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Thanet Festival Choir enjoyed their time here on Saturday.


26^th June 2009

Dear Parent / Guardian

Re:  We’re open next week

You will be pleased to hear that it will be business as usual again at the Academy on Monday morning.  Having now had discussions with various people from the health authorities, I am satisfied that re-opening is absolutely the right thing to do and list the things that I have taken account of in making this decision:

§         for the overwhelming majority of people, contracting the A/H1N1 virus results in ‘a mild illness similar to normal seasonal flu’; recovery without medication is the norm;

§         in London and Birmingham the illness is now fairly well established and school closures deemed pointless; with the recent  outbreak in Canterbury it seems only a matter of time before there are more cases in our area and the emphasis switches from containment and testing to a focus on treating those with the disease;

§         and finally, the Marlowe colleague now recovering from the virus remains our only confirmed case; as luck would have it, she was not in school last Friday and only began to feel ill over the weekend; it therefore seems highly unlikely that she has passed on the infection to other colleagues or students. 

I am told that the action we took last weekend in telephoning all those who had possible contact with the Kent University student has nipped the spread of the disease within our community in the bud and it is right to open up on Monday morning. 

This is a good opportunity to provide you with up to date medical advice about containing the spread of the virus: “general infection control practices and good respiratory hand hygiene can help to reduce transmission of all viruses, including the human swine influenza.  This includes:

§         covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing;

§         disposing of dirty tissues promptly and carefully;

§         maintaining good basic hygiene, for example washing your hands frequently with soap and water to reduce the spread of the virus from your hands and face to other people;

§         cleaning hard surfaces (e.g. door handles) frequently using a normal cleaning product;

§         and making sure your children follow this advice.“

Of course, you should also telephone your GP for advice if  you or any of your family members experience flu-like symptoms – do not just turn up at the surgery as this could cause the illness to spread.  

You will be pleased to hear that we have had additional cleaning measures operating in the Academy since the illness first surfaced in Kent several weeks ago.  We are taking this seriously, but perhaps it is best for me to end by reminding you that, for most people, contracting Swine Flu results in fairly minor symptoms and the illness is probably no worse a threat to public health than the influenza that does the rounds every winter. 

Yours sincerely

Ian Johnson

Principal