MORE than 150 pupils at a Trowbridge secondary school have been sent home to self-isolate after another outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

The Clarendon Academy is taking precautionary measures after one of their Year 9 pupils tested positive for Covid-19.

The school said that while all preventative and proper bubble measures have been followed, the school has also agreed to take additional steps with advice from the Wiltshire Public Health Team.

All of the Year 9 pupils have been told to self-isolate until the end of Friday, December 4, returning to school on Monday, December 7.

The school has arranged for those pupils to continue their learning at home during this time.

The school has worked closely with the Wiltshire Public Health Team to ensure high standards of hygiene and social distancing are maintained, and all the necessary measures are in place.

It says the self-isolation of the Year 9 pupils is very precautionary to minimise any risk to others.

Rob Price, headteacher at The Clarendon Academy, said: “I have written to parents and am grateful for their patience and understanding during this time.

“The safety of our school community is very important, and we will continue to work with the Wiltshire public health team so this is carefully managed.

“We look forward to welcoming our Year 9 students back on Monday, December 7.”

The school will undergo a deep clean which will include fogging of the Year 9 zone and any other area where the students have been.

The school will be open to all other students at the normal time on Wednesday.

Wiltshire Council confirmed yesterday that 4,135 pupils and 189 staff are self-isolating as 51 educational settings across the county are affected with a total of 71 Covid-19 cases.

Kate Blackburn, director for public health in Wiltshire said: “We’ve seen a big increase in cases associated with schools following the half-term break.

“I’m expecting to start to see that decline this week. This is about the timescale period following the half-term period.

“This is why I’m optimistically cautious about Christmas because people need the rest, it’s important for people to have that rest and relaxation time. It’s important for mental health and wellbeing.

“Unfortunately, that can sometimes go hand-in-hand with maybe not sticking to the guidance as much as we should be and we see cases start to increase.

“So I’d be really keen again to get that messaging out around school settings and education as to how people can stay safe over Christmas and they can return safely to education.

“Our education community, our schools have been phenomenal. They’ve worked so closely with us as the local public health team.

“We don’t tend rely on the Department for Education helpline; we work with our schools individually every time to make sure that risk assessment is done.”

“While that sounds like a large number of pupils to not be in school, it’s very much a balance sometimes of once some part of a bubble is having to self-isolate; in order to maintain the quality of teaching it’s sometimes a logistical reason for having more children out. So that quality of teaching can be maintained.”