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Elgin Academy would "prefer" pupils continue to learn in school amid rising Covid-19 cases


By Jonathan Clark

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ELGIN Academy has written to all parents and carers this morning after an increasing number of Covid-19 cases were confirmed at the school.

It was confirmed yesterday that the school has been associated with 28 cases of coronavirus since April 10.

Head teacher Kyle Scott reiterated that Elgin Academy would "prefer" students to be in school at this time, rather than learning remotely, and encouraged pupils to continue testing for Covid-19 twice a week.

His letter to parents said: "As you will be aware, there has been a rise in the number of positive Covid-19 cases across Moray which is having an increasing impact on the delivery of education in a number of schools, including ours, with pupils and staff self-isolating.

"Many of those testing positive do not display any symptoms, therefore we are encouraging the continued use of lateral flow tests on a Sunday and Wednesday in order to detect positive cases and deal with these quickly.

"I wanted to reassure you that we are doing all we can to suppress this virus and ensure school remains a safe place.

"We are working extremely closely with Public Health and taking regular advice from them on the things we can do to keep our pupils safe.

"This is a critical time for all pupils and in particular our senior phase pupils, who are undertaking formal assessments in order to support the SQA processes.

"The increase in positive cases has meant that we have a growing number of secondary students and their teachers self-isolating and, although we automatically revert to remote learning, we would obviously prefer our young people to be in school at this time."

Elgin Academy is asking pupils to continue to adhere to restrictions in school and to remain at home and order a PCR test if they have mild coronavirus symptoms. These include a runny nose, sore throat, a headache and flu-like symptoms. Pupils should isolate until results are received.

Mr Scott added that some pupils were not adhering to guidance in relation to large gatherings, and self-isolating. He said: "We are aware that some young people are meeting in large groups and are not always following the advice of Public Health in relation to self-isolation.

"Throughout the last year, I have talked about Team EA and the need to pull together.

"I am so proud of how we have done this and what we have achieved as a result. However, I do genuinely feel this has never been needed more than it is at this time.

"If we are to beat this virus, we will only do this by pulling together and ensuring we all play our part."


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