High school latest to be hit by coronavirus closure

The first high school in the Lowestoft area has temporarily closed its doors amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Staffing levels have led to the closure of Pakefield High School, in Lowestoft, as of 2.45pm on Wednesday, March 18.

In a letter to parents and carers, Anthony Walker, Headteacher of the school on London Road Pakefield, said: “Pakefield High School will close tonight as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“I am sure that you will know that this decision has not been taken lightly.

“We do not have any staff who have confirmed symptoms of the coronavirus, but we have increasing levels of staff absence as our colleagues have taken government advice to self-isolate.

“The situation we face is unprecedented and, whilst I would like to give parents clarity, I am not in a position to confirm when school will re-open however we will remain closed at least for the duration of this week.”

It means that four schools in the Lowestoft area have now confirmed that they would be temporarily closed from after today – at The Warren School in Oulton Broad and Westwood Primary School in Lowestoft and at Grove Primary School in Lowestoft .

Pakefield High School has put “remote teaching” learning resources in place to allow students to log on to a computer each morning and access Microsoft Teams “where work will be set for each lesson.”

Staffing issues amid the growing outbreak have seen various Norfolk schools forced into total or partial closures in recent days.