Royal visit to Gordonstoun cancelled as school hit by swine flu

Published on Wednesday 9 September 2009 22:09

THE Queen has been forced to call off a visit to one of Scotland's leading private schools following a major outbreak of swine flu that has affected almost a fifth of its pupils.

She was due to open a new sports hall at Gordonstoun School in Moray, where the Prince of Wales was a pupil, next Tuesday as part of the institution's 75th anniversary celebrations, but the visit was called off at the request of the school's head, Mark Pyper.

A total of 118 pupils at the school have been affected, but just four have been confirmed with swine flu. None of the students is seriously ill. A small number of pupils, classed as "vulnerable" because they suffer from diabetes or similar conditions, have been sent home, while the majority are either being treated in the school's medical centre or are being confined to their respective houses within the school grounds.

Two months ago Natasha Newman, a 16-year-old pupil at Gordonstoun, had to be treated on a life support machine in the intensive care unit of a Greek hospital after falling ill with swine flu on the island of Cephalonia.

The pupil, from north London, recovered and was allowed home. The Scotsman understands she returned to her studies at the Moray school after being given the all-clear and that there is no link between her and the outbreak.

A spokesman for Gordonstoun said yesterday: "We are able to confirm that there are a number of suspected cases of students at Gordonstoun School contracting the H1N1 virus (swine flu].

"Some of these cases have been confirmed but none of the students have been or are seriously unwell.

"At today's date 118 pupils out of a total roll of 603 are absent from classes for health reasons."

She added: "We are now working closely with the relevant public health authorities to ensure that all appropriate measures are taken.

"Because of this development a planned visit to the school by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who were coming to Gordonstoun to open the new sports hall, has had to be postponed."

The spokeswoman explained: "A certain number of pupils were sent home, whether they were displaying symptoms or not, because they are classed as being vulnerable. Day pupils who are displaying symptoms are being kept at home.

"A number of students are in the medical centre and those who are displaying only slight symptoms are in their houses."

Mr Pyper said he was confident everything was being done to minimise the impact of the outbreak.

A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said the clinical condition of the pupils was not giving any cause for concern.