--- title: "Covid Update Wednesday 14th October" url: "https://longbenton.org.uk/news/2020-10-14-covid-update-wednesday-14th-october" school: "Longbenton High School" --- # Covid Update Wednesday 14th October ![Image of Covid Update Wednesday 14th October](https://files.schudio.com/longbenton-high-school-2/images/news/Screenshot_2020-10-14_at_17.06.46.png) 14 October 2020 #### Confirmed staff Covid case - Wednesday 14th October Unfortunately, we have had another confirmed Covid staff in our school today. This takes the total number of confirmed school cases to 4 since the start of term (two members of staff and two Year 13 students). Longbenton High School is following national government guidance for schools when a positive COVID-19 case is confirmed in a student or staff member. North Tyneside Council’s public health team is supporting us with advice and guiding action around any suspected cases, confirmed cases or outbreaks in school through protocols that have been agreed with Public Health England. When a positive COVID-19 case is confirmed at any time in the school, senior leaders carry out a comprehensive risk assessment with a member of staff from the Council’s public health team to identify any student or staff member who may have been a close contact with the confirmed case. National definitions of close contacts are used in this process. If your child is **not** **identified as a close contact** of the confirmed case you will **not** need to make any change to your usual routine and it will be safe for your child to continue to attend school. If your **child is identified as having been in close contact** with the affected case they need to **stay at home** **and self-isolate for 14** **days**, in line with government guidance. Other members of the household can continue normal activities provided your child does not develop symptoms within the self-isolation period. The evidence from the Chief Medical Officer identifies that the balance of risk is strongly in favour of children attending school and that serious illness or death in children and teenagers from COVID-19 is extremely rare. Therefore, it is really important that all children continue to attend school (unless asked to self-isolate) for their educational progress, for their wellbeing and for their wider development. #### Year 8 working from home - Thursday 15th & Friday 16th October It is with regret that we have had to ask our **Year 8 students to stay at home and work remotely for the rest of this week** (Thursday 15th and Friday 16th October). This is because we currently have 21 members of staff absent for various reasons and this will have a huge impact on how we can safely operate. **We would like to reassure parents that this is not directly related to the cases in our school** but is instead reflective of the high number of cases across our region, staff dealing with their own childcare issues, and staff dealing with separate NHS track and trace alerts. We appreciate that this will cause significant inconvenience and we have not taken this decision lightly. Year 8 will be able to return to school on Monday 19th October. Work will be posted by 9am tomorrow on the Year 8 home learning section of the website here: **School remains open on Thursday and Friday to all other year groups.** Thank you for your patience and understanding. Kelly Holbrook Headteacher [ Covid Update Tuesday 13th October](https://longbenton.org.uk/news/2020-10-13-covid-update-tuesday-13th-october) [Covid Update 19th October - Temporary home learning for Years 7 & 9 this week ](https://longbenton.org.uk/news/2020-10-19-covid-update-19th-october-temporary-home-learning-for-years-7-9-this-week) ![Longbenton High School](https://files.schudio.com/longbenton-high-school-2/images/logo/Digital_FullCol_Hor_WhiteOut_0_0.png) ### Longbenton High School Hailsham Avenue Longbenton Newcastle upon Tyne Tyne & Wear NE12 8ER (0191) 218 9500 (0191) 270 6760 ### Useful Links - [Contact Us](https://longbenton.org.uk/contact) - [Ofsted](https://longbenton.org.uk/ofsted-reports) - Curriculum Overview - Prospectus ### Social Media - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/longbentonhs) - [X](https://twitter.com/longbentonhs) - [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/longbentoncc) © Copyright 2016–2026 Longbenton High School School & Trust Websites by [ ![Schudio logo](https://longbenton.org.uk/img/logo/light.png) ](https://www.schudio.com/)