A school has been closed due to a "very sudden and rapidly changing" increase in coronavirus cases.

Since the weekend there has been seven confirmed cases of Covid-19 at Bapchild and Tonge Church of England Primary School in School Lane, Sittingbourne.

Parents were told on Monday the school was being closed for staff and pupils.

In a letter head teacher Christian Kelly said: "This very sudden and rapidly changing situation is obviously very concerning to all of us and necessitates a quick decision rather than delaying.

"The safety of our students staff and families in our community is our paramount concern.

"Based on the current picture of increasing number of cases and having consulted the local authority we are taking the very difficult decision to shut the school to students and staff and move learning to blending online learning.

"The school will close and immediately as a precaution to provide a break in transmission."

'In our judgement it is not possible to operate the school safely with this number of absent staff.'

Mr Kelly said the decision had been made for two reasons - first because of the increasing number of positive cases and second due to staffing pressures the school is facing.

He added: "We now have an ever increasing number of staff who have to isolate due to either being a positive case, self isolating as a contact in their family or due to track and trace notifications.

"In our judgement it is not possible to operate the school safely with this number of absent staff."

Just across the town headteacher of Sittingbourne's largest secondary school has written to parents with positive news about its Covid-19 cases.

In a letter Simon Cox, from Westlands School in Westlands Avenue, told how there has been no further cases of the virus among its 1700 students and 150 teachers.

Three staff members are currently isolating, but due to the fact they've been in contact with a confirmed case outside of school.

The head boasted his pride of how Westlands has stayed open for most of its year groups.

The school never had more than two year groups closed at a time and Year 10 are currently the only year working from home.

Speaking about the positive news, Mr Cox said: "While I know that we will continue to get positive cases over the coming weeks, I thought it would be nice to acknowledge the fact that for the whole of this week, there hasn’t been a single case.

"This is obviously a much better position than we found ourselves in at the start of the term."

He continued, adding how the school will be focussing on wearing masks in communal areas, using hand sanitiser, avoiding contact with other year group bubbles, using separate entrances and exits and staying two metres away from staff.

The head added: "Probably the biggest influence on our reduction in Covid cases this week has been the support of the parents and carers of our students.

"I would like to personally thank you all for your diligence in keeping students at home when they display symptoms, getting all members of your household to isolate while you wait for test results and ensuring your children isolate for the correct period of time."

Westlands was the worst hit school in the borough for coronavirus, with at least 19 cases and hundreds forced to isolate.

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