At the end of last week, 162 youngsters were off school – with scores of them suffering unpleasant symptoms including sickness, diarrhoea, fever, chills and lethargy, while many others were kept off to reduce further spread.
It is believed that in one class of 26 pupils, 24 of them were off on Friday, while the P7 group missed a transition session to Lockerbie Academy due to high sickness levels and also to prevent further spread.
The school worked in partnership with public health officials to keep parents informed of the situation and to give out advice on best care for the ill children.
A spokeswoman for Dumfries and Galloway Council confirmed staff acted swiftly to tackle the outbreak, drawing on techniques learned during outbreaks of Covid-19.
She said: “It affected a number of pupils from classes across the school: 162 children were absent from school at the end of the week, although not all these children were confirmed as being ill with the virus.
“School staff worked with colleagues in public health at NHS Dumfries and Galloway to provide information and advice to parents.
“In addition, the school received a deep clean, including an electrostatic clean of all classrooms, on the first day of the outbreak.
“The swift actions taken by the school has ensured that the virus has not impacted the school this week.”
She also confirmed that no other schools have reported outbreaks of norovirus, however in the community there have been several reports of cases.
