Children who attend Millbank Primary Nursery have been told to stay at home after the Highland nursery closed due to ongoing public health measures.
Parents and guardians are looking for alternative arrangements for 17 children after the closure was announced on Thursday morning.
Schools are being affected across Scotland as the age at which people are contracting Covid-19 is lowering due to a lack of immunity from vaccination in younger age groups.
Highland Council confirmed the closure of Millbank Primary School in Nairn on their website for Thursday, November 25.
School closures are occurring more frequently due to the high transmission rates across the country as well as close contact within an educational environment.
Not the first school closure
Hundreds of pupils were left to study at home after nine schools – affecting 800 students – were closed across the Highlands earlier this month.
Currently, everyone over the age of 12 is eligible for a Covid vaccine and are being encouraged to get vaccinated thereby helping keep the risk of the virus low.
The latest figures show that only 38.3% of 12 to 15-year-olds in Highland have had one dose of a vaccine compared to 67.2% in Grampian.
There are currently no plans to roll out the vaccine to children under the age of 12 as they are at much less risk of serious complications due to Covid than an older person.
Not only children but teachers and staff are being affected by closures whether due to the potential spread of the virus or themselves contracting Covid-19 and having to isolate.
This then adds pressure to the system to supply a substitute teacher to cover a particular teacher’s class while trying to understand if the virus has spread amongst those in contact.