Corby school closes for week as a third of staff self-isolate

Children at a Corby infant and nursery school have been told to stay at home for the week as staff absences have left too few teachers and support staff to keep pupils safe.

Parents at Danesholme Infants Academy received a letter yesterday (Sunday) informing them that children would be moved to remote learning as teaching staff self-isolated until next week.

The school will be closed to all Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils but those deemed 'vulnerable', as well as some key worker children, may be offered places.

A joint letter from executive principal Mrs Lamond and head of academy Mrs May said: "Dear parents and carers, I am writing to notify parents that as from Monday the January 24 until Friday, January 28 we are having to move to remote learning for all pupils at Danesholme Infant Academy. This means that no children should attend the Infant Academy.

"The school will be closed to all pupils on Monday, January 24. On Monday we will try to establish if we are able to offer any spaces for the remainder of the week for key worker and vulnerable children. We will make contact on Monday if we are able to, please do not email or ring to request a place at school until we know whether we can safely offer the provision.

"Since we have returned from Christmas we have been trying to manage significant staff absence whilst keeping the school open. Unfortunately we are now in the position where over a third of our teaching and teaching assistants are required to self-isolate next week.

"This means that we are not able to safely open the school. We have been unable to access any supply or agency staff to provide cover.

"We understand that this may be difficult for many families, and the decision to close is only taken as the very last resort, however the health and safety of the children and staff must be our priority.

Pupils will be carrying on their learning at home with resources provided by teachers.

Danesholme Junior Academy is open as usual for all pupils.

A spokesperson for the infanta school said: “The health and safety of our pupils, families and staff is our absolute priority, and while we all navigate the challenges of Covid-19, we are continuing to work hard to ensure our entire school community is properly supported.

“We take our duty of care extremely seriously and every decision is made with the best interests of our pupils in mind. Due to staff shortages, linked to Covid-19, we have made the difficult decision for the school to close and move to learning from home this week.

“We are committed to ensuring all our pupils receive the best possible education and we are putting robust measures in place to minimise the disruption to families and ensure that our pupils can continue their education during this time. This includes using online learning platforms, such as Microsoft Teams and Class DoJo to enable pupils to continue their education in a virtual setting and engage with their teachers and peers so that they still feel connected to their class and wider school community.

“We are working with Public Health England and the Department for Education to follow the appropriate steps and guidance. We will review the situation at the end of the week and will be in regular contact with parents and carers to provide further updates and information as it becomes available.

“Unfortunately, this is the case for many schools across the country at the moment and throughout the pandemic, our team of dedicated staff has brilliantly supported our pupils. Thank you to our community for your ongoing support, understanding and cooperation.”