Fife secondary school cancels prelim exams following outbreak

A Fife school dealing with a coronavirus outbreak has called off prelim exams which pupils were due to sit at the end of this month.

With six people at Auchmuty High School – three pupils and three staff – testing positive for Covid-19, a significant number of youngsters and teachers are self-isolating.

Parents and pupils were worried about large groups of young people sitting the tests in the Glenrothes s c h o o l ’s assembly hall due to the continued threat of infection.

They were also worried about the loss of face-toface teaching for youngsters isolating immediately prior to sitting the exams, which will be taken into account for National 5 results for S4 pupils, with 2021 exams cancelled.

But head teacher Alan Pithie confirmed the sitting, due to begin in the last week of No v e m b e r, has been cancelled but may be scheduled early next year.

Individual schools set their own prelim diets, and most are due to take place in January.

Balwearie High School, in Kirkcaldy, which has had seven confirmed Covid cases since the start of this term, postponed its November sitting for S4 pupils back in September.

In a message to Auchmuty parents and pupils, Mr Pithie said: “Given all that has happened, it’s not wise for us to go ahead with a prelim diet at the present time as such.

“However, what we will do is we will replace that with an in-class testing scenario.

“That means that all certificate classes in S4 to S6 will still be tested thoroughly at this stage but not in the assembly hall, not in a formal exam diet.

“We will still be able to gather lots of evidence and still be able to give you full reports and so on, and will review our situation after Christmas to see if it’s feasible for an examination diet to go ahead some time in between Christmas and Easter.”

On We d n e s d ay, Mr Pithie said there had been no further coronavirus cases at the school and it seemed the initial outbreak was “being contained”.

He said there was a relatively large number of pupils affected by the outbreak, and those required to self- isolate have been contacted by the school.

A number of teachers have also been identified as close contacts and asked to stay at home.

Balwearie High School’s S4 prelims, also due to be held this month, were postponed in September.

The school said these would be held after Christmas instead, to give young people who had missed out on learning during lockdown time to feel confident in their progress.

Although National 5 exams next May have been cancelled, the Scottish Qualifications Authority said in October that prelims may be helpful for providing evidence for final grade estimations by teachers.

Auchmuty High School in Glenrothes.