The head teacher of a school where 25 pupils and five staff have been sent home to self-isolate will not rule out issuing fines if other parents keep their children off.

Simon Pullen says attendance at Royal Harbour Academy in Ramsgate was lower today, after a child in Year 7 tested positive for Covid-19.

But he says there is no need for other children, except those who are in a bubble with the infected pupil, to be off school.

Mr Pullen says he would be following government guidelines, which includes issuing fines, although as a last resort. These start at £60 but rise with non-payment.

"We want children in school being taught," Mr Pullen said. "While we are sympathetic with parents, we will be following government guidelines."

He says they are contacting parents to reassure them it is safe for pupils to come into school and stressed the importance that children are in education.

"Attendance is down a little bit," he said. "I think one of the factors is that parents are expecting us to isolate the whole year group but we don't have to do that. We are just sending the individual class home.

"PHE told us to send 25 children and five staff home. They said the rest are fine and to come in."

"The government guidelines are to work with parents and that's what we're doing."

The school is also undergoing deep-cleans in any area the infected pupil had been in.

Mr Pullen says they found out the child had tested positive on Sunday and worked with Public Health England (PHE) throughout the day on how to manage the situation.

"The student is on the lower site and only our Year 7s and Year 8s are there," he said.

"They have a structure that is similar to a primary school.

"One teacher teaches English, one teacher does science and maths and some others do the creative and vocational subjects.

"So there are between four or five members of staff that teach there and the children stay predominantly with their groups in class bubbles.

"When we spoke to PHE they looked at how many had had contact with the student and how many had contact with each other.

"On their advice we were told to isolate 25 children and five staff. They said the rest are fine and to come in."

Mr Pullen says they are the first secondary in Thanet for this to happen but he believes it will be happening more and more.

He urged parents to inform the school immediately if anyone in their household or bubble tested positive.

Thanet's infection rate is currently among the lowest in Kent.

There have been 19 recorded coronavirus cases in the district this month and 955 since the pandemic began.

Read more: All the latest news from Thanet