Crossword Genius

Shut in church, then linger outside school (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cloister

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'shut in' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'church then linger outside school' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'school' could be 's' and 's' is present in the answer.
'linger' could be 'loiter' (synonyms) and 'loiter' is present in the leftover letters.
A single letter 'c' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cloister that I've seen before include "Place of religious retreat" , "Covered walk by cathedral etc" , "Covered walk around a quadrangle" , "ambulatory" , "Covered walk along the side of a monastery" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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