Following advice from public health professionals, Dilton Marsh CofE Primary School near Westbury is taking precautionary Covid-19 measures due to the confirmation of an individual positive case.
At Dilton Marsh Primary School, the headteacher has tested positive for Covid-19. Close contacts have been identified and by taking precautionary measures, 24 children from different year groups are self-isolating until 2nd October. Eight members of staff are also self-isolating.
The school had temporarily closed to all pupils but following conversations with Wiltshire Council and Public Health England, all pupils who have not been identified as close contacts of the headteacher will now start to return from 25th September on a staggered basis.
Sara Edwards, CEO Acorn Education Trust (representing Dilton Marsh CofE Primary School), said, “We are of course very sorry that this will cause some disruption to the families of the parents affected. However, we need to keep the school and pupils as safe as possible.
“Following a productive meeting with the local authority, Public Health England and members of Acorn Education Trust, I am pleased to inform parents that we are able to reopen the school to all the pupils who are not self-isolating, and we will start bringing them back from 25th September. We thank the parents for their patience and understanding.
“We continue to learn from these experiences and have further strengthened our Covid-19 measures at the school to give us the best possible chance of avoiding a situation like this from happening again.”
Dilton Marsh Primary School is one of four educational settings that have recently been announced by Wiltshire Council as taking precautionary Covid-19 measures – Larkrise School in Trowbridge, Royal Wootton Bassett Academy, and Wiltshire College & University Centre’s Trowbridge Campus.
Kate Blackburn, Director of Public Health for Wiltshire, said, “These are very precautionary measures so that the risk of any transmission within the settings is kept as low as possible. We know these measures can be disruptive for the schools, colleges, pupils, students and their families, but it’s vital we keep the virus under control in Wiltshire, and we thank everyone involved for the support with this.
“It is important those asked to self-isolate do adhere to the government guidance; if they don’t have symptoms they do not need to get a test. However, if someone has symptoms the household must isolate and seek a test.”
“I would like to remind everyone that the best way to prevent the spread of the virus is to regularly wash your hands, maintain social distancing and wear a face covering where appropriate.”
