Northampton additional needs school closes for two weeks after whole senior leadership team tests positive for Covid

A school that caters for children with a range of complex needs has had to shut after a number of staff members tested positive for Covid-19.

Billing Brook in Peinstone Road, Weston Favell did not open today (November 16) and will remain closed until November 30.

Parents were informed on Friday (November 13) that there was an outbreak among administrative staff.

Following the outbreak, all members of the senior leadership team went for a test and received positive results.

Those members of staff are now self-isolating so the school has had to close, however pupils have not been told to self-isolate.

In a letter sent to parents, headteacher Karen Lewis, said: “We informed you on Friday (November 13) that we had an outbreak of Covid within our administration team.

“As a precautionary measure members of the senior leadership team decided to get tested and all have received positive test results.

“It is with a very heavy heart that in order to keep everyone safe we are going to have to close the school for 14 days to allow the senior leaders and administration team to self-isolate.

“School will reopen on Monday November 30.

“At this stage we do not need any children to self-isolate but we will inform you immediately if this situation changes.

“The safety and learning of our school community remains our primary concern.

“Please continue to take care, be vigilant and to follow national guidance.”

Ms Lewis told Chronicle & Echo: "As headteacher, I am disappointed for our families that we have had to make the difficult decision to close our school for the next two weeks.

"Obviously, this is a huge disappointment after working so hard to get the school back up and running. However, I have a duty to mitigate any known risk to our children and our staff.

"We have appreciated the support and advice from PHE East Midlands. We are determined to do all we can to stop the further spread of the virus.

"We will be looking closely at the systems we put in place to try to understand how the transmission occurred to make sure we do everything possible to limit the chances of the same thing happening again."

Pupils will receive support of how to access remote learning while the school remains closed.

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