An entire year group at a Hitchin school will be taught remotely until the end of the month, as almost 75 per cent of their pupils were told to self-isolate.

A host of “operational changes” are underway at The Priory School in Hitchin, as the number of confirmed COVID cases at the school continues to rise.

Since last Wednesday, emails show that parents have been informed of 13 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in pupils at the school – with hundreds having to self-isolate as a result.

Following contact tracing from Track and Trace, 141 (or 74 per cent) pupils in Year 11 were told to self-isolate on Monday, November 16.

Three additional cases were confirmed in Year 11, and a further positive case was reported in Year 10 according to an email sent out to parents and guardians yesterday – taking the total number of reported cases in the last week to 13.

Headteacher Geraint Edwards informed parents that the entire year group will now be studying from home until Monday, November 30. All pupils will have Chromebooks to ensure online lessons run smoothly.

Further to this, the school’s wellbeing base has closed and all appointments cancelled for the foreseeable future, while members of the pastoral support team are also self-isolating which will impact the school’s ability to respond to “parental communications”.