Changing the rules in schools on Head Lice

[liceassassincardiff]

Hi All,

We are currently trying to change the current guidelines on how head lice is treated in schools. The Welsh Assembly are currently reviewing our proposal.

At present if a child is identified as having head lice a parent cannot be approached instead a generic letter is sent out to inform all parents an infestation in the school is present.

However we are looking to change this !!

We propose if a child is identified as having head lice the parent is informed and the child removed from school to be cleared with immediate effect.As what happens if a child is sick in class.

By doing this it will stop the infestation spreading and contaminating the rest of the children and the infested child will be treated immediately. Therefore the child can return to school with no negative effect on their health or by their peers and parents can return to work.

We are also looking to bring the Nit Nurses back into school and raise awareness on this issue in schools by providing them with better services and more up to date information for parents.

So please if you are a parent please sign our petition.We need as many signatures as possible in order for us to be heard.

epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/64466

You can also follow our progress on our Face book page where we will keep our followers up to date with regular updates.

www.facebook.com/pages/The-Hairforce-Lice-Assassins-Cardiff/636456816373594

So please sign and lets fight head lice together :)

[MrsHathaway]

I can see why it would be attractive.

But what treatment will be given? You know that treatment needs to take place over time, not just as a one-off? Wet-combing or oiling or Hedrin take longer than a moment, and how do you know what to do to what child? And who's going to be administering it? There aren't dozens of spare staff kicking round a school.

And that's before you get into the fact that giving such a treatment could constitute an assault if the paperwork weren't rock solid. I wouldn't be happy with a member of staff's using a chemical product on my child's sensitive skin, for example.

I don't think it's realistic, sorry, so I won't be signing.

For what it's worth, I used to work at a boarding school and had responsibility for the heads of some of the boarders. There are ways this can be achieved, just not within a day school setting.

[jeee]

Ooooh, so if we want to take a holiday in term time, all we do is find a convenient lice-ridden head, and encourage a few headlice to cross over.
Because it takes at least a week to de-nit a child.

I hate headlice as much as the next person... and given that I've four children to de-nit probably more.

But this is just a ridiculous idea.

[NecesitoDormir]

And what about the mums that just don't care? The child's education suffers as a result of their parenting. No thanks.

I like the idea but its implementation is poorly thought out. Perhaps lets just start with a targeted letter.

[Artandco]

Our already has a blanket ban. Any child with headline can not be in school until they are gone. (Private). They will be sent home if found during the day

[NecesitoDormir]

their parenting = their parents.

[Katz]

i disagree sorry and won't be signing, headlice whilst a nuisance (and i say this a parent who's child scalp overreacts to their urine) its not a big issue to health unlike D&V. Schooling time should not be lost due to a few creepy crawlies.

Equally we wot use the chemicals to treat our DDs and rely on conditioner and combing which i do my best and comb until i find no more but may leave the odd one behind. I would be very annoyed if DD was treated without my consent or refused re-entry to school because we wont use the chemicals.

I remember the nit nurse and all she did was to check if you had them once someone reported their presence in the school. Her checks weren't that thorough and parents were notified to treat. They didn't treat. Its a huge waste of resource, you would need to check class's daily to actually have any effect, i would much rather this money was spent on supporting learning not going on a bug hunt.

[NecesitoDormir]

I would imagine it could work in a private setting Artandco as those parents have a vested interest in their children. In a school in a deprived area I cannot see it working successfully. I think education and support within a school setting would be better. Perhaps with the teacher being able to privately communicate to the parent when the issue occurs.

[amyhamster]

be better just to bring back the nit nurse

[fairgame]

Do you have any idea on how much a nurses wages are? Do you really think the government can afford to spent at least 22k per year (basic) for a nurse to sort out nits?
It's parent's responsibility. Some schools send children home when they have lice and some don't. Some tell the parent's that the child has lice and some don't. There needs to be some consistency between schools.
FWIW when i was a school nurse we put on sessions to show parent's how to do nit combing. On average there were 2 parents per session and it was never the parents who needed to come that showed up.

[MrsHathaway]

Sorry, I've realised I misunderstood. I thought you were proposing removing them from class, treating them and sending them back.

A week or so off school for nits is unenforceable and harmful.

[Kendodd]

liceassassin

Aren't you a commercial organisation who can and do provide nit nurses in schools?

www.thehairforce.co.uk/why-were-effective/lice-assassins/

Although I'm 100% with you on informing the child's parents and not just sending a generic letter out to the whole class.

[addictedtosugar]

Love the idea of a targeted letter / conversation with the parent(s) of affected child(ren), but think exclusion is going too far.

[fairgame]

kendodd
Ah so they are not actual 'nurses' then so i guess it could be done on the cheap. Who would be paying for the lice assassins considering budgets are tight all round? Would it be the schools or the LA or the health authority?

[Kendodd]

No, not actual nurses, although for checking/removing head lice I personally don't think you need a medically trained professional.

[Kendodd]

Anyone know why the school is not allowed to tell the child's parent?

I have had this very conversation with the school my children go to and asked them to please tell me if they ever see one in any of my children's hair, I was told they aren't allowed and that they think it's a stupid rule as well.

[HeySoulSister]

What a ridiculous idea! Send a child home immediately??

So I take time off work (5dc) every other week? The eggs take forever to go....they remain on the hair strand long after the louse has hatched and moved out

[HeySoulSister]

And what about the teachers? Ime they get them constantly, so will they be 'sent home' too?

[Artandco]

Hey - eggs should come off straight away with conditioner and a nitty gritty comb. Not weeks later...!

[blankenbaby]

I'm in Germany and in my dds school if they are found to have headline the parent is called to take them home. Then they are not allowed back to school until clear of headlice and with a doctors letter saying so.

[HeySoulSister]

Not the egg case! They are hard to remove

[Kendodd]

And what about the mums that just don't care? The child's education suffers as a result of their parenting. No thanks.

IMO we are far to soft on shit parenting in the UK, to the point of enabling. Maybe the German example above IS the way to go?

[HeySoulSister]

Assume it's easy to get a doctors appointment in Germany? Can you imagine how long it would take here, with it being non emergency

[fairgame]

It would be very easy to abuse this system. Any parents who couldn't be arsed to send their kids to school could just use the headlice excuse. Nobody is there to check whether its true and GP's have enough work to do without checking up whether or not kids have got headlice.

[TimeForAnotherNameChange]

And the letter would cost £25!

[blankenbaby]

Yes it's easy to get a doctors appointment as you don't have to register with a doctor you just go to anyone you like wherever you like. But saying that I don't agree with it as it can take a while to get rid of them so they are missing school. I do agree that parents should be specifically told if their child is infected but keeping them off school is a bit much.