11:57am Monday 6th July 2009
By Manisha Mistry
A SMALL number of pupils at a Harpenden school have been forced to stay at home with suspected swine flu.
St George's School has confirmed only the one Year 10 pupil contracted the virus and the girl is said to be recovering.
However in another letter sent out to parents by headteacher Norman Hoare today he confirmed: “At the time of writing we still have only one confirmed swab result. Otherwise there have been a handful of students kept home as suspected or presumed cases, with some of these put on anti-virals.”
The Sun Lane school is taking advice from the Health Protection Agency which has suggested the school stays open.
Mr Hoare added: “Even though it is apparently mild in nature for most people, there are groups at elevated risk,. We owe it to those in the student body and on the staff who are at elevated risk to keep the school as hygienic as possible.
“Moreover, as a part-boarding school, over 100 of our students are living in close proximity to each other. If there were a significant number of cases in boarding the houses might have to be closed and this would be very inconvenient for all.”
The school has asked parents to keep their child off school if they start to develop flu symptoms and if a pupil is off school unwell they need to be isolated from friends and other students.
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