Drop in the number of Fife and Tayside pupils absent due to Covid-19

T thishe number of local pupils isolating because of Covid-19 has markedly fallen week, according to the latest figures.

On Tuesday May 4, some 488 schoolchildren were off school across Tayside and Fife for any virus related reason – almost half of last week’s absence rates.

Last week, almost 1,000 children missed school on a single day, on April 27.

The figures, updated weekly by the Scottish Government, show that Fife pupils were most impacted by the virus, with 320 pupils off.

However, a significant decline has been noted as 511 young people were off in the kingdom the previous week.

In Angus, 70 children were absent, while Dundee had 42 pupils off and Perth and Kinross, 56.

That’s a small proportion of the school roll affected in each local authority area as just 0.7% of pupils in Fife were off, 0.5% in Angus and 0.2% in Dundee.

In Perth and Kinross, 0.3% of the overall pupil roll was affected by coronavirus, the data shows. Across Scotland, there were 4,539 pupils off school for any Covid-19 related reason on May 4.

That can include pupils who are in quarantine after being identified as a close contact, those who have tested positive or those who chose not to attend school because of a virus related reason.

Pupils enjoyed a long weekend across Scotland as schools were closed for an additional day on Monday because of the bank holiday.

However thousands of youngsters are now back in school preparing for their “exam-like” alternative assessments which are due to be taken this month.

Despite the positive decline in coronavirus related absences, a spate of new cases linked to local schools were recorded.

NHS Fife confirmed children and staff were asked to isolated following cases at six primary schools, four secondary schools and a nursery in Methil. The cases were detected between Monday April 26 and Sunday May 2.

The figures are released where five or more individuals have been asked to quarantine following a positive case.

There were five or more people isolating at the following schools following a positive case:

Auchmuty HS (Glenrothes); Beath HS (Cowdenbeath); Camdean PS (Rosyth); Canmore PS (Dunfermline); Dunfermline HS; Fair Isle Family Nurture Centre (Kirkcaldy); Glenrothes HS; Kirkcaldy HS; Kirkcaldy West PS; Madras College (St Andrews);

Pitreavie PS (Dunfermline); Pitteuchar West PS (Glenrothes); St Columba’s RC HS (Dunfermline); St Leonard’s PS (Dunfermline).

Perth and Kinross Council also revealed last week that some 232 pupils had been in quarantine following 15 positive cases across the region.

That includes five cases among pupils at St John’s RC Academy in Perth, where 67 pupils had to isolate.

There were also 27 pupils and nine staff members in isolation at Craigie Primary, while Letham Primary had 37 pupils and five staff in quarantine between as of Friday April 29.

At the time, a spokesman for the council said robust risk assessments were in place to reduce transmission.

“Whenever there is a confirmed case, pupils and staff who are identified as close contacts are asked to self-isolate as a precautionary measure,” the spokesman said.

“Pupils are supposed to learn at home until they can return to school.”

The government figures also showed the overall percentage of pupils who attended school in the four local authority areas.

Attendance figures remained consistently high however it dipped slightly in Angus and Fife.

On May 4, attendance rates were lowest in Fife, with 90.6% of pupils in school.

In Dundee, the overall attendance was 92.1% and 93.4% in Angus, while 93.4% of pupils attended school in Perth and Kinross.

The previous week, on April 27, attendance was 94% in Angus, 91.1% in Fife, 92.1% in Dundee and 92.9% in Perth and Kinross.

BACK TO CLASS: The number of pupils missing school because of the pandemic has fallen significantly but there is no room for complacency.