Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Illness and the prevention of spread to other childre

  Fri 22 Nov 2019
  It has been in the news this week that there are rising levels of norovirus (winter vomiting bug) especially in schools and hospitals. In order to prevent the spread of illness amongst other children, please ensure that you keep your child/children at home for at least 48 hours after the last episode of any sickness or diarrhoea. 

• Children in Need 2019

  Fri 22 Nov 2019
  Many thanks to everyone who helped and supported our Children in Need appeal last Friday. The children were thrilled to have raised £181 for this very worthwhile cause.

  

• Y3/Y4 Dodgeball Event

  Fri 15 Nov 2019
  Yesterday afternoon, our Y3 and Y4 children took part in a dodgeball tournament in Bakewell and I am delighted to say that they walked away with the winners trophy!! What a brilliant result! Well done everyone! Miss Davison was so impressed with the way in which the children supported each other and worked as a team which is equally impressive!

  

• Shipley Country Park

  Fri 15 Nov 2019
  Tree Planting Trip by Elspeth (Eco and Science Captain)
  On Monday the 11th of November, Class 4 went on a trip to Shipley Country Park to take part in the Woodland Trust’s Young People’s Forest. We were the first ever class to plant some trees on the land which will become a forest in the next 50 years.
  When we arrived, we were greeted by a lady called Helen who works for the Woodland Trust. Then we walked through the rain, dodging massive puddles, past the many fields that will be planted with trees over the next four years. We saw a tractor digging thousands of holes for us to plant the trees in. We planted four different types of trees: Hazel, Oak, Rowan and Maple. Some of us had to spray paint crosses on the mounds of soil to save space for the large Beech trees. Our class worked really hard despite the weather to plant around one hundred trees!

• Sophie's visit to meet the Duke and Duchess

  Tue 12 Nov 2019 Mrs Bond
  I had the pleasure of taking Sophie to meet with the Duke and Duchess recently to share her amazing art portfolio with them. Sophie enjoyed a wonderful afternoon tea and both the Duke and Duchess were absolutely amazed at the level of talent displayed by Sophie in all of her work. Congratulations, Sophie! It will certainly be a memory which will last a lifetime!

  

• Remembrance Day

  Fri 08 Nov 2019
  Remembrance Day
  There are several services of remembrance happening on the estate this weekend. There is a service in Pilsley at 10am, Edensor at 10.45am and Beeley at 3pm. This year, the school will be represented at the services in both Pilsley and Beeley. Please do join us if you can. Children are welcome to wear their school uniform but this is not compulsory.

• Children in Need - Friday 15th November

  Thu 07 Nov 2019
  Children in Need- Friday 15th November
  The children on the school council have asked for a non-uniform day in support of Children in Need on Friday. They have asked that all children bring in a suggested donation of £1. Children are welcome to wear whatever they like but please be aware that they will be out on the playground at break times and lunchtime so please dress appropriately for the weather!
  They will also be running a bake sale at the end of the day with all proceeds going to the charity. The school gates will open at 3pm on Friday to allow parents/carers to access the bake sale slightly earlier. Bus children will also have an opportunity to buy before they go home. Cakes will be priced at 50p each. We would be very grateful for any items to sell at the bake sale to be brought into school on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. Many thanks in advance.

• Head Lice

  Thu 07 Nov 2019
  There have been several notifications of headlice from parents this week across the school. You can find out more information about how to treat headlice by following this link: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/head-lice- and-nits

• Flu Immunisations

  Mon 04 Nov 2019
  FLU Immunisation Team 

   

  Please find blow, information from  Derby City Immunisation Team detailing the procedure for the FLU Immunisations which are taking place in school on the 4 December 2019.  If you have not already done so, please could you log onto the relevant website (previously sent out) and complete the form as requested. 
   

   

  October 2019

   

  The Derbyshire and Derby City Immunisation Team have been made aware of a number of letters and social media alerts to schools and parents expressing concerns about the safety and effectiveness of thechildren’s flu vaccine nasal spray. These concerns appear to relate to a number of misconceptions about the vaccine, many of which are addressed in the leaflet you can access through the link below. Some of the specific misconceptions are also addressed in this letter. 

   

  The nasal influenza vaccine contains a live attenuated (weakened) influenza virus which helps protect against influenza infection in those who receive it. Live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) does not causeclinical influenza in those immunised and it is offered to children because it works well, has a good safety record and is easy to administer. 

   

  Millions of doses of LAIV have now been given in the UK and it has an excellent safety profile. Over 121 million doses of LAIV have been distributed worldwide.LAIV is used in a number of other countries worldwide and is being used in the USA for the current 2019/20 flu season.

