A CAERPHILLY borough school has returned some pupils to home learning due to ‘high levels of staff sickness.’

In a letter to parents and carers of Islwyn High School’s Year 7 pupils on Monday, March 21 – which has been seen by the Argus – head teacher Jason Hicks explained that there is a "high level of staff sickness", with potentially up to 17 members of staff off as "a good deal is Covid related".

The letter said: “As a good deal of it is Covid related, we anticipate that we could have as many as 17 teachers absent tomorrow and that the situation might potentially not ease too significantly for a number of days.”

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Due to this level the school made the decision to move the year 7 pupils to work from home from today so that they can prioritise the exam year groups and ensure they are able to timetable safe face-to-face lessons.

Parents and carers will be updated on the situation regularly.

A spokesperson on behalf of Islwyn High School and Caerphilly Council said, “School across the region are being impacted by the ongoing pandemic, but robust plans are in place to ensure that alternative arrangements are available to provide remote learning provision if needed, as is the case at this particular school.”