15 pictures of this Northallerton school set to close

A NORTHALLERTON school has closed its doors for the last time after a significant rise in the number of positive Covid cases.

Northallerton School and Sixth Form College has been forced to close its doors after a rise in Covid cases, however, when the school reopens the school will be on a whole new site all together.

Northallerton secondary schools have been split between two sites such as Allertonshire School for 11 to 14-year-olds and Northallerton College for 14 to 18-year-olds.

A few years ago students to the Northallerton College site on Grammar School Lane and the Allertonshire School site was closed.

The Allertonshire site is currently being expanded and renovated and students were set to move there in September, closing the Grammar School Lane site, however, due to Covid the school has been forced to close.

Headteacher Vicki Rahn said lessons would continue for most pupils online and that the school would be open to the children of key workers.

When students go back to school in September they will be going to the Allertonshire site, however this will be renamed to Northallerton School and Sixth Form College.

The letter said: “I am writing to inform you that unfortunately, we have made the very difficult decision to close the school and move to online learning to all students except those classed as vulnerable or children of key workers.

“The number of students with positive tests has continued to increase during the last few days resulting in a significant number of students self-isolating.

“We have also got a significant number of staff self-isolating and, after taking advice from Public Health, it has been decided that the closure of the school until the end of term is the most appropriate way to ensure the safety and well-being of our school population.

Mrs Rahn added: “Students do not need a microphone or camera as the lessons will be audio based.

“If your child has been identified as a close contact of a positive Covid case they will still need to self-isolate and should not come to school even if they are classed as vulnerable or the child of a key worker.

“We will ensure each self-isolating student is clear about when their isolation comes to an end.

“Students are still expected to continue to test twice a week at home until the end of term.

“Please continue to inform the school of the test results, especially if result is positive as we will need to contact trace.

“We are trying to minimise the number of children in school, if you are a key worker or a parent of a vulnerable child please only send your child to school if absolutely necessary.”

Here are some pictures of the school we found in our archive:

The Northern Echo: