AN OLDHAM headteacher is self-isolating along with around 350 of his pupils as Covid cases rip through the borough’s schools.

Glyn Potts the headteacher at Newman RC College in Oldham has been forced to self-isolate for ten days, along with 13 other staff members, after taking a PCR test.

Across Oldham on Tuesday 3,500 children were self-isolating and by lunch time on Wednesday the number rose to 4,010.

Meanwhile 250 school staff were also recorded as self-isolating.

In response to the soaring numbers of children off school Mr Potts has called for daily testing to be introduced which would mean those who have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus would not need to self-isolate.

It is something that only a small number of schools have been allowed to do as part of a clinical trial, the results of which are set to come out in June.

He said: “We want anything that supports children staying in learning safely to be priority as parents are fed up and have done so well.”

Across England more than 170,000 children missed school last week to self-isolate, four times as many as the week before.

Latest attendance figures show that one in ten students are currently absent from school, despite all Covid restrictions set to be lifted on July 19 and tens of thousands of people attending football matches.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday, Oldham council's managing director of children and young people Gerard Jones called the number of children missing school due to Covid a “tragedy”.

He added: “The numbers have been rising exponentially, which is a real worry for us.”

“We’ve got asymptomatic people isolating from other asymptomatic young people and from families that are asymptomatic or have been vaccinated in an area where there are high rates of vaccination, so the real impact now is on children’s lives.”

Like Mr Potts, Mr Jones has called for daily testing to be rolled out “urgently”.

He has also called for a vaccination programme to be targeted at school staff and children over 12, which has already been introduced in France and America, arguing that children are already vaccinated against the flu virus as a public health measure.