| Reducing the spread of seasonal illness in your school this autumn/winter |
| Illness is the largest cause of school absence. Over 50 million days were lost in 2025/26 due to illness, almost half of all absence. Simple things like regular hand washing, opening windows and supporting vaccination help keep children and staff healthy and support attendance. Read more from Professor Russell Viner on the Education Hub blog. Doing these things now will reinforce good habits before illnesses start to circulate. You can find resources to help talk to children (in Key Stages 1-3) about what actions they can take on the UK Health Security Agency’s website. |
| Communicating with parents about illness |
| There are a range of materials available to support with health and attendance-related messages throughout the year. You could use these at parents’ information evenings, in newsletters, or on your social media channels. These include: Our guide to communicating with parents about attendance, with ready made, evidence-based resources, such as an animation on school absence due to illness (see below), an NHS poster on illness decisions to share with parents directly and support staff in conversations with parents, NHS communications products for encouraging flu vaccine uptake, that can be downloaded after registering with the portal. You can direct parents to the NHS Is my child too ill for school? guidance and use the communications resources in this section to support your conversations with parents. |
Supporting vaccination programmes in schools, including the current flu programme
Vaccination is one of the most effective ways of protecting children and young people from serious disease, helping to keep schools and communities healthy while supporting pupil attendance.
If you have not already done so, ensure your seasonal flu vaccination session is booked with your local immunisation provider.
UKHSA has also developed new resources about vaccinating children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). These include guidance for specialist providers and SEND coordinators in mainstream schools, alongside information for parents and carers of children with SEND. Schools are encouraged to share these materials with relevant staff and families.
Full details of the vaccination programme in Northumberland can be found here.
