Warrington School/Pandemic Plan

RATIONALE

 * It is essential that schools take all practical steps to protect staff and students from a possible pandemic outbreak.

GUIDELINES

 * The Pandemic Manager for Warrington School will be the Principal.
 * The school will develop a pandemic action plan. This is to be reviewed on an annual basis.
 * 1) * The school protocol for dealing with sick staff / students.
 * 2) * Cleaning requirements and practices in case of a pandemic outbreak.
 * 3) * Consultation procedures to be used in each stage of pandemic.

Stage 1
Keep It Out (Border Management)

Trigger: Ministry of Health announces human-to-human transmission overseas, or Australia or Singapore closes their borders.

Goals


 * The pandemic plan is activated and the school is ready for the subsequent phases, should the pandemic enter New Zealand.
 * All staff, board of trustees, students and parents is informed, understands their roles and responsibilities, and have confidence in the school’s preparedness.

Actions


 * 1) Update and activate staff and Board telephone and email trees.
 * 2) Check all contact details are correct:
 * 3) * Staff
 * 4) * Students
 * 5) * BOT Members
 * 6) Ensure MOE local office has updated BOT / Principal Contact details.
 * 7) Brief staff on roles and responsibilities including:
 * 8) * Local status
 * 9) * Actions to be undertaken with students, including closing school and sending children home where necessary
 * 10) Outline to parents possible methods of future communications eg local media and school website.
 * 11) With students, implement programmes to limit spread of influenza eg hand hygiene, cough and sneeze etiquette, not spitting, staying at home when sick. Resources available through www.tki.co.nz
 * 12) Advise cleaner of the need to implement Pandemic Cleaning Procedure to use detergent and/or bleach to clean all surfaces as advised by the MOH public health.
 * 13) Review schools resources to ensure that there are sufficient supplies of:
 * 14) * Cleaning materials

Stage 2
Stamp it Out (cluster control) for Schools outside Cluster Area

Trigger: Ministry of Health announces human pandemic influenza strain case(s) found in separate locations in New Zealand.

Goals:
 * Schools inside cluster area are closed
 * Schools outside cluster areas are on heightened alert
 * Students, staff and parents are informed, understand their roles and responsibilities, and have confidence in their school’s preparedness. School endeavours to keep their community calm and reduce panic.

Actions
 * 1) Through consultation with local DHB emergency planner, local MOE, local Principals and BOT Chairperson the Principal will make the decision of the need to close the school.
 * 2) Communicate through established means the decision.
 * 3) Take care of students showing influenza symptoms:
 * 4) * Set up isolation room (sick bay).
 * 5) * In consultation with group (Action Point 1) arrange to send children home. Only children to go home are those whose parents either collect them from school or have given permission via phone or email that they are to go home.
 * 6) * Notify any cases to health authorities as are requested
 * 7) * Children staying at school to be kept in normal classes where possible (dependant on number of staff available) until children are collected or until end of school day.
 * 8) *Cancel all extra curricular activities and planned class / school trips.
 * 9) *Introduce extra cleaning as per outlined schedule. This will be determined by the nature of the pandemic and will be advised by the MOH community public health.
 * 1) *Introduce extra cleaning as per outlined schedule. This will be determined by the nature of the pandemic and will be advised by the MOH community public health.

Stage 3
Manage It - (Pandemic Management)

Trigger: Ministry of Health announces significant number of pandemic influenza outbreaks at separate locations, or outbreaks spreading out of control.

Goal:
 * School successfully activates closure procedures in response to multiple –cluster or nationwide outbreak.

Actions
 * 1) Close school to students
 * 2) Advise all staff
 * 3) Post notices of closure on entry points – office, library, hall and each classroom block entrance.
 * 4) Through local media (radio, television), school website and voice message – telephone inform all interested groups:
 * 5) * Local station of pandemic
 * 6) * What the school is doing
 * 7) * What parents could be doing with students
 * 8) Collaborate with local agencies in making school facilities available in pandemic response efforts.
 * 1) Collaborate with local agencies in making school facilities available in pandemic response efforts.

