Two more year groups at Hartsdown Academy asked to self-isolate

Hartsdown Academy Photo John Horton

Year 7 students at Hartsdown Academy in Margate have been notified that they need to self isolate again following confirmation of a person from the bubble testing positive for Covid.

Pupils will be able to return to school on December 11. A notice was published on the school website yesterday (November 28).

Year 7 had only returned to school on November 19 following a previous confirmed case.

Students in Year 8, 9 and 11 have also been isolating. Years 9 and 11 are due to return to school on December 4.

A letter to parents today (November 29) says Sixth Form students must also isolate until December 11 following a confirmed case in the year bubble.

More than 25 Thanet schools have been hit with year group closures since September and Ursuline in Westgate closed the entire school until December 1.

Sandwich Tech also shut down but is due to reopen tomorrow (November 30).

During the week St George’s C/E school asked Year 8 students to remain at home until December 7 because, alongside a small number of Covid infections, the school is ‘simply running out of staff.’

In a letter from headteacher Adam Mirams to parents and carers it is revealed that on any one day during the last week between 25 and 30 staff were absent, mainly due to having to isolate.

Mr Mirams said: “This clearly places huge amounts of pressure on all areas of the school and we are ensuring we can keep open to as many year groups as possible.

“This has resulted in large numbers of staff doing new things and making changes to their daily routines with no major noticeable effect on the children.

“However the impact is that certain practices at present are simply not possible across the school.”

This month Kent’s director for public health Andrew Scott-Clark said school closures are decisions made by principals rather then Public Health England and are mostly based not just on positive cases but also on staffing ratios.

He added: “Schools have done an amazing job under very trying circumstances.

“Letters have gone out to schools asking that they ensure at least key worker children are kept in education. Schools closing has an impact on parents, particularly care and healthcare workers and also police, fire and rescue, prisons and essential infrastructure.”

He added that work has taken place to make sure school cases are effectively managed.

6 Comments

  1. Madness opening them . Check out the number of under 20s who have died in the States.
    The figure goes up until June .
    Was speaking with a lady from the states , she rang me from Amazon over a faulty item, not thats got anything to do with it, but she told me its up to 300 children now .
    No idea if true.

  2. You put the Year Group in,
    You put the Year Group out,
    In iut, in out, you shake them all about …!
    Good call Boris. The schools are back.
    Except, in reality, they’re not.
    Children, parents and teachers have no idea from one day to the next who’s going to be where.
    What a way to run a country.
    Shut them down till after Christmas! Formalize what’s actually happening!!

    • Give Boris time , He was warned in January( by China i think) to put country into lockdown, He laughed it off, covid nah its only like the flu , ummm come March , hey that China man was right.
      Lockdown quick , let me go have a few beers and have a few nights sleep with me younger model.
      He contacts Trump, What i do here mate?, Its like this pal look after yourself first , keep the country happy , not forgetting to rake in all the dosh you can for yourself.

      Whats the other plonkers name who stood in for him ? He was asked on question time if he would part with a weeks wages or part of to help making masks for the NHS , His reply was we dont feel we should.
      I better shut up.
      I think Schools should be shut for at least 6 Months

  3. So here we are again at the end of another lockdown, everything opens on Wednesday to shut again Thursday.l have been in lockdown since March and going slightly crazy it seems to me that it is not working, perhaps if we all wear space suits we could get back to normal

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