NEARLY 500 SENT HOME AS TOLLBAR BATTLES AGAINST COVID
FIVE TEACHERS AND 14 STUDENTS HAVE VIRUS
NEARLY 500 students and staff have been sent home from Tollbar Academy.
There are 19 confirmed cases of Covid-19 at the school - five teachers and 14 students.
The whole of Year 11, which has five cases, has now been sent home due to staff absence and the positive tests amongst the cohort.
The school has taken the decision to partially close in order to “run the academy normally” for its other pupils.
A small number of the 500 are officially self-isolating.
There are five positive cases in Year 7, one in Year 9, two in Year 10, five in Year 11 and one in Year 12.
It is understood the only year groups not affected by a positive case include Year 8 and Year 13.
Tollbar’s Year 11 students have been sent home with work to complete ahead of the two-week October half-term which starts on Monday.
In a letter to parents and carers, Principal Caroline Yates said: “I am writing to inform you of my decision to partially close the Academy for Year 11 students only from Wednesday 14 October 2020 until after halfterm.
“The decision has been taken due to staff absence and a small number of cases within the Year 11 cohort. “All students required to isolate as a result of these cases have been informed. “Assignments will be set on the Virtual Learning Environment (Frog) by your child’s subject teachers. Internal assessments will be rearranged and we will inform you of the new dates in due course. “All students will be expected to return on Monday 2 November 2020.”
The academy has confirmed to the Grimsby Telegraph that nearly 500 staff and pupils are now at home, with a small number of those isolating.
All students required to isolate as a result of these cases have been
informed.
Tollbar principal Caroline Yates
Meanwhile, sister school Cleethorpes Academy has sent home the whole of Year 9. Five pupils have tested positive for Covid-19 there and four staff members.
Its students have also been set work to complete in English, maths, science and assignments on their “Frog” accounts.
Last week, 54 students were sent home to isolate in Years 7 and 9 when one pupil and a member of staff tested positive.
Two days later, more cases were confirmed and a further “small number” had to isolate.
It is not clear how many are currently isolating as a result of the new developments. Both schools remain open to all other students who feel well. It comes as North East Lincolnshire was placed in the lowest tier - medium - of the Government’s new Covid local lockdown alert system.
However, there are fears the area could move into the high alert tier due to an acceleration in cases taking it above the 100 cases per 100,000 mark - largely believed to be one of the main indicators of which tier an area falls into.
The current alert level means restrictions stay the same, but the high level would ban mixing between households indoors.