Sickness outbreak closes primary school

BOWERHILL Primary School was forced to close just days after starting the new term when 35 children and the headteacher fell ill on the same day.

After beginning the new school year on Monday 5th September, the village primary school had to close again on Thursday 8th when a vomiting bug started to spread rapidly through the school.

The school was throughly cleaned and disinfected on Friday 9th September, then reopened on Monday 12th September.

Headteacher Andrew Matthews said during the closure, “I became ill and put it down to food poisoning, but when 30 children had become ill by lunchtime, it was clear that we were dealing with a wider infection.

“The infection comes on very quickly and causes vomiting. By the end of the day we had sent home 35 children.

“I spoke with the school nurse who said that, whatever the cause, once children are vomiting the infection will be airborne.

“The only way to limit the spread of the illness was to isolate the children from each other by closing the school. The infection seems to have affected our older pupils mainly, and I want to protect our new, youngest children as much as possible. They usually catch everything in their first year!

“During the summer break the school had its usual deep clean. Clearly, once a number of children have vomited in the building, a further deep clean is necessary.

“We seldom close the school in emergency. I understand that this closure is extremely inconvenient to parents, but hope that you will appreciate that I had little choice.”