Unfortunately, we were advised that a pupil in our new Year 9 had had a positive result on a Lateral Flow Device Test during the evening of Monday 14 June 2021.

In response to this suspected case, and as a precautionary measure, members of the school’s leadership team responded immediately to the information the pupil and his parent gave us. We undertook internal track and trace and contacted the parents of 9 other pupils identified as 'close contacts' to advise them to keep their children at home from Tuesday 15 June until the results of a confirmatory PCR test were known.

The PCR test result subsequently confirmed that the pupil has COVID-19. The 9 close contact pupils affected have been asked to self-isolate at home for a period of 10 days from Tuesday 15 June. They will be isolating until Thursday 24 June inclusive and, subject to them all being well and, ideally, having a negative Lateral Flow Device test, they will be able to return to school on Friday 25 June.

Pupils who have been asked to self-isolate are expected to continue to engage in their learning remotely. The 10 pupils in our new Year 9 currently self-isolating can access work through Show My Homework, and, should they be required to do so for longer, in MS Teams. We have been impressed by how quickly the 37 pupils in our new Year 10, who are currently self-isolating, have responded to remote learning again. They are engaging in activities alongside their peers and we are extremely grateful to staff for including them in their planning.

The pupil who tested positive on the Lateral Flow Device Test was only in school until 11:25am on Monday 14 June and presented with a headache, one of the possible symptoms now suggested to be associated with the Delta variant.

To help us minimise the risk of transmission, parents are asked to be more cautious than usual and should not send children into school with any of the following symptoms of COVID-19:

• A high temperature
• A new continuous cough
• A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste.

Parent should book a PCR test if they or their child/ren display symptoms and we would be grateful if you could advise the school at the earliest opportunity so that we can undertake any appropriate action.

The Government’s latest guidance to schools (Monday 14 June 2021) strongly advises pupils and staff to continue the twice-weekly regular testing habit which they stress is now more important than ever: ‘With up to 1 in 3 people with COVID-19 not displaying any symptoms, rapid testing remains a vital tool to help us stay ahead of the virus.’

We are grateful to those members of our school and wider community who are routinely testing twice a week and, to ensure this can continue, we will be despatching more test kits to those children for whom we have consent on Thursday 17 June. Please do not hesitate to contact Miss Brace, Assistant Head, if your child who doesn’t currently self-test, would now like to do so.