‘No further action required’ at school after pupil’s positive test

A school in Chichester sent a letter to parents this week to inform them a pupil had tested positive for the coronavirus last month.

Parklands Primary School alerted West Sussex County Council after it was informed about the pupil’s positive result on May 7.

The council confirmed this week that under the national guidance at the time, the advice offered involved ‘cleaning of hard surfaces and the availability of testing for others in the school’. A spokesman said the school was told ‘no further action was required’ under the guidance and with the child having not been in school for a week, the advice at the time was that ‘the school was not required to tell the wider school community’.

The Observer was contacted by concerned parents who felt the information should have been shared by the school, especially to parents of the key worker and vulnerable children attending the school at the time, as well as parents preparing to send children back on June 1. The county council spokesman said this week: “The safety of every pupil and staff member in West Sussex schools remains our highest priority. On 7 May, 2020, a school informed us of an isolated incident involving a pupil who had tested positive for Covid-19.

We were informed that the pupil had not been in school for a week prior to the school being notified of the test results and had not showed any symptoms. In view of this and other information provided by the school, we offered advice in accordance with the relevant national guidance at the time, which involved cleaning of hard surfaces and the availability of testing for others in the school. From the information provided by the school, no further action was required. The government guidance has since been updated and communicated to all schools.

“There have been no further cases recorded at the school.”