Alderney, Sark children can finish term early

Guernsey’s education team has stood firm that the term, which finishes on Wednesday 22 December, would not end early, even though a large proportion of Covid cases are in young people.

But director of education Nick Hynes said it had been decided to take a more flexible approach for young people from the other islands.

‘We have written to parents and carers of students who are ordinarily resident in either Sark or Alderney to explain that we would be supportive should they wish for their child to return to their home island at the end of this week ahead of the end of term,’ he said yesterday.

‘We did this because we are aware of concerns from some parents and carers about the potential impact should a student from Sark or Alderney test positive for Covid-19 shortly before the end of term.

‘There is a possibility that such a scenario would prevent the young person from returning home for Christmas, which would clearly be very distressing for them and their families while separated.

‘As such we wanted to handle this proactively and sensitively to try and avoid a potential scenario that is specific to a limited number of students.’

. People who test positive need to stay in isolation for 10 days from their first test result.