Updated Bitterne Park School has said it’s aware of two further Covid-19 cases among students and two among staff, and that students will learn online from home for a day a week from Monday (Nov 9) due to staffing issues. And it said that there were further cases in subsequent letters on November 9 and November 11.

 

In a letter to parents (Nov 4), headteacher Stewart Roderick noted the rate of infection increasing across Southampton [see our link to data below], and said this week the school is aware of two student positive cases (in Year 8 and Year 11), and two teachers who have tested positive.

“Whilst it is our absolute aim to keep school open and functioning as normal, we have 19 teachers and three support staff (13 isolating, four positive test results, five for non-Covid related absence) unable to be at work this week,” he said. “Whilst we might occasionally deal with this level of absence in a normal term, it would only be required for a day or two before colleagues returned to work. Unfortunately, this is not the case when staff are having to self-isolate and they are likely to be at home for 10 or 14 days.”

He added that the “level of absence and uncertainty” was putting a “significant strain” on the school’s ability to offer “full on-site teaching provision on a day to day basis”, and consequently the school is moving to a year group rotation with students learning online from home for one day a week from Monday (Nov 9) until Friday, November 20.

The school is also now recommending that students and staff wear face coverings in lessons as well as when moving around the communal areas of the school, “In line with an approach adopted by all secondary schools and colleges across the city”.

There are more details in the full letter, downloadable as a PDF from the school’s website.

Southampton city’s Covid-19 weekly summary, using data until October 28, shows 2,120 city cases since March 4, with 390 in the last 7 days (+145 change over a seven-day period).

You can view or download a PDF of the summary info graphic from this link.

Update 17/11/20:

In subsequent letters the school informed parents about further cases:

• In a letter dated November 9 [PDF from school's site] it said that a Year 13 student, who was last in college on Tuesday November 3 had received a positive test; and
• On November 12 [PDF from school's site] it said that a teacher, last in school on November 9 had received a positive test, with six students close contacts related to the case, and a sixth form student last in school on November 3 with three close contacts had also tested positive.