Hawkedon Primary School shuts amid 'norovirus' outbreak

A primary school has been closed for 48 hours after a suspected norovirus outbreak affected 150 pupils.

A quarter of the 630 students at Hawkedon Primary School in Wokingham, Berkshire, have shown symptoms of sickness and diarrhoea.

After taking advice from Public Health England (PHE), the school decided to close to stop the bug spreading.

The school has previously said it would instigate a "deep clean" due to the number of pupils affected.

It added that PHE was now managing the incident, and that parents have been fully briefed to ensure children who are potentially still infectious don't return to school and risk infecting others.

In his letter to parents, sent yesterday, head teacher Gareth O'Shea said any samples taken by children's GPs should be marked with the school's name.

PHE spokesperson Jill Morris said it had received reports of vomiting and diarrhoea among children and staff at the Wokingham Borough Council-run school.

"It's very important that anyone suffering from symptoms of vomiting or diarrhoea does not attend school or childcare settings for 48 hours," she said.