Papdale Primary School and Nursery update – 10 November

Papdale Primary School has seen a rise of 4 COVID-19 cases meaning that as of today, Wednesday, there have been 51 cases among pupils in total. There are eight positive COVID cases among staff and 4 others await the results of PCR tests.

There were 180 children present in school today, with a further 116 receiving online learning. There were more than 140 absences including COVID-related issues, all sickness and children whose parents have chosen not to send them to school.

The Council’s Executive Director of Education, Leisure and Housing, James Wylie said: “We are pleased that our colleagues in Public Health have confirmed a downward trend at Papdale Primary – this means the increase in daily cases is reducing and that’s good news. However, we are now moving to a position whereby the widespread community transmission of COVID-19 is having an impact within schools across Orkney. We are starting to witness small numbers within several settings.

“Our daily monitoring and management meetings are likely to continue for the foreseeable future as we deal with the community spread and the potential impact this may have. We must all act according to the Public Health advice to try and mitigate against the spread throughout our communities, not just within schools. I, again, stress the importance of lateral flow testing among pupils, staff and the wider community.”

Papdale Nursery will be closed for the remainder of this week. This setting, which was shut down as a result of COVID-19 contact tracing among employees, will only partially reopen on Monday 15 November due to insufficient staffing levels.

Parents are being notified as quickly as possible.

Papdale Nursery Manager Caroline Easton said: “I would like to thank parents who have been incredibly supportive as we try to work our way through this ongoing situation. We are very appreciative of the positive feedback we have received. We are working through all contingencies to see how a reopening can be managed safely and we are planning for a partial reopening on Monday and hoping to be back to normal by Wednesday next week (17 November).”

All situations remain under review by the inter-disciplinary team which includes representatives of NHS Orkney Public Health, the Council’s Education Service, Environmental Health, Safety and Resilience and the School and Nursery.

If you, or anyone in your household is displaying symptoms of COVID, which include a continuous cough, temperature and loss in taste or smell, or you have a positive Lateral Flow test (LFD) you MUST self-isolate immediately and book a PCR test by calling 01856 888211.

For more information visit nhsinform.scot