A SCHOOL near Ledbury has shut its doors early for the Christmas holidays as it struggles with "high levels of staff absence".

Bromesberrow St Mary's CE Primary School, on the border between Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, said remote learning was in place for pupils as they were sent home two days early for Christmas.

In an alert sent via Gloucestershire County Council's website, the school said: "Regrettably, due to high levels of staff absence, the whole school is closed for the final two days of term (December 16 and 17).

"Remote learning in place for children."

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It came days after the school warned about a number of pupils testing positive for coronavirus.

In a letter to parents on Monday, co-heads Laura Hankins and Leonie Mison said: "We have been advised that there have been confirmed cases of Covid-19 within the school.

"We know that you may find this concerning but we are continuing to monitor the situation and ensure the required controls are in place.

"This letter is to inform you of the current situation and provide advice on how to support your child.

"Please be reassured that for most people, coronavirus (Covid-19) will be a mild illness."

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The letter said that due to changes to self-isolation rules earlier this year, contact tracing was not needed.

But the school said anyone with symptoms should not attend, and encouraged staff and families to continue regular lateral flow testing.

"To help prevent avoidable spread, we encourage staff and families to continue with regular LFD testing, to inform us of the result and to follow-up any positive results with a confirmatory PCR test," the latter said.

"LFD tests can be used on children under the age of 11 at parent’s discretion.

"Please contact school if you are struggling to source these as we have some available.