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School bosses have sent home 260 pupils to self-isolate after a child tested positive for Covid-19.
Year 10 youngsters from Herne Bay High will not be able to attend classes in person at the Bullockstone Road site for the next fortnight.
Principal Jon Boyes stresses that no other year groups have been affected by the case – which was confirmed on Friday morning – of the deadly virus.
“The test result came into the parent at 4am on Friday morning,” he said.
“At about 7.50am, the school was informed and at 8.05am, we texted every Year 10 parent to tell them to keep their children at home while we investigated.
“It’s just Year 10 that’s been impacted because we’ve got really good year-group bubbling."
This comes a month after 90 youngsters as young as six from Hampton Primary School, which is also in Herne Bay, were sent home when a member of their cohort tested positive for coronavirus.
And last week, 110 pupils and nine teachers from Herne Bay Juniors were forced to self-isolate after a child contracted the illness.
But Mr Boyes stresses members of staff at the secondary have not had to quarantine.
“Having to isolate Year 10 hasn’t impacted our teaching staff because of our really good Covid measures,” he added.
“Because we’re so well-organised, we’ve got proper social distancing in classes and all the measures in place to prevent close contact between the students and adults.
“Every teaching space is set up with two-metre social distancing, we’ve got limited numbers in classrooms, year group bubble areas and PPE being used by all kids as they move around the school.”
Mr Boyes says this is the first case of coronavirus the secondary has recorded since children returned to school in September.
Despite this, the head teacher insists that pupils’ education will not be disrupted, with lessons going ahead online.
“The really positive thing is all the Year 10 pupils will have live teaching and registration, as per their normal school day, online while they’re at home,” he continued.
“We had really high attendance in the lessons on Monday and our staff are delivering live lessons for every timetabled class.
“We’ve made sure everything is in place to continue, regardless of what happens.”
