All senior students have been ordered to stay home from a Dundee secondary school until after Christmas amid rising Covid-19 cases.
A teacher at St John’S High School told The Courier fewer than 100 students showed up for lessons on Monday.
The source said more than 1,000 pupils were now in isolation.
With around 30 staff members at St John’s also in quarantine, Dundee City Council has now told S4-6 classes to stay away from the school.
However the teacher said the measures don’t go far enough and is calling for the entire school to close, claiming pupils and staff are being put at risk.
“It’s unsafe for the kids, it’s unsafe for the teachers,” said the staff member.
“We’re just literally babysitting them. They do all of their work online.
“I’m angry. There should be strike action and I think it will come.”
The employee warned that because the school will remain open until December 23 teachers and pupils could find themselves being contacted by track and trace teams on Christmas day.
“You could be sitting at your Christmas dinner and and get told you have to isolate,” they said.
Teachers warned they may be forced to work Christmas Day over Covid-19 track and trace
Despite the fears of teaching staff, the school is due to remain open with S1 -3 pupils told to attend class as normal.
Councillor Stewart Hunter, children and families convener for Dundee City Council, said the decision to keep older children home was down to the number of staff members self-isolating, declaring it was “not possible” to deliver the full curriculum.
He said: “This is a very challenging situation and there has been a huge effort undertaken to try and maintain learning for the young people at St John’s.
“We are aware of a number of coronavirus cases connected with the school and we have been working closely with NHS Tayside.
“A significant number of pupils are also now self-isolating because of contact tracing.”
Online resources will be available to S4-6 pupils for course work, with teachers in self-isolation delivering lessons virtually until the end of term.
Pupils and staff have been advised to follow national guidance and to not attend school if they are displaying any coronavirus symptoms and people are also being asked to avoid car sharing.
Last week teachers were warned that they faced the prospect of working Christmas Day to help with the track and trace system if there were confirmed outbreaks at their schools before the holidays.
