‘Health and safety of children paramount’ says headteacher as flea infestation shuts Chesterfield school down for two days

Parents of pupils attending Spire Nursery and Infant School received an email on Wednesday evening informing them that the school will be shut for two days due to a flea infestations. The decision was taken upon the advice of our Health and Safety Department in Matlock.

The school was closed on Thursday, September 28 and Friday, September 29 while contractors were working on the school grounds to eliminate the problem.

Online learning materials were sent by the teachers and MacMillan Cake Sale was rescheduled for Monday, October 2.

Following the closure, head teacher Kelly Hill said: “At the end of last week some of our pupils and staff reported having what appeared to be insect bites and we suspected there may be an outbreak of fleas at the school affecting certain areas.

“We took immediate action, with our caretaking team treating these areas. Unfortunately, this did not resolve the problem as parents reported new bites on their children after

the treatment was carried out.

“After taking advise from the Local Authority Health and Safety department, we took the difficult but very necessary decision to close the school on Wednesday evening so that a pest control company could come in and treat the whole school including the nursery.

“Due to the substances used to treat the school and the time it needs to take effect, we had to remain closed throughout Thursday and Friday but we are confident this will rectify the problem and we look forward to welcoming our children back into school on Monday morning.

"We do apologise to all our families for any inconvenience this may have caused. However, the health and safety of our children and staff takes priority and is of paramount importance to us all.”

The school has also sent out detailed health and safety advise for parents urging to check if their children have flea bites and wash their clothes, bedding, rugs and pet bedding thoroughly.

The school asked the families to thoroughly sweep floors and vacuum carpets, paying particular attention to skirting boards and where the carpet meets the wall. They were also encouraged to spray carpets and rugs against fleas and empty the vacuum after hoovering.