URGENT NOTICE TO READ FULLY.

As you may be aware, there are lots of 'bugs' in the community at the moment, including COVID and stomach issues.

At school, we have had a rising number of pupils who are experiencing sickness and/or diarrhoea, with other symptoms such as stomach cramps, headache, muscle aches, fever/chills. Today I have sought professional advice from Public Health as it seems likely that this 'bug' is Norovirus or something similar. Therefore, it is vital that we ensure we are all doing as much as we can to prevent cross contamination due to the contagious nature of this virus.

Pupils need to have good hygiene routines at home and at school. We will be insisting on all pupils using soap and warm water to wash hands more often and to ensure hands are thoroughly dried. Any pupils feeling unwell, sicky, stomach aches or nauseous should remain at home. Headaches also need to be monitored. Any child who is unwell with vomit or diarrhoea/toilet issues should not come to school. Public Health have advised that we must adhere strictly to the 48-hour rule of absence. This means pupils do not return until 48 hours after the last episode of being unwell. This helps to break the chain of infection.

We have increased the cleaning regime at school, especially at contact points such as door handles and also in toilet areas. To further control the spread of this virus, we are minimising visitors to school this week.

As we approach the Easter break, no-one wants to be ill for the holiday so I would ask all families to support these measures. We hope that we will be back to normal for next week - including being able to complete parent evenings. I will, of course, keep you posted of any further actions required.