EXCLUSIVE: A Hitchin secondary school is preparing to take further action to ensure its pupils receive the best teaching possible, as the spread of Covid continues to cause chaos.

As the new term got under way in our town this week, Hitchin schools are facing intense challenges as a result of staff and pupils having to isolate, with a headteacher warning that the situation could deteriorate fast.

Emergency timetable changes to cope with soaring Covid-related absence rates among staff are a possibility, a Hitchin secondary school headteacher has advised.

Geriant Edwards, head of the Priory School on Bedford Road, has been busy arranging in-house cover, as well as provision for hybrid and remote learning as coronavirus continues to bite.

In a letter sent to Priory School parents, seen by Hitchin Nub News, Mr Edwards wrote: "As we progress through January into early February I am expecting the school to have an increasing number of staff absent with Covid, which will cause disruption to student learning.

"We have a dedicated team of in-house cover supervisors who step in to take lessons when teaching staff are absent.

"Other key support staff and teachers will always take on additional cover when required in the short term.

"When our in-house cover is fully utilised we supplement this with agency staff. This has been problematic

recently due to an increase in demand from all school settings." Mr Edwards, who has earned plaudits from parents for the Priory's transparency during the pandemic, also said that the school hall will be set up as one large classroom with exam desks - in the event that the school does not have the capacity to cover all lessons - with students entering the hall to complete supervised online learning. As facemasks become mandatory in classrooms in a bid to combat the spread of Covid variant Omicron, schools across our town are gearing up for the possibility of remote and hybrid learning. As Hitchin Nub News reported on Tuesday a move to remote learning may be a possibility, with Hitchin Boys' School head Fergal Moane admitting. Priory School head Mr Edwards added that his students have Chromebooks, with online learning well embedded should there be a need to educate some year groups from home for a short period of time with hybrid learning. Mr Edwards also underlined the school will aim to protect the face-to-face teaching of Year 11 and Year 13 at such a critical time in their educational journey, with mock exams starting at the end of this month. "There may well come a tipping point where the school cannot operate without moving to a hybrid model of remote and face-to-face learning," he explained. "Students who are self-isolating will continue to be set work by class teachers, and the same protocols apply as before Christmas. "Logistically it is difficult to set up learning on the day that the school is notified that a student is self-isolating...there will come a period of time when the number of students off school is too great to set individual work. "For a limited period of time students will then be directed to carry out more generic subject-based work via the Virtual Learning section of the school website." Read Hitchin Nub News for our unrivalled schools coverage LIKE/FOLLOW HITCHIN NUB NEWS FACEBOOK PAGE FOLLOW HITCHIN NUB NEWS ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM [L]https://twitter.com/hitchinnubnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor[L]@HitchinNubNews[.L]