By Gavin Mackintosh-
Durham secondary school has closed for the rest of the week after a spike in Covid-19 cases.
Framwellgate School, near the city centre was shut on Tuesday after 300 pupils were sent home to self-isolate.The closure means pupils will be at home largely unsupervised academically, setting them back further after lost time during the lockdown.
The Eye Of Media.Com heard that parents are increasingly worried to send their children back to school even when it opens. One parent told this publication: ”that’s it for us for the remainder of the semester. I’m not risking sending my child back to this school”.
The closures could be the beginning of a wider problem for society, as potentially hundreds of thousands of aimless young people struggle to keep themselves occupied productively, most seizing the opportunity of the good weather to mix with often negative influences. Studying at home is very much an unlikelihood for a vast majority of pupils, apart from those who are naturally motivated .
The school has been building on an improved quality of teaching and learning in the two years leading up to the first ,lockdown in the Uk, with extra support provided for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
An email to parents said school authorities felt a “circuit breaker was the only option” in light of the outbreak.
The message said: “Following my letter earlier today, I regret to inform you that I have taken the decision to close the school.
“In the first instance, this will be for the rest of the week but I will contact you again on Friday if this is likely to go into next week too.
“I am sorry to have to take this decision but I think a circuit breaker is the only option; since I wrote to you this morning we have sent another 100 students home which brings the total to 300.”
It added: “There are more students waiting for test results so you may still be contacted tomorrow to let you know your child must self-isolate for 10 days.” The email says students will be home schooling “follow[ing] the pattern we established during the last lockdown”.
It concludes: “Thank you again for your support; I know how challenging this must be. We are frustrated too as we had hoped that this term would be different.”
Worried
A further facebook post it said: “We know that many parents and careers will be worried and this of course is a decision that we did not make lightly.
“We have been made aware however that there is some inaccurate information that is circulating on various Facebook pages.
“The school does not have 300 positive cases. Our positive cases are approximately 12 students and five staff. We currently have 300 students and eight teachers self-isolating having been identified as close contacts.
“Please can we ask you to think before you write on social media as this causes undue stress and worry for many of our parents and carers and is certainly not true
Durham county was among the five areas in England with the biggest week-on-week rises in Covid case rates.
Data shows that infections are falling in 42 of England’s local authority areas – but the North East is not among them, with cases rising in every area of the region.
Of the 315 local areas in England, 269 (85%) have seen a rise in rates, 42 (13%) have seen a fall and four are unchanged, according to the latest official figures updated on Tuesday.
Mass School Closures
An estimated quarter of a million people have missed school due to covid infections, self-isolation or school closures, posing further educational losses for pupils in the Uk, already heavily behind in their studies.
Northern centres such as Oldham, where Covid-related absences in schools are more than double the national rate. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said that self-isolation rules for children needed to be reformed to avoid further disruption to their education.