![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_StMartinsSchool.jpg\")
St Martin’s School in Caerphilly(Image: Google maps)<\/p>\nIt comes as public health experts warn that the flu season in the UK has arrived two weeks earlier than normal<\/p>\n
16:01, 07 Dec 2025Updated 16:08, 07 Dec 2025<\/p>\n
St Martin’s School in Caerphilly(Image: Google maps)<\/p>\n
A temporary closure has been place on a Welsh school after hundreds of pupils and staff have fallen ill. Lee Jarvis, head teacher for St Martin’s School<\/a> in Caerphilly<\/a> has announced a short “firebreak” in a letter sent to parents, it has been reported.<\/p>\n He wrote that it followed “a significant outbreak of flu-like illness”, with online learning to temporarily take the place of in-person lessons, to allow for a deep clean to take place. Symptoms reported by pupils and staff include vomiting, high temperatures, fatigue, cough, diarrhoea and headaches.<\/p>\n In total, there’s 242 pupils affected, and 12 staff members, BBC Wales has reported. For the biggest stories in Wales first, sign up to our daily newsletter<\/a> here<\/strong><\/p>\n The school has indicated it aims to re-open on Tuesday, December 9, but that the situation “would be monitored.”<\/p>\n The letter advised to keep children at home if they showed any symptoms, even mild ones.<\/p>\n Public Health Wales said it had been in contact with the school.<\/p>\n It stated the school had carried out its own risk assessment, and took the decision on its own accord. The headteacher has been contacted.<\/p>\n The news comes just days after a school in Neath reported several cases of acute respiratory infections.<\/a><\/p>\n Public Health Wales has said it is investigating the findings at Blaenhonddan Primary School<\/a> in Bryncoch. Together with Swansea Bay University Health Board and Neath <\/a>Port Talbot<\/a> Council it says it is providing public health advice to parents and staff to reduce its spread.<\/p>\n