Scots College students sent home after Covid case just before HSC exams

A $39,000 a year private school in the eastern suburbs has sent students home a week out from HSC exams following a positive Covid case.

The prestigious Scots College in Bellevue Hill has been closed and all the students will remain at home tomorrow after a person with Covid was at the school.

The $39,000 a year school told parents about 3pm on Wednesday afternoon that they would be closed as per NSW Health Guidelines.

It is understood the school will now start to work out exactly which students and teachers who were at the senior campus at Victoria Rd were close contacts and who has to self isolate before it can reopen.

It is not known if students expected to sit the HSC exams next Tuesday were on site this week or if they were at home studying this week.

A student at Scots College in Bellevue Hill has tested positive for Covid.

The school headmaster Dr Ian Lambert told The Daily Telegraph last month that the school would continue to allow all students to learn from home for the remainder of the year.

“Some families are in rural NSW, interstate or overseas, while other families may not feel comfortable to return to on-campus learning just yet. The Scots College will continue to provide home-based learning support for all year groups for the remainder of the school year,” he said.

The school joins 13 public schools which were on Tuesday night marked as closed down for cleaning after at least one positive Covid case at each school.

NSW recorded four deaths and 190 cases across the state on Wednesday and none of those cases were from rural NSW.

It was a milestone for country NSW as it was the first time since August 10 that no cases were recorded in the Western NSW Local Health District.

Meanwhile, WA Premier Mark McGowan announced that NSW would be downgraded from an “extreme risk” zone to a “high risk” zone, allowing people to apply for compassionate exemptions in order to fly west.

Strict quarantine rules will apply for anyone allowed to travel to WA.

The double-dose rate in NSW was at 88.7 per cent on Wednesday, while 93.7 per cent of over-16s have had at least one dose.