A PRIMARY school in Herefordshire is being forced to take action to avoid "one huge outbreak" of Covid, its headteacher has warned.

Sutton Primary Academy, near Hereford, said it needed to put extra measures in place at the school to combat rising numbers of cases.

Headteacher at the Sutton St Nicholas school Elizabeth Orton said it was "positive news" that despite cases across school classes, it appeared Covid was not spreading between pupils.

She said that as cases were "very low in numbers", around one or two across the classes, it showed Covid was not spreading in school, but was "isolated cases coming in".

"This is positive news and demonstrates that the measures we have in place are still minimising the risk of spreading the virus within school," she said.

In a letter to parents over the weekend, Mrs Orton said that a number of Covid cases had been confirmed, but "with the restrictions being lifted in all areas of society, this was to be expected so please don’t be alarmed".

"The Government is clear in its intention that no class or school should shut, the priority is to ensure that we are able to continue with face-to-face education within the setting," she added.

"By taking additional precautions, for a short time, we are ensuring that we don’t have one huge outbreak which could infect all the staff as well as the children.

"If we do not have enough staff to keep the school open safely, that is a health and safety concern and we would have no choice but to shut the school – this is not what any of us want."

For those children who test positive for Covid-19 but remain asymptomatic and well, remote learning will be provided.

As a result, she said staff would wear masks in all communal areas, regular use of hand sanitiser for staff and children would continue, and whole school assemblies would not take place until after half term, which is next week.

She also said children would continue to sit in year groups at lunchtimes, break times would still be staggered and windows and doors would be open to improve ventilation.

All essential visitors to the school would be told to wear masks, she added, and parent were "invited" to wear them when picking up and dropping off children.