Pupils and staff at a primary school close to the Kent and London border have been told to self-isolate after four confirmed cases of coronavirus.

Wentworth Primary School in Dartford made the decision to send 97 pupils and nine staff members home in line with the government guidelines.

It comes after two pupils and two members of staff tested positive for the virus, with the first case believed to have been recorded over the weekend.

Parents and carers of affected pupils in Years 2, 3 and 5 were told to self-isolate for 14 days in a direct message from the school.

Head teacher Paul Langridge said: “Unfortunately, we have had four confirmed cases of Covid-19 within our school community, two pupils and two members of staff.

"My colleagues and I are following Public Health England (PHE) guidance and as a result 97 pupils from Years 2, 3 and 5 and nine members of staff will be self-isolating for 14 days.

"The isolation periods will all finish within the half-term holiday so we look forward to welcoming everyone back to school after the break."

The rest of the school remains open with staff and pupils continuing to follow PHE guidance in terms of social distancing, handwashing and cleaning to minimise the potential spread of the virus.

Home learning has been sent to those pupils self-isolated for the remainder of term-time and the head teacher said staff were supporting them to work remotely.

Mr Langridge added: “I would like to thank my staff, our parents and carers and of course the pupils for their support and understanding at this time.”

Wentworth Primary School currently has more than 580 pupils aged between four and 11.

Its a tale of two tiers for the school, which serves pupils from both Crayford under "High" tier 2 restrictions to the west and Dartford , under tier 1 "Medium" alert to the east.

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