Schools told "prepare for flu"

Schools have been told to start planning for a flu pandemic.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families says the a pandemic of Swine Fever is now believed to be imminent, and local authorities and schools should make urgent preparations.
Government guidance says schools should share plans with staff and parents.

Schools may be advised to close before other organisations because children are "highly efficient spreaders" of infections among themselves and to adults in their families.

The head or governors would make the final decision on whether to close a school. This could be because of government advice or because too many staff are already off sick.
Schools are advised to:

• make sure they have up to date contact details for staff and parents
• make provision for keeping a sick child separate from other pupils and with minimal contact with staff until they they are collected or taken home, and
  
• make sure children or staff showing any signs of infection go home as soon as possible

If the school closes, staff would still have to attend unless they were ill or looking after a sick relative.

Local authorities have a duty to provide education for children of school age who are out of school, so teachers could set and mark work. But the government admits it hasn't yet come up with a plan for distributing the work to pupils or collecting it from them.

As well as the general guidance, the government has produced advice on preventing the spread of infection in schools, and a model school plan for a flu pandemic.
You can find them on this page of Teachernet.