Yesterday we were hit quite hard by a tummy bug that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
One child was sick in school on Tuesday...and by Wednesday morning the Teacher, Classroom Assistant and Caretaker, as well as most of the class came down with the same bug.
As you are aware, I sent home a letter yesterday advising parents that we had been in contact with Environmental Health and that the two most important messages were to focus on hand washing ...and to ensure that pupils with the bug stayed off school for 48 hours to stop the spread of the illness.
So far today, the bug does seem to be continuing in families that were affected yesterday...but no more staff are off and the incidence of new cases has slowed dramatically.
We are hoping that the speed of onset of the bug may be working in our favour and that many of the staff and pupils affected were sick at home and were too unwell to come in the next day...which seems to have helped in halting the spread.
We are taking this very seriously and would ask parents to continue to reinforce the message about regular hand washing as the main defence against the spread of illness.
I would also like to thank the parents of ill pupils for heeding the advice to keep their children off for a second day to ensure that they will not spread the bug any further.
The school has a policy on Infection Control and it is available from the office and the school website at www.randalstownprimary.co.uk
I hope all the children who are ill make a speedy recovery and are well enough to return soon.
