A sickness bug has struck down 70 pupils – and a number of staff – at an Inverness primary school, forcing it to shut for the rest of the week.
Kinmylies Primary, which has a total of 257 pupils, is to undergo a deep clean before it reopens on Monday.
Dozens of youngsters are suffering from sickness and diarrhoea, and yesterday headteacher Fiona McKellar sent a letter home advising the school would be closed until it had been properly disinfected to stop the spread of the bug any further.
In the letter, she said: “As you will be aware, there has been a high level of sickness throughout the school and nursery this week.
“We have taken advice from Highland Council, school nursing team and the health protection team.
“Highland Council has been liaising with the public health protection team due to a high level of children being affected by sickness and diarrhoea at Kinmylies Primary and Nursery.
“Seventy pupils have currently been affected. The school will be undergoing a deep clean and we will be closed on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to allow pupils and staff time to recover and prevent possible reinfection.
“We apologise for this inconvenience but the health of pupils and staff is paramount.”
She urged parents and carers to keep their children away from other families for at least 48 hours after they had been sick, and told them to ensure they did not return to school before then.
Last night, one mum praised the school and council for taking quick action to stamp out the bug.
Kelly Macrae, whose daughter attends the school, said: “I think it’s a really good idea. It stops it from spreading and given five days including the weekend to make sure it got it all. I’d rather they got rid of it, than pass it back and forth.
“I am quite impressed that they are shutting it rather than it flying about the place. They are trying to contain it and my daughter is delighted she is having three days off.
“I heard from others it was flying around other schools. Lots of kids have got it. If the school wasn’t closed then my whole house could come down with the sickness bug so I would rather have a healthy kid off school for three days.”
