The headteacher of the only primary school in Bracknell ordered to do surge coronavirus tests has spoken out to reassure local parents.
Binfield Church of England Primary School has been the only primary school in Bracknell Forest asked to comply with surge testing because ‘a number of cases have been identified’ at the school, according to the council.
It comes as part of wider surge testing also being carried out at Bracknell secondary schools and the G47 0 postcode area.
The headteacher, Suzie Featherstone-Wright, reassured parents and guardians of the efforts staff have been making to keep the school covid-secure.
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In a video, she said: “At Binfield Primary School, we have worked fantastically hard as a school community, since the beginning of the pandemic, to keep our pupils, staff and carers as safe as possible. Thanks to this hard work we’ve had huge success in keeping all pupil bubbles open right up until this April.
“We’ve had all the control measures in place to reduce the risk of infection to all of our staff and pupils, including the regular testing of staff, and that’s enabled us to have continuity of education.
“We’ve also encouraged good health and hygiene practices like keeping a safe social distance, washing hands regularly, and ventilating classrooms.
“Sadly, this new variant is highly transmissible, and even with all the control measures in place, we, like other schools, have had some positive cases among our pupils, therefore we’re encouraging all staff and pupils to surge test, as well as calling on all adults to maintain regular lateral flow testing and following Government guidance.
“We’re continuing to work together to minimise the disruption to schooling in order to maintain the high standard of education we pride ourselves in. I’d like to thank everyone in our school community for their support and hopefully with our continued hard work, we can beat this together.”
More than 90 per cent of pupils and staff have returned PCR tests sequencing as part of this extra step in keeping the school community safe.
READ MORE: Number of Bracknell Forest pupils on free school meals soars
Surge testing is taking place for staff and pupils at Bracknell Forest secondary schools, Binfield CofE Primary School and those who live and work in the G47 0 postcode until Wednesday, June 30.
The G47 0 postcode covers the eastern half of Sandhurst and Owlsmoor.
The testing has been introduced due to concerns over the Delta variant of coronavirus, which has led to an increase in cases in June, which has prompted to Government to delay the removal of coronavirus restrictions until Monday, July 19 at the earliest.
In Bracknell Forest, the infection rate currently stands at 82.4 cases per 100,000 people (reported on June 22).
Binfield CofE Primary School is located in Benetfeld Road in the Bracknell urban area.
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