Stage 4
Recover From It - (Recovery)

Trigger: Population protected by vaccination and / or pandemic abated in New Zealand.

MOH Alert Code: Green

Goal:
 * School ensures continuing well-being of staff and students, and education services are fully restored.

Actions


 * 1) Through media (radio, newspaper, and television), school website, telephone message and email /telephone, advise that school is reopen, 0800 to be supplied by MOH.
 * 2) As necessary arrange for trauma / grief counselling – contact M.O.E Group Special Education.
 * 3) With BOT and Senior Management undertake debrief of procedures undertaken.
 * 4) Staff revisits importance of keeping safe guidelines with students (see Stage 1 Point 7).

Procedures:

A School protocol for dealing with sick / staff and students


 * Take care of students and staff showing influenza symptoms:


 * Set up isolation room (school house spare bedroom).
 * In consultation with Executive group arrange to send children home. Only children to go home are those whose parents either collect them from school or have given permission via phone or email that they are to go home.
 * Notify any cases to health authorities as requested
 * Children staying at school to be kept in normal classes where possible (dependant on number of staff available) until children are collected or until end of school day. Cancel all extra curricular activities and planned class / school trips.

B Cleaning requirements and practices in case of a pandemic outbreak
 * Contact cleaning supplier to provide suitable cleaning products and procedures.
 * This will be dependent on advise from MOH Public Health as to suitable agent to clean all services (detergents and /or bleach).


 * 1) Consultation procedures.
 * The attached letter will be distributed to all parents/caregivers in the event of a pandemic.

Letter to Parents
Dear Parents and caregivers, We have been advised by the Ministry of Health of a serious pandemic outbreak and have been advised, for health and safety reasons, to close the school.

In order to ensure the health and safety of your children, we are advising you of the closure of the school until further notice.

Please ensure that your children are kept at home until this closure has been lifted. Regular updates on the situation can be ascertained from local and national media and the school website.

Yours sincerely

_______________  _________________, Chairperson

CONCLUSION

The safety of Warrington School staff and students will be managed during a pandemic outbreak by following the above guidelines.

Ratified by Board: Chairperson:______________________

Review Date: _______________

Pandemic Planning – Pupil Information
This resource, Key Messages for Keeping Well, contains health education teaching and learning strategies designed to enhance wellness and in so doing prevent the spread of disease. The suggested generic approaches are designed to focus on the prevention and control of communicable disease.

The key messages, with appropriate resources and approaches for teaching and learning, are grouped by curriculum levels 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, and 7 and 8.

The key messages are:


 * We know some ways we can help keep ourselves healthy
 * We can look after ourselves in practical ways
 * Recognising the need for increased responsibility for self care
 * Encouraging others to use good practices that support health
 * Positive personal choices can enhance health
 * Distinguishing between real and perceived risks to health
 * Evaluating laws and policies that protect health
 * Managing current health issues at a global and societal level

Many of the items in the reference list should be available in New Zealand schools.

What is influenza?

The key features are:


 * A debilitating acute viral disease, infecting the respiratory tree
 * Can produce a range of complications
 * Spreads readily from person to person via droplets and aerosols, and hand/mouth transmission
 * 3 influenza virus families are recognised:
 * A (can cause widespread epidemics or pandemics)
 * B (sometimes causes regional or widespread epidemics)
 * C (sporadic cases and local epidemics).

Hygiene measures for preventing influenza will also reduce the risk of other infections such as meningococcal disease and colds. Regular hand washing and drying is is important to prevent the spread of influenza and other communicable diseases.

Hand washing is thought to be one of the most important means of prevention of communicable diseases.

Schools therefore need to:


 * ensure that suitable hand washing and drying facilities, including warm water, soap and cloth towel dispensers or paper towels are available for staff and students to use;
 * establish policies and procedures to ensure that students who have handled biological materials (and chemicals) in class wash their hands before leaving the laboratory.

For further information, contact the Curriculum Facilitator, Health and Physical Education, Ministry of Education, telephone (04) 463 8000.