotly debating whether London boroughs are actually genuine London Boroughs!

I hastily will add, there is nothing hilarious about Coronavirus

I remember when some people use to say if you aren't 071 telephone then you are no way London.......

When I lived on the outskirts I most definitely didn't consider myself a London borough as my telephone number didn't start with 020. I was most upset and I'm being serious...

If the derailment of this thread takes my mind of the shit show that's happening with schools at the moment I'll take it!

I'm also happy for people to say things such as I'm talking out of my arse if it makes them feel good about it or themselves. My opinion is my opinion and what posters think of me is none of my business

Crystal Palace is in Borough of Bromley and Borders Southwark and lambeth? Would you class cp as London?

And is in zone 3

I've had a think and anywhere on the London Underground map from zones 1-4 is considered London to me.

If it's in zone 5 that's pushing it and I'd consider that area the outskirts of London and zone 6 I wouldn't count as London at all.

Disclaimer again* I know this is factually incorrect. I am aware there are 32 London boroughs. This is my personal opinion of which many people have informed me I am wrong.

@Rosehip10 now you've thrown a spanner in the works as technically CP is zone 3 but I wouldn't think of that as a London borough but more on the outskirts.

The above says more about my lack of knowledge of some London borough than others though.

Come on, Crystal Palace is no way on the outskirts of London.....

You could say somewhere like Biggin Hill is on the far outskirts of London, but has indeed been part of London since 1965.

Is CP an station where it goes overground? Overground stations are where it gets tricky for me.

Completely irrational yes.

Growing up I travelled mostly on the Central, Victoria, Northern, Piccadilly, Jubilee and Bakerloo line. I never went all the way to the end so I guess I lived a sheltered London life.

Yes I completely agree I would class Biggin Hill as being on the outskirts.

Interestingly the plans for the 1965 reorganisation included even more of parts of bordering counties becoming part of London, MPs in the Epsom area furiously lobbied against this and succeeded in making sure Epsom remained part of Surrey!

I'm currently reading up on the birth of London boroughs on the London councils website. It's really interesting and I've now gone down the rabbit hole!

well, the important thing is that hundreds of thousands of people commute both ways between Kent and Greenwich every day, and the corona virus is totally oblivious to borders.

Ask anyone who is born and bred in London if it qualifies as a 'proper' London borough and I think you'll find a lot of people who say no, it isn't.

Those people are a) pig ignorant b) incorrect c) extremely parochial and have their heads stuck up their bottoms.

It’s all a bit like the fish in the sea that are either our fish or Eurofish depending on where they are.
I know neither the virus nor Brexit are laughing matters, but I can’t help myself.

What about people who insist they live in "Middlesex" despite the County no longer even existing.

Lots of Greenwich families commute to Kent for the grammar schools, it seems a bit crazy to me but apparently it's A Thing

Thanks for answering my question @SansaSnark. I'm not from the UK originally and it just seems so strange that schools have so little autonomy. Same for not allowing schools to up their safety measures, it all seems so heavy-handed.

Oh and we've definitely had threads before about whether Bromley is proper London, so it's an ongoing debate :)