Pupils cleared to return to school where dinnerlady tested positive for coronavirus

Children at Bramley Sunnyside Junior School were asked not to go in to school on Monday after the catering worker tested positive on Friday.

It came less than a week after the school reopened following five months closed to most pupils.

Thirty-six pupils identified as potentially having contact with the affected member of staff were told to stay off school for two weeks – but on Tuesday they were given the green light to go back.

Bramley Sunnyside head Laura Robson said in a letter to parents over the weekend that any child who had eaten a hot meal at the school last Thursday should self-isolate for 14 days.

Explaining the demand for children to stay off school, Ms Robson said: “While there is a plastic screen between the kitchen staff and the children, they are considered as having had contact with the staff member who has tested positive.”

A joint statement issued today by Rotherham Council and Bramley Sunnyside Junior School said the catering worker had been isolating at home after having mild symptoms.

The green light for pupils to return came following “clarification from Public Health England that the stringent measures in place to minimise the risk of infection are robust”.

Meals were being prepared off-site at the moment, the statement said.