Another Merseyside school has had to send a pupils home again after "a significant number" of children tested positive for Covid-19.
Lord Derby Academy in Huyton told parents on Monday (June 28) that children in Year 10 would have to self-isolate for a week, adding that there had been “a number of positive Covid-19 cases” in the year group.
At the same time, a number of pupils in Year 7 have been told they will also have to self-isolate until next Monday (July 5) after at least one case was detected in their bubble.
READ MORE: Another Liverpool school forced to send pupils home to isolate
Vicky Gowan, headteacher at Lord Derby, said: "In line with government guidance, due to a significant number of pupils on roll testing positive for Covid-19, we have had to advise some pupils to self-isolate at home.
"Health and safety is our number one priority and, by asking pupils to self-isolate, we are helping to break the chains of transmission.
"Lord Derby Academy pupils who are learning at home follow their curriculum pathways through our remote provision. The school’s pastoral teams continue to offer support to our pupils and their families."
The order to self-isolate comes at a particularly important time for the school’s Year 10 pupils, who were supposed to sit mock GCSE exams this week.
One parent, Alex Kelly, said: “They’re in the middle of doing their mock exams. They’re supposed to do two weeks, but they’ve only done one week and then they were told not to come back in until July 5.
“I’m not even sure what’s going to happen about the exams or anything.
“It’s a joke. I didn’t even really want to send the kids back, but they forced you to send the kids back and now they’ve sent them home anyway.”
This is the second week in a row that Lord Derby Academy has had to send children home to self-isolate.
Last week, a number of pupils in Years 7 and 8 were told to self-isolate and are not due to return to school until tomorrow (June 29).
Hundreds of children across Merseyside have already had to self-isolate yet again following the surge in Covid cases over the past month.
Pupils in Year 8 at Kirkby High School, also in Knowsley, were told to self-isolate on June 17 after five cases were found there.
In neighbouring Liverpool, pupils have been sent home from several schools including The Blue Coat, Garston Church of England School, Calderstones and Gateacre.
Meanwhile, the virus continues to spread rapidly throughout both Knowsley and the Liverpool City Region.
In Knowsley, there were more than 300 confirmed cases for every 100,000 residents last week, double the total in the previous week, while the city region as a whole recorded more than 260 cases per 100,000 residents.
