Schools close early for Christmas after outbreak of 11 Covid cases

Caister Primary Federation in Great Yarmouth closed its nursery/infant and junior school on Friday December 4 as a "circuit breaker" following "several confirmed cases" of Covid this week.

In a letter to parents, executive head teacher Jonathan Rice said: "I understand that many of you have expressed concerns and are anxious about your children coming into school, and I am sympathetic to those concerns.

Headteacher Jonathan Rice said the decision to close the school was the right one (Image: Ian Burt)

"I assure you we have consistently followed government guidance and have robust systems in place to ensure the safety of the whole school community.

"Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, during the past week we have had several confirmed cases of Covid-19. At the time of writing, we have 11 across the federation."

In response to the outbreak, Mr Rice said the governing board had made the decision to close both schools until Monday, January 4.

He continued: "This decision has not been taken lightly, and we do not underestimate the impact it will have.

"But closing the school now until after the Christmas holidays will act as a "circuit breaker".

"During the next two weeks, we will be teaching the children using remote learning.

"Food boxes will be provided during the last two weeks of term to the families who normally receive free school meals."

Parents were also told if their child tests positive for Covid between now and December 11, they must inform the school so that their bubble can be instructed to self-isolate.

Chair of governors Rob Bush said: "The safety of our school community and the wider public is important to us and we are working with public health authorities to make sure we are following all of the correct procedures.

"We have a few cases across our federation which has resulted in the closure of four year groups across the two schools.

"The reasoning behind closing the schools was for operational reasons with the safety of our whole school community & their well-being at the centre of all our decision making."