Dozens of children at a Hove school have been told to self-isolate for 14 days after a member of staff tested positive for the coronavirus.
Two year 7 classes will spend the next fortnight in quarantine along with a number of staff at Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Hove.
Letters were sent to parents today. One of them said: “Dear parents, I had intended to write to you this evening full of praise for the way years 7, 8 and 11 have returned to school and anticipating an equally positive return for years 9 and 10 on Monday.
“And indeed, all of our students have done themselves proud this week and been full of positivity and enthusiasm and their teachers have loved seeing them again.
“However, I also have to report more sobering news.
“We have a member of staff who has tested positive for covid.
“When I received this information at about 9.30am this morning, I contacted Public Health England whose advice and protocols I share here and who have spoken to the colleague to ascertain those who were direct contacts.
“Two year 7 classes are affected and I have already contacted those parents directly as their children will need to self-isolate for 14 days.
“We fully appreciate this is not the start to the new term any of us would have wished for and we will work hard to keep in close contact with the children and to ensure they feel fully part of the Newman family.
“We also have a number of staff who will also need to isolate.
“This mainly affects our Learning Support team which means that we might be able to offer less support for the next fortnight than we would want.
“In my conversations with PHE today the main thing that struck me is the paramount importance of social distancing as just one minute at the proximity of one metre or 15 minutes at two metres means you are a close direct contact.
“Could you therefore please impress upon your children the need to keep socially distance and to keep washing hands.”
