SECONDARY schools in Bolton are changing the way they manage future cases of covid-19 after fears pupils could end up spending more time at home than in school.

High schools account for the majority of pupils self-isolating ­— and education bosses say that work is ongoing to improve tracing processes, so students are only isolating where necessary

Schools throughout the borough have been closing year groups after a member of staff or pupil tested positive for coronavirus.

In some cases more than one year group has been sent home, which has sometimes led to a school having the majority of its pupils self-isolating at home.

Patrick Russell, head of Ladybridge High School, sent out a letter to parents explaining why changes had to be made.

Mr Russell said: "This academic year, all five-year groups have had to self-isolate for 14 days due to positive cases in the year group bubble.

"Our main priority is to keep learners, staff and their families safe.

" However, we need to find a different way to manage future cases otherwise our learners may end up spending more time at home than in school. This situation is troubling and unsustainable."

In the future the school says it will adopt a track and trace approach. So rather than sending the whole year group home for 14 days after a coronavirus test, children will be sent home for 24 hours, while the in-school track and trace process takes place.

Seating plans will be used to identify which pupils have sat within two metres of the young person, who has tested positive, in the 48 hours prior to symptoms developing. And the school will ask trace the pupil's close contacts during breaks, dinners, on corridors and on the way to and from school.

It will be those 'close contacts' who will be asked to self-isolate. Mr Russell stressed the new way would take into account the needs of vulnerable children ­— and added if there are two cases of the virus in the year group, the year group bubble could shut as before.

Mr Russell said the school had confidence to try this new way because nobody else had tested positive for the virus when a year group had been sent home to self-isolate.

Mr Russell said: "Our remote learning offer is strong and is improving every day. Despite this, there is no doubt that repeated periods of self-isolation are going to be incredibly disruptive to learning, wellbeing and the future life prospects of our young people."

He said Bolton schools have met with the local authority and it was likely they would all be adopting this new method to deal with coronavirus cases.

Currently around one in five schools ­— 19 per cent ­— and early years setting have some staff or children self-isolating.

One in ten schools where bubbles have closed have seen children return following a period of self-isolation

Bolton Council’s Executive Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Cllr Anne Galloway, said: “We can see that the overall number of pupils self-isolating is beginning to level off.

“One in ten schools have already seen pupils return following a period of self-isolation and many more children are expected back in the classroom shortly.

“We continue to work with school leaders to improve the process and keep time away from school to a minimum by ensuring pupils are only isolating when necessary.

“In the weeks to come, we can expect to see these efforts reflected in the overall figures.

“Our schools continue to do an excellent job managing the situation while prioritising the safety of staff, children and the wider community. “Pupils isolating at home have access to a variety of teaching resources to continue their studies.”