Swine Flu Schools / Children

Swine flu and schools
With the outbreak of swine flu, or influenza A(H1N1), you may be worried about the safety of your child. Follow these simple tips to keep your child safe, and find out how you can help your child’s school or childcare provider minimise the risk

The school holidays
School holiday activities for children and young people should continue as normal this summer but parents and the organisers of activities should be alert.
Any child with flu-like symptoms should return home as soon as possible, and should contact - but not visit - their GP and seek treatment. Early-years, childcare and childminder arrangements should also continue operating as normal during the holidays.

What can you do?
Help your child’s child minder, nursery, pre-school group, school or out-of-school club by making sure they have up to date contact details for you: your address, telephone numbers (home, work and mobile) and email as appropriate.
They will need to get in touch with you if there is a case of flu among the children, or they suspect the children may be at risk.

Also make sure that your child: uses soap and water when washing

Should schools be closing now?
At this time schools should be operating normally. If a pupil is suspected of having a virus that might be swine flu – even if the child is currently out of school – the school should take advice from local public health advisers. Unless they advise the school to close as a precautionary measure, the school should stay open.

What if it becomes a pandemic?
Despite the World Health Organisation (WHO) issuing a level 6 alert, the situation has not changed. Schools should still remain open until they are advised to close: either by their public health advisers for reasons specific to the school; or if the government determines that the risk to children is such that all schools should close when the pandemic reaches their area

Why is it important for schools and other services to close?
Influenza spreads rapidly in schools and other closed communities. If schools and childcare settings close at the right time, it could significantly reduce the spread of infection and the number of children infected

How can you find out if your child’s school is closing?
If possible, the school should contact you during the day to advise you of the coming closure, so that you can start to make plans. Otherwise you should be told when you collect your child at the end of the day, or your child will be given a letter to take home.

Will your child be able to learn while the school is closed?
If schools are closed for an extended period, students should be provided with some teaching and learning materials. If schools operate an online learning environment they should use it to set, distribute, receive and mark homework

Who decides if an independent school should close?
It is for the proprietor or governing body of an independent school to take any decision on closure, taking into account advice from local health protection teams. If the government were to advise all schools in an area to close, it would be up to independent schools to decide whether to follow that advice. In practice it is expected that independent schools will follow the government's advice, and the Independent Schools Association have advised their members to follow health advice

Reopening schools, early-years and childcare settings after the holidays
Health authorities will be monitoring the spread of swine flu closely over the summer. Schools and group early-years and childcare settings should re-open as usual at the start of the autumn term.
There may be times where local health authorities advise a later re-opening date for some schools, for example if there is a high rate of infection in a particular area. In general however the vast majority of schools will return after the holidays