Bevendean Primary School: parents 'were not told' about Covid-19 cases

The parent, who wished to remain anonymous, has issued an official complaint to Bevendean Primary School and says parents were not alerted about coronavirus cases among pupils.

A letter was sent out on Monday informing parents and carers that children in Years 3 and 4 at the community school in Heath Hill Avenue must isolate for ten days, after one case was confirmed.

However, the parent says his son tested positive 12 days before, on May 5 – and he believes there has since been at least one other case in the two year groups, which are a bubble, before action was taken.

• READ MORE: Covid-19: two year groups at Bevendean Primary School told to isolate

He said: "Our son came out of school on Friday, April 30 with a headache and not feeling 100 per cent.

"By the Sunday he had a high temperature. After the bank holiday Monday we phoned in sick on the Tuesday and then his positive test result came back on the Wednesday.

"I raised my concerns that parents should at least be notified, and the school commented they didn't want to panic anyone. We thought that was wrong.

Bevendean Primary School

"The office said 'it was not possible' Covid could have come from the school, but it stands to reason that he picked it up in the week leading up to that Friday.

"Since then another child has had to isolate, with no notice to parents or isolating of bubbles."

Following Monday's announcement, pupils in Year 3 and 4 are now isolating at home, and must not return to school until next Wednesday, May 26, provided they are well.

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A letter sent to parents and carers from headmaster Martyn Giddens stated that a child had tested positive within 48 hours of being in school.

It said: "When dealing with all Covid-19 cases, information on what determines a ‘contact’ is provided by Public Health England.

"A contact is a person who has had close contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19 during their infectious period (two days before to 10 days after onset of symptoms, or the date of test, if asymptomatic).

"Only people who meet standard contact definitions during this time need to be advised to self isolate – within the school setting, these are determined by ‘bubbles’."

The parent believes his son could have passed on the virus to other pupils.

He added: "The issue is my son was ill at school, which turned out to be Covid.

"Not only did the school not isolate bubbles, but they didn't notify parents to watch their kids closely for symptoms."

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: “We have worked closely with Bevendean Primary School on their two recent Covid cases.

“We can confirm the school has correctly followed Public Health England guidance on these.

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“This guidance explains how schools must decide whether or not there have been contacts of a confirmed Covid case in school, and how to identify these contacts and instruct pupils and staff to self-isolate.

“It is not mandatory for schools to report all Covid-19 cases, although there is a helpline if advice is needed.

“The guidance says: ‘It is important to find the balance between identifying everyone who may be at a genuine risk of developing infection while not asking people to self-isolate unnecessarily.

“'The time when people who have tested positive for Covid-19 are infectious to others is from two days before the onset of symptoms (or date of test if asymptomatic) to 10 days afterwards.'

“In the first case the pupil became ill more than two days after last attending school.

"Therefore the case was not in school during their infectious period and there were no school contacts.

“In the second case the pupil did attend school within the infectious period and contact tracing and instructions to self-isolate were undertaken as required.”