Year 9 students at Biddulph High School are being taught online this week after 20% of the whole year group caught Covid.

Online teaching was brought back in for Year 9 students yesterday (Tuesday 19th October) until the rest of the week due to the high rate of Covid cases.

At the end of the week students will go on their half term break before returning to school on Tuesday 2nd November.

The school says cases are also increasing among Year 10 students but remain more stable for Year 11, 12 and 13 students.

Biddulph High School head teacher Elizabeth Robinson said: "We are, as you know, experiencing a continued rise in cases of Covid-19, specifically in year nine.

"Our overall percentage of positive cases in year nine is now 20 per cent. We also have increasing cases in year 10, although the picture is more stable for years 11 to 13.

"To try to reduce the spread further, we are asking year nine to move to online learning from Tuesday, October 19. These students will return to school on Tuesday, November 2.

"The local outbreak team has suggested that students test daily via lateral flow tests for the rest of this week and students can request more testing kits if needed."