Councillor Jayne Rear, Lancashire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Skills is asking parents to be patient and kind when it comes to school children needing to isolate due to Covid cases.

Multiple school children have needed to isolate across Preston due to other children contracting coronavirus, despite being grouped into ‘bubbles’ to decrease the chance of needing to isolate.

Across the country 279,000 children were self-isolating at the end of June.

Read more: Prestonians being urged to use their ‘common sense’ as Covid restrictions ease from July 19

Cllr Jayne Rear, Lancashire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, said: “Throughout the pandemic, our schools, colleges and early years settings have been phenomenal.

“Staff have truly gone above and beyond to keep our children safe and to mitigate the disruption to their education.

“Despite their best efforts, the impact of Covid-19 on our education settings has still been significant, and this has been no more apparent than during this new wave of infections.”

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announced that school children would no longer need to isolate within their bubbles after July 19 and that they would instead be contacted by NHS Track and Trace.

This is due to the high numbers of children missing school after having to isolate and some having to isolate more than once.

Read more: 17 areas of Preston and South Ribble have seen a fall in Covid cases in the seven days leading to 7 July

Cllr Rear added: “The measures announced by the Education Secretary will go some way towards bringing some stability to our education system.

“Of course, the lifting of restrictions on 19 July also brings its own risks, and our schools will undoubtedly have many challenges to overcome when the new year begins in September.

“Schools will need the support of parents more than ever, so please have patience and be kind to staff as they navigate the new parameters.

“It is important to understand that, while restrictions are lifting, there may be times when extra precautions may be needed to manage the spread of the virus and to keep our children safe.”

England is due to enter step four of the roadmap from July 19 which will see all restrictions lifted.

See the latest coronavirus cases and information near you

Read more: See the latest Preston news and headlines