Confirmed covid-19 case at third Eastbourne school

Gildredge House sent a letter home to parents on Friday (October 2) after a pupil tested positive for covid-19.

The school in Compton Place Road said students and staff who had been in close contact with the child have been sent home to self-isolate for two weeks.

But the school remains open as normal to everyone else, provided they are well.

Headteacher Stuart Reeves told this newspaper, “The school was advised on Friday evening that a student had tested positive at the school.

“We quickly identified all other students who had either been in close contact with the infected student or had been within two metres of them for a period of 15 minutes.

“These families were written to on Friday night to ask those students to self-isolate for a 14-day period starting from two days before any symptoms were experienced.

“I personally called each family to ensure that they had received the letter and I managed to speak to the vast majority of them on Friday evening.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents, students and staff for continuing to follow the rules to make sure the school is as safe as possible.”

The school continues to follow the advice and guidance from both the Department of Education and Public Health England, Mr Reeves said.

It comes after Polegate School confirmed this week that a trainee teacher had tested positive for the virus, and a class has been sent home as a result.

And a child at Heron Park Primary Academy was confirmed to have covid-19 the week before.

The whole year group has been told to self-isolate at home due to this.

According to the NHS, the main symptoms of coronavirus are:

• A high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)

• A new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)

• A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

If you have any of the main symptoms of covid-19, get as soon as possible.

Then stay at home and do not have visitors until you get your test result – only leave your home to have a test.