A secondary school in Woolwich has declared it will open as normal for the rest of the week, despite Greenwich Council's request that all schools close from Monday evening (December 14).

With Covid-19 cases rising dramatically in the past couple of days, council leader Danny Thorpe announced on Sunday night that it was ordered all 133 of its schools to close early for Christmas.

But the headteacher of Ark Greenwich Free School, Mr Spiers, has said that the school will open as normal until Thursday, when it is due to close for the Christmas holidays.

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The secondary school has not had a confirmed case of coronavirus since October, and with pupil attendance at 96%, teachers are "in school ready to warmly welcome your children to lessons."

Greenwich Council's announcement has caused a stir amongst schools, parents and politicians as the move goes directly against GOvernment guidance.

The Department for Education says it is "vital" that schools remain open for all students, and has threatened legal action against headteachers who close early.

Sadiq Khan has come out in support of Greenwich Council, calling for the rest of the capital to follow suit, whilst some parents have called the decision "ridiculous".

AGFS head Mr Spiers said in a letter to parents and carers that they were aware of "information circulating on social media that Cllr Danny Thorpe has asked all schools in Greenwich to close from Monday evening."

"I will of course continue to monitor the situation closely, however until I am instructed to close by the Department for Education and/or Public Health England, out school will remain open to all scholars as normal."

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The school says Monday and Tuesday of this week will go ahead as normal school days, Wednesday, December 16 will be a 'drop down day', and Tursday will see students finish at 12:30pm for the holidays.

"AGFS offers an extremely well-ordered environment were distancing and hygiene measures remain in place for the safety of all members of our community."

Bexley Council's lead for education, Cllr John Fuller, said there were ongoing discussion about schools, but that at the moment the council has no powers to close them.

In a statement he said: "Our schools have done an exceptional job in providing continued education for our children and we thank them for all they have done in recent months.

"We understand that Public Health England are in discussion with Government but we have no powers to close schools.

"We will continue to support schools to remain open where it is safe and sustainable to do so and work with schools where remote learning is required.

"Our schools are aware of the opportunity to use the 18 December as a staff training day, and this is a school-level decision.

"We will continue to do all we can to work with schools and our residents to keep Bexley safe.

We would ask parents to ensure their children travel straight home from school and not to send their children to school or school events if they are at all unwell."