   

  Unvaccinated contacts are not at risk of becoming seriously ill with the weakened flu vaccine virus, either through being in the same room where flu vaccine has been given, or by being in contact with a recently vaccinated individual. Therefore, there is no need for any child or staff member to be excluded from school during the period when LAIV is being offered or in the following weeks. The tiny number of children who are extremely immunocompromised (for example those who have just had a bone marrow transplant), are already advised not to attend school because of the definite and much higher risk of contact with other infections that spread in schools. 

   

  Exposure to vaccine virus during administration

   

  The vaccine is administered using a nasal applicator which delivers just 0.1ml (around 1/50th of a teaspoon) of fluid into each nostril. No ‘mist’ of vaccine virus escapes into the air and therefore other people in the room should not be at risk of “catching” the vaccine virus. The room or school in which administration of nasal influenza vaccine has taken place doesnot require any special cleaning afterwards.

   

  Although in theory, healthcare workers could be exposed to the vaccine virus if it was accidentally released outside of the child’s nose, during the extensive use of the vaccineover many years in the UK and the USA, no transmission of the vaccine virus to healthcare workers has been reported to date. 

   

  Vaccine effectiveness

   

  The effectiveness of the vaccine will vary from year to year, depending on the match between the strains of flu in circulation and thosecontained in the vaccine. Since the introduction of the LAIV programme for children in the UK in 2013, the vaccine effectiveness for laboratory confirmed infection has been good. During 2014/15, pilots were carried out in selected areas of England inwhich all primary school aged children were offered LAIV. These areas saw a 93% reduction in hospital admissions due to confirmed influenza and a 94% reduction in GP consultations for influenza-like illness in primary school children.

   

  Shedding of vaccine virus

   

  Although vaccinated children do shed vaccine virus for a few days after vaccination, the virus is less able to spread from person to person than the natural infection. The amount of virus shed is normally below that needed to spread infection to others and the virus does not survive for long outside of the body. This is in contrast to natural flu infection, which spreads easily during the flu season. In schools wherevaccine is being offered therefore, the overall risk of contact with influenza viruses ismassively reduced by having most children vaccinated. 

   

  Despite this overall low risk of transmission, parents of children with immune problems may be concerned about their child being exposed to recently vaccinated children who may be shedding virus. In the USA, where there has been extensive use of LAIV for many years, serious illness amongst immunocompromised contacts who are naturally exposed to vaccine virus has never been observed. Expert doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital, who deal with many children with very serious immune problems, do not recommend keeping such children off school purely because of vaccination. It is important that all children with immune problems, and their siblings and family contacts, should themselves be vaccinated, usually with an injected (inactivated) vaccine.

   

  A tiny number of children who are extremely severely immunocompromised 

  e.g. immediately after a bone marrow transplant, would not be attending school anyway because the risk from all the other infections that children pass to each other at school would be too great. 

   

  Black Triangle medicines (▼)

   

  Before being granted a UK licence, all medicines (including vaccines) undergo a rigorous assessment of evidence relating to their safety, quality and efficacy. Following the introduction of a newly licensed medicine into the UK, it is given a black triangle (▼) symbol, usually for five years. This symbol is used as a reminder to healthcare professionals and the public to report all suspected side-effects to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). It does not restrict the use of the medicine to healthcare premises. Vaccine safety is carefully and continuously monitored by the MHRA even when a vaccine no longer carries the black triangle symbol.

   

  Consent to immunisation

   

  The NHS and Public Health England information leaflet for parents (linked below) covers topics such as side effects of LAIV, lists children to whom the vaccine should not be given and contains information about its porcine gelatine content. It also provides a link to NHS Choices for further information and sign-posts parents to their GP, school nurse or health visitor if they wish to discuss the immunisation further.  

   

  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flu-vaccination-leaflets-and-posters

   

  Summary

   

  LAIV has a good safety and effectiveness record. Unvaccinated contacts are not at risk of becoming seriously ill with the weakened flu vaccine virus, either through being in the same room where flu vaccine has been given or by being in contact with a recently vaccinated individual. Excluding children from school during the period when LAIV is being offered or in the following weeks is therefore not necessary. 

   

  Further information

   

  Further information for head teachers can be found in the leaflet: Flu vaccination: advice for headteachers:

   

  www.gov.uk/government/publications/flu-vaccination-in-schools

   

  Yours sincerely

  Immunisation Team

   

  NORTH TEAM​​SOUTH TEAM (including Derby City) 

  Immunisation Team​​Immunisation Team

  Clay Cross Hospital​​Repton Health Centre

  Clay Cross​​​Askew Grove

  Chesterfield​​​Repton

  Derbyshire​​​Derbyshire

  S45 9NZ​​​DE65 6SH

  01246 252953​​01283 707178

   

  Team email: DCHST.immunisationteam@nhs.net