Government statement on 'serious cyber attack' at Nuneaton school

The Department for Education has issued a statement on the ongoing 'serious cyber attack' at a school in Nuneaton . Higham Lane School is still not fully re-open after hackers reportedly brought down the whole IT system at the Shanklin Drive-based school.

Only certain year groups are being allowed into the classrooms at a time, while others are taking it in turns attending the sister site at Higham Lane North Academy. The 'phased return' means that there remains learning for many students.

For many, they have only had in-school learning once since the start of the year.

The Central England Academy Trust (CEAT), which runs the school, said it has been working with the Department for Education following the cyber attack.

CoventryLive contacted the DfE the situation and in, a statement, a spokesperson said: ""We take the cyber security of our schools seriously, understanding the significant disruption attacks can cause and we are working closely with the school to provide support.

“We provide a range of support for schools including our dedicated support team for schools affected by cyber-crime which provides advice in response to incident reports, alongside updated cyber security standards to help schools and colleges improve and maintain their cyber resilience.

“We also work closely with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and encourage all schools to use their free protective services, including free training for school staff and a service that blocks access to malicious websites."

The Trust has said that not only were the IT systems hacked, the attack also 'deactivated several crucial systems' such as the electronic gates, fire alarm system and our ability to take electronic registers at the school. Work continues around the clock to resolve the issues.

But there is still no official date when the school will re-open fully to all year groups.

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