Vomiting bug school to stay shut

The Venetian blinds had to be bleached by school cleaner Debbie Lombardo

A school in Norfolk undergoing a deep clean in order to eradicate the winter vomiting virus, will be closed for longer than expected.

Paul Butler, head of Oriel Specialist Mathematics and Computing College in Gorleston, hoped to re-open on Monday.

Steam cleaning and bleaching fixtures and fittings is taking longer than originally planned, so now the site will stay shut until Wednesday.

Parents of pupils are being contacted by school staff.

'Affecting education'

About 200 pupils and staff have been affected by the virus since September.

The Health Protection Agency said Oriel was the worst affected of 53 schools in Norfolk that had reported two or more linked cases of the virus since the beginning of the academic year.

Phil Miller, site manager of the school, said: ""It is disappointing we can't get open on time as it's obviously affecting the education of students, especially those in their last year of school.

"But if students are coming in, they're going to be coming down with the bug, they'll be losing the time anyway.

"It's affecting the teachers, who are going off sick and it's having to find supply staff, so again it's affecting their education."