A CASE of coronavirus was this week confirmed at a primary school – days before pupils across England are due to return to class on Monday.
Parents of youngsters at Woolaston Primary School in Lydney, Gloucestershire were sent a letter during the week after a positive Covid-19 test.
It’s understood the casualty contracted the deadly virus at a holiday club being held at the school, reports GloucestershireLive.
Primary schools across the country are due to reopen from tomorrow, Monday.
Youngsters in reception, year 1 and year 6 will be among the first to return.
Secondary schools will also start offering face-to-face contact from June 15.
It comes after Boris Johnson announced the Government’s five key tests required for the easing of the lockdown have been met.
But the Prime Minister has faced battles with teachers’ unions and council leaders concerned over safety.
Woolaston Primary’s acting headteacher Emma Gomersall said the school has undergone a deep clean on Wednesday and Thursday.
Anyone in contact with the sick person has been ‘identified and contacted’ and already knows if they need to stay away from the school, she says.
The letter reads: “I can confirm that an individual who attended the holiday club at the school has tested positive for Covid-19 and is currently getting all the necessary support and advice from health services.
“While I fully understand this will cause anxiety among the school community, I can assure you all necessary steps are being taken to minimise risk to others.
“I would urge you to remain calm and continue to be responsible with your comments and actions, so as not to cause unnecessary anxiety for our pupils, staff and the wider area.”
The school will open tomorrow.
Students and parents have been urged to wash hands with soap and water, use hand sanitiser and catch coughs and sneezes in a tissue which should then we thrown away, she said.
This week, former Education Secretary Alan Johnson said teaching unions “got it wrong” over the schools issue.
Mr Johnson, who was secretary of state for education and skills under Tony Blair, said the Government had been “absolutely right” to try and kids back in the classroom.
It comes after half a million teachers were told in mid-May to refuse even discussing a return to school by the boss of the UK’s biggest teaching union, the National Education Union (NEU).
Days later, the NEU, together with unions GMB, Unison and Unite produced a list of 169 questions for the Department for Education to answer before teachers returned to school.
They demanded education bosses provide maps of bins and extra staff to clean paint brushes and glue sticks.
But despite the row, the Government’s plans for reopening classes will go ahead – although pupils will be told to leave ties, bags and blazers at home, while mums and dads can’t “natter” at the school gates.
