A Newport school will be closed to its year eight and nine classes tomorrow due to a shortage in staff. The shortage at Bassaleg School, comes as hundreds of children in entire year groups have been sent home to learn remotely as Covid continues to cause havoc in schools across the country.
Like others, the lack of staff there has also been caused by a number of faculty members being off ill with Covid. School governors admit while it isn't an ideal situation, lessons can still be done successfully from home.
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Parents were today informed that the students in year eight and nine would not be attending classes in person tomorrow as they "do not have sufficient staff to cover pupils' lessons".
The statement read: "It is with great regret that I must inform you of the decision I have made jointly with the chair of governors to direct all learners in Years 8 and 9 to work from home tomorrow, Tuesday, April 5, due to lack of capacity in staffing.
"You will be aware of the extraordinary pressures schools are currently facing with the staff absence and limited supply cover being available across the city; we have worked incredibly hard in the context of such challenge all term making use of the large team of cover supervisors we have together with our staff covering multiple lessons over and above their teaching allocation but we do not have sufficient staff available tomorrow to cover pupils' lessons."
Graig Councillor David Williams said while he was unsure of how the rest of the week would pan out, he was hopeful the situation would be resolved as soon as possible.
He said: "The school will be closed to year eight and nine pupils tomorrow due to staff shortages from the coronavirus, and students will be taking their lessons from home. while it isn't an ideal situation, we are still able to deliver lessons from home and have a successful blended learning package in place for when the children are not in school. As far as I'm aware at the moment it will just be tomorrow though I would advise parents to keep an eye out in case of any changes."
