A primary school in Herefordshire will be partially closed for the rest of this week due to COVID-19.
A letter sent to parents from Lugwardine Primary Academy near Hereford informed them of the decision.
The letter say:
Dear Parents,
I am writing to update on the concerning rise in the number of positive cases we are seeing across the school and the actions that we are now taking. I have spoken with the Assistant Director of Education, Ceri Morgan, today and we have also been in contact with the Outbreak Hub and the Governors of the school who have agreed to the steps we are taking.
As of today, the Year 6 and the Year 3 classes will close and all learning will go online. We are taking this step due to the rise in cases among both pupils and staff in those classes and is in line with updated public health guidance. The classes will reopen on Monday 24th January when we look forward to welcoming the children back into school.
Additionally, we are cancelling after school clubs tomorrow (Wednesday 19th) and Thursday 20th. Today’s clubs are being arrange to take place either outside, or with social distancing between the different classes (as an extra precaution even though they are all from within the same bubble). You are welcome to collect your child at normal pick up time if you would rather.
I apologise for the inconvenience I know this will cause but also appreciate your support and understanding during this challenging and ever changing time. During my conversation with Mr Morgan today he shared the positive news that public health modelling suggests that after this wave the numbers are due to drop considerable; of course I appreciate this is not much help in the coming days.
The guidance remains the same that where there is a positive case within a household, the remaining members of the household are required to test and, if negative, they may continue to attend school.
In addition we are introducing the following control measures:
· we are requesting that all children test before they come into school each day for the remainder of the week to help stop the spread as much as possible
· we request that adults wear masks when they drop off and pick up and also that adults are mindful to make the drop off and pick up as quick a process as possible
I would like to give my thanks to all staff at the school who have worked increasingly hard to support the learning and needs of all the children and I know will continue to do so whether the learning is online or in person.
We continue to constantly monitor the numbers of cases and we will keep you fully informed if we need to make further, difficult, decisions such as these.
Yours sincerely
Mr R Foster
