A third Welsh council has announced that schools will close early for Christmas and pupils return to remote learning amid rising Covid cases and staff absences.

Face-to-face lessons will cease for pupils in Wrexham at the end of Friday, December 17. Instead, they will learn from home until term ends officially on December 22.

In a statement to Wrexham councillors on Monday, December 13, included in full in a report by Wrexham.com, Chief Officer for Education Karen Evans said there is "increasing concern regarding the number of Covid cases in schools and the impact on staffing levels".

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She continued: "A number of schools are experiencing high levels of staff absence and disruption to learning is now significant. Taking all of these factors into consideration, we have agreed that schools in Wrexham will move to online learning for the last three days of the term."

Ms Evans did however assure that “onsite provision will be made for those pupils who are considered to be vulnerable or who are children of critical workers, where there are no other alternatives”.

The headteacher for Ysgol Plas Coch and Ysgol Bro Alun, Mr Osian Jones, also confirmed confirmed the decision in a letter to parents on December 13.

"We are also acutely aware that any positive cases that may be identified next week would result in individuals having to isolate over the Christmas period, including Christmas Day. This would have a huge impact on our community," he wrote.

The move by Wrexham Council comes hot on the heels of similar announcements by two other Welsh local authorities.

Denbighshire Council also made the decision on Monday to shut its schools early after discussions with headteachers. On the same day, Anglesey Council announced that its schools will also shut on Friday and the last three days of term between December 20 and 22 will be online.

The Welsh Government has said no all-Wales decision to shut schools early has been made and decisions rest with individual councils and schools.

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