Two island schools to stay shut until October break

Pupils will receive their lessons online until 9 October after a Covid-19 outbreak in the Western Isles
1st October 2020, 10:31am

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Two island schools to stay shut until October break

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/two-island-schools-stay-shut-until-october-break
Coronavirus School Closures: Two Uist Schools To Stay Shut Until October Break

Two schools in Uist in the Western Isles are to stay shut until the October break due to an outbreak of the coronavirus.

Daliburgh School and nursery and Lionacleit Secondary have been deep-cleaned since closing on Monday but pupils have been told to stay at home.

The other local schools closed as a precaution this week - lochdar, Balivanich and Sgoil Uibhist a Tuath - are due to reopen today.


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A cluster of 24 cases has been identified on South Uist. Western Isles Council said it would review the schools’ situation on a daily basis.

Coronavirus: Western Isles school closures

A statement from the council said: “Appropriate contact tracing measures are in place and a significant number of pupils and school staff are currently self-isolating on this basis.”

It added that pupils at Daliburgh, on South Uist, and Lionacleit, on Benbecula, would get access to online learning from home during the closure, with S1 to S3 pupils at Lionacleit receiving their lessons via the authority’s e-Sgoil, which specialises in the delivery of live online learning.

Senior students will follow their normal timetable online, with at least one live lesson this week per subject, and at least one next week. The two-week October break is due to begin on Friday 9 October.

Before the start of this week, the Western Isles had recorded the lowest number of cases in Scotland since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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