Year group sent home from school near Kettering after Covid case

A village school near Kettering has become the latest to send pupils home after a confirmed case of Covid-19.

Parents of children in Year 4 at Mawsley Community Primary School were informed of the case yesterday (Tuesday) with the whole year group now self-isolating.

In a letter to parents, headteacher Michelle Harris said: "We have followed the national guidance and sought advice today from the DFE (Department for Education).

"The advice we have received is that all children in Year 4, due to the possibility of close contact with the confirmed case, are required to isolate for 14 days.

"This isolation period is from last Saturday, October 17, when symptoms started. In line with the national guidance, your child must stay at home and self-isolate until and including Friday, October 30."

The letter added that two staff members who were in close contact with the confirmed case 48 hours before symptoms started will also self-isolate.

They will not return to school in Scholars Row until after the half-term break.

Both classrooms were due to be deep cleaned yesterday.

Some face-to-face contact for children on Zoom will be organised before half-term.

More than 20 schools across the north of Northamptonshire have now reported positive test results since the start of the academic year, including four reported cases at Bishop Stopford School.

Henry Chichele Primary School in Higham Ferrers and Weston Favell Academy have decided to close to all pupils with immediate effect because of the number of staff self-isolating.

At a media briefing on Friday the county's director of public health Lucy Wightman revealed the county was battling ten outbreaks at schools - defined as two or more cases linked by place and time to one setting.

Eight of the outbreaks were in Northampton, one in East Northamptonshire and one in South Northants.

Ms Wightman said: "We are very pleased that despite challenges and a slight increase in numbers we are managing to keep schools open with a high level of pupils attending.

"Schools are working with us and and with Public Health England to maintain a safe environment and mitigate risks where they appear.

"In fact, a lot of contact tracing information has given insight that quite a lot of the spread is coming from outside schools, where children are socialising."

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