Virus outbreak forces Lubavitch schools to shut

THE LUBAVITCH junior girls’ and boys’ schools in Stamford Hill were closed on Monday because of a case of Covid-19.

Parents of the girls’ primary were told that it would not open “certainly for the next 24 hours” owing to an outbreak of coronavirus in the community linked to the site.

Initially, the boys’ school was planning to open but parents were told that “we have been left with no alternative but to close the boys’ primary school as well” following advice from Public Health England.

Helena Cohen, interim chief executive of the Lubavitch Multi-Academy Trust, which oversees the two state primaries, said on Monday: “The school was informed that a pupil in the girls’ primary school was being tested for coronavirus.

“The school contacted the Department for Education helpline and Public

Health England immediately. The test was confirmed positive.”

The schools reopened on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon for secular classes. Pupils and staff who had come into contact with the girl who tested positive remained isolating at home. Mrs Cohen said Lubavitch schools had offered “a full programme of online lessons and extracurricular activities for all pupils” since the schools closed.

“Personalised learning has been in place in kodesh [Jewish studies] and chol [secular lessons] for pupils with educational health care plans.

“While education for the secondary school pupils remains online, the primary schools are in the transition period of moving away from the daily online learning to education on site.”

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