Swine flu at school

To allow us to monitor the potential risks to our schools, schools are requested to keep an absence log on a daily basis and report if 10% of pupils and staff are absent.

Swine flu and school closure

Health Protection Agency (HPA) advice to schools in the borough is:

In Ealing the HPA has already indicated that the virus is likely to be circulating in the community and, therefore, school closure would have no impact on reducing the spread of the virus. If the HPA advice changes on this matter, schools will be notified.

Clearly schools might find that staff illness and difficulty in finding cover for classes or meeting health and safety requirements, is causing operational difficulty. In such cases headteachers should take action locally to manage this. This might mean closing part, or all, of the school until such time as staffing levels are improved. The need for school closure to children should be minimised. Where schools are closed through staff absence, remaining staff should be deployed as appropriate by the headteacher.

Swine flu cases in Ealing schools

Where there are abnormal numbers of sickness due to flu-like illness at a school, the PCT will not routinely conduct swabbing. They will however, assess each situation and may arrange swabbing on children or staff in these schools or where there are special circumstances.