City school’s kitchen staff self-isolating

AN entire Dundee school’s kitchen staff was absent on Wednesday due to cases of Covid.

At St Andrew’s Primary School, in Dundee, all catering staff were instructed to isolate when a member of the team tested positive, resulting in the suspension of hot meals for pupils.

A spokeswoman for Tayside Contracts, which provides school catering services in Dundee, Angus and Perth and Kinross, confirmed that the rest of the catering staff at St Andrew’s Primary School were contacted by NHS Test and Protect when a colleague tested positive.

She said: “Dundee City Council was informed and the head teacher agreed that in the circumstances a cold, bagged meal would be served (Wednesday and yesterday) and parents have been informed by the school messaging service.”

Across Tayside and Fife more than 4,500 pupils were absent for Covid-related reasons on Tuesday, around 1,000 more than a week previously.

Covid-related absence rates among pupils that day were 2.3% in Angus, 4.7% in Dundee, 5.6% in Fife and 2.3% in Perth and Kinross.

There were 341 staff members off for Covid-related reasons across the four local authorities.

A surge in the number of Covid cases continued yesterday, with a further 6,836 new cases identified in the previous 24 hours.

Changes made to isolation requirements last month mean children aged five to 18 and adults who have had both vaccine doses can end their self-isolation with a negative PCR test providing they have no symptoms.

Also affected by a Covid-19 outbreak was a school in Fife where the entire senior leadership team was absent.

It is understood replacement managers were drafted in by Fife Council to St Andrew’s High School, in Kirkcaldy, with the head teacher and both depute head teachers off due to self-isolating requirements.

Queen Anne High School in Dunfermline has also had a number of absences among staff and pupils this week.

Shelagh McLean, Fife Council head of education, said: “Like everywhere else at the moment our schools will have times where staff absences are higher than normal.

“A lot of this is due to the requirement for staff to isolate until the result of a PCR test is known, which may be just a few days.

“Our schools have robust systems in place to ensure that all children are properly supervised and supported at all times.

“However, we understand that high levels of staff absence can have an impact in our schools and we will continue to take steps to help ensure that, wherever possible, our schools can remain open, while maintaining all appropriate Covid mitigations.”