La Mare de Carteret Primary head teacher Kevin Hinshaw in one of the school’s empty classrooms yesterday as more than a third of pupils were off ill. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 0873644)
MORE than a third of pupils at La Mare de Carteret Primary School were yesterday off ill.
And its secondary neighbour also had nearly 40% of its students absent, with 200 of 531 away from school.
The high levels of sickness have been replicated in schools across the island.
A spokesman for Health and Social Services and the Education Department said the levels of illness were likely to indicate a rise in cases of swine flu in the island, but nine samples taken indicated that there were a variety of viruses circulating the community.
La Mare Primary head teacher Kevin Hinshaw said some pupils had temperatures of 38C or higher.
‘You can have a child who looks quite pale and it has been pretty quickly that they have been feeling ill and with a high temperature.
‘Our phones nearly melted this morning with parents ringing in,’ he said.
Mr Hinshaw said the school had had three staff manning the phones yesterday and the day before, from 8 until 8.50am.
‘It was pretty non-stop and we’ve been busy phoning parents during the day – we’ve had children come in and within a few hours they have had to go home.’
The school has stocked up on wipes and antibacterial spray, while the children have been learning about good hygiene and preventing the spread of infection.
Five of the 28 teaching staff are also off sick.
Compared to previous years, Mr Hinshaw said it was unusual to have more than a third of children off in two days, because illness was normally spread over a week or two.
He has written guidelines in the event that the school has to close or that a number of senior staff call in ill.
‘For every member of senior staff that we have off, we would have someone to take over their duties.’
Mr Hinshaw said staff levels would have to be pretty low for the school to close but before that happened a number of measures would be put in place.
These included employing supply teachers, doubling classes and adjusting the timetable.
‘It would depend on how many pupils we have off and whether we could get supply teachers in. The chance of it closing is pretty slim.’
He expected that more children would continue to be ill, while others would begin to come back to school and numbers would eventually stabilise.
‘The education of the children who are here will not suffer and for those who have missed school, we will make sure the curriculum is delivered as planned – they will not miss out.’
Absence in secondary schools is currently worse than in the primary sector with 14.6% – compared to nearly 10% – off sick.
Elizabeth College yesterday had 56 of 490 students ill, while Ladies’ College had 61 of 420 off.
The spokesman said all schools would continue to remain open while there were sufficient staff to ensure they could operate safely.
‘Children displaying symptoms of swine flu, particularly a high temperature, are recommended to stay off school for seven days. Those displaying severe symptoms or who fail to improve after a couple of days should see a doctor, who will be able to prescribe them anti-viral drugs.’
Are we doing enough? Page 2
Article posted on 18th November, 2009 - 2.30pm
Most Commented: