MK city councillor, Cllr David Hopkins is calling for the government to offer on-site, free flu jabs in the autumn to all school-based staff, teachers and support staff.
Cllr Hopkins is also Chair of governors at St Marys Church of England Wavendon Primary School in his home community of Wavendon and knows first-hand how disruptive the impacts an outbreak of flu among school staff can have on a school, as he has experienced at St Marys Primary School - especially in the early months of this year’s Spring term.
Cllr Hopkins comments ‘I am a governor at two city schools, chair of one, and whilst this has not been as bad a flu season as was at one stage predicted, I know the challenges senior teaching staff face covering for absent colleagues waylaid by the flu virus and associated medical complications.
He continues, ‘Schools across Milton Keynes and beyond are already operating under enormous pressure to deliver results in everything from academic achievement to pastoral care – we need to do all we can to ensure continuity of teaching all year round’.
Cllr Hopkins observes ‘These pressures impact everybody from management to teachers and support staff, so the last thing a school needs in the winter is a bad outbreak of the flu amongst the staff’.
As city residents are all too aware, one of the most high-risk places to work in terms of exposure to the flu is within a school setting, where staff members and children congregate in close proximity, giving the virus ample opportunities to spread on surfaces like doorknobs and devices as well as through the air in coughs and sneezes.
Every year those who catch the flu find themselves with debilitating symptoms including a fever and/or the chills, loss of appetite and fatigue, from which it can often take over a week to fully recover. This year’s strain, although not as widespread as feared, brings with it particularly serious symptoms; Cllr Hopkins notes, ‘I have received feedback that many schools across the city have been impacted by flu as staff absence forces department heads to spend hours rearranging timetables.
As a result, and to stop a repeat of this disruption year after year, Cllr Hopkins is calling for the government to put in place arrangements for all school-based staff (teaching and office) to be included with those groups who are entitled to receive free flu vaccinations every autumn
The flu vaccine has been proven year-after-year to reduce the spread of the virus in vaccinated populations, protecting vulnerable people, and helping those who do catch the virus to recover a lot faster.
Currently, the NHS offers free flu vaccinations to individuals in high-risk groups, but this doesn’t include teachers, support staff and other school staff members. Cllr Hopkins is calling on the government to offer on-site clinics at schools’ country wide, offering all staff members the chance to get vaccinated before flu season kicks in, as part of their preparations for the winter.
Cllr Hopkins also believes that obtaining a flu vaccination in the autumn boosts morale, giving teachers and all staff at our school the confidence to step into winter knowing they are prepared.
