A NUMBER of students at St Colmcille’s High in Crossgar have not returned to class this week after the school battled its “worst” Covid-19 outbreak since the pandemic began.
Principal Seamus Hanna confirmed on Monday that all pupils who were well enough to attend were now Covid-free as they had recorded clear tests, while others are recovering from the virus at home or completing their required period of isolation.
The local outbreak was confirmed as one of the worst in Northern Ireland over the past week.
Public Health Agency (PHA) figures published on Monday revealed in the BT30 postcode area of Downpatrick/Ardglass/Killough, almost 200 new cases were recorded over the past seven days.
St Colmcille’s in Crossgar had to be closed last Thursday and Friday after attempts failed to control the spread of the coronavirus for over a week.
Mr Hanna confirmed that action needed to be taken last Wednesday after over 25% of students were absent with the virus and 40% of school staff were also off.
“We are now heading out of this virus but this was definitely the worst outbreak that we have experienced,” the principal confirmed. “The safety of our school community will always be our main priority and I could not guarantee the safety of our pupils in the school with such absences. Our school is facing the same challenges as other schools in getting substitute teachers to cover for absent staff.
“Despite every effort, we could not control the spread of the virus throughout the school which was extensively cleaned and sanitised over the weekend.
Mr Hanna said on Monday: “Today we reopened and are still missing many pupils who continue to be unwell with this virus and others are completing their isolation.
“We have had mass testing of pupils and know that all those present in school today are free from this virus and that we are able to prevent its rapid spread. We have completed another mass cleaning of our school and used fogging machines to further sanitise all rooms.”
The principal also described some of the decision-making which lay behind the decision to reluctantly close the school.
“Each day I discussed our numbers with the PHA and every action or mitigation it suggested was already being followed in the school. The PHA acknowledged this and praised our efforts, but recognised that despite these, we were facing continually growing numbers.”
The school closed only for pupils but all staff who were available for work were in school on both Thursday and Friday as St Colmcille’s moved to online teaching using Google classroom.
Mr Hanna said the school had received “incredible support” from parents and from some local businesses who provided sanitisers and the use of fogging machines.
“Our parents know that we will always prioritise our pupils’ needs and that we will make the difficult choice to move to online teaching if there is any doubt in our ability to keep our pupils safe,” the principal stressed, confirming that the school would be participating in the health programme to vaccinate all 12 to 16 year-old pupils.
Mr Hanna added that he had conversations over the weekend with the Catholic Council for Maintained Schools and with the Irish National Teachers Organisation who pledged support to the school as and when required.
Mr Hanna added: “I have been greatly encouraged by the many kind messages of support that we have received over the weekend. All these messages reminded us that we are part of this community and the work that we do is valued so much by our parents and past pupils and neighbours. For all of this we are genuinely grateful.”