SCHOOL WARNS PUPILS NOT TO IGNORE ‘SELF-ISOLATION’ RULES
Students told of their ‘duty to community’
A SCHOOL has warned students they must stay at home if told to selfisolate after several of them ignored the safety guidance.
Alsager School has been teaching all Year 10 and Year 11 pupils remotely after two coronavirus cases were confirmed in GCSE year groups.
Year 8 pupils have also been told to remain at home in the wake of one of their classmates testing positive for Covid-19.
Now families have been warned to ensure young people don’t flout the rules.
It comes as several other local schools have told whole classes of pupils not to return until after the half-term holidays following coronavirus cases. The pupils will be set work online.
A statement on Alsager School’s website said: “If your child has been asked to self-isolate, it is really important that they do in order to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
“Unfortunately, we have been informed that some students have not been doing this. We all have a duty to protect our community.”
The school has also urged parents not to turn to social media to try and find out the names of any children with coronavirus.
Its statement added: “It is unfair on the affected individual and unhelpful to the school. Thank you for your understanding and support.”
Year 11 pupils at Alsager were due to return to the classroom yesterday, while the Year 10 group must remain at home until October 21. A further update will be provided to families of Year 8 students once the school has liaised with Public Health England and Cheshire East Council.
One of the other schools to be hit by several Covid-19 cases is Woodhouse Academy, in Biddulph.
Three out of its four Year 7 forms will not be back in lessons until November 2 after being told to self-isolate.
The remaining form is already in self-isolation and due to return to the school on October 21.
It means two members of staff and two children at the Woodhouse Lane school have now tested positive for coronavirus since the start of term.
In a letter to parents, Woodhouse’s principal Deborah Farr said: “We have been made aware of another positive Covid-19 test in school.
“As a result, we have been advised by the Staffordshire Covid-19 local outbreak control team to instruct all remaining Year 7 pupils to stay at home and self-isolate for 14 days, following their last point of contact, in line with national guidance.”
Meanwhile, at St Maria Goretti Catholic Academy, in Bentilee, two classes have been told to self-isolate until October 27 - part-way through the half-term holidays. They form the Year 5 and Year 6 ‘bubble’.
The step was taken as a precaution after an adult at the school contracted the virus. Pupils will learn online and receive welfare checks from staff.