Would you send your child to school with a temperature?

[IsMyChildTooIllForSchool]

38 or above ?

We follow the nhs guide ‘is my child too ill for school’ and keep them off for illness with a fever 38 or higher. We have been told that if we give ibuprofen and/or paracetamol we can send them in with a masked fever ?

No, I wouldn't.

If they have a temperature they probably feel shit. Why would you want them to sit in a classroom working when they don't feel well?

I'd keep them off.

I don’t want to send them but this is what the school are telling us to do. I think it’s wrong but just trying to check what others opinion is

I half wondered had I misunderstood the guidance if it meant a temperature 38 or above after medication

Definitely not. I don't understand why the school would want you to bring in a child with a fever anyway? Too ill to learn anything and likely to spread whatever infectious disease they have to other children and staff.

Some people didn't learn anything from the covid era!

To improve attendance

I work in a school office and although attendance is a big concern we would not want you to send in a child with a temperature.

I wouldn't send my child to school sick , don't give two shits what the school say.

How old is the child?

No. I wouldn’t send my child in to school with a temperature.

No, I wouldn't send in with a temperature, if they are ill enough to need calpol they are ill enough to stay home.

Bringing a sick child into school won't actually improve attendance though will it? It will just make more children sick.

The schools don't seem to think this through.

Exactly

Probably not. And I don't care what the school thinks. Other than things with a mandatory absence (sickness, chicken pox etc) which I always follow, I will be the one judging if my child is too ill for school, not the school.

DD has 100% attendance but this is because she doesn't get ill, and when she does it's a minor cold without a temp or any particularly bad symptoms. If she was ill, I'd keep her off.

Bringing a sick child into school won't actually improve attendance though will it? It will just make more children sick.

The schools don't seem to think this through.

No, it's short sighted and a bit dim. Schools switching to 24 hours for vomiting rather than 48 are idiots.

Nope.

Thankyou ! Seems unanimous! I was really starting to worry I’d interpreted the nhs advice wrong and that it was 38 or over after medication !

It depends. If I have a bit of a cold and a temp I take paracetamol and go to work. There is a huge difference between a cold and a temp and the flu. Sometimes I have had a cold where I have felt really dreadful and would not go to work. The problem is many parents let their kids have time off for the most nebulous of reasons. The symptoms are over egged and the child could have been at school. We wouldn't be in this situation if some parents did not exaggerate and often lie.

Primary school, I’d keep them off. Secondary school, I’d give them paracetamol and send them in.

No.

My ds goes in with a cold, but not if he has a raised temperature, a tummy bug or if he has tested positive for covid.

I'd say a temperature is a sign of infection and not being very well. I'm not talking about being slightly warm, I mean a proper temperature/fever. Masking it and going in is mad, people including children need to rest and recover from illness. My DS got really poorly quite quickly once the chest infection that he'd been nursing spread down (he doesn't always show how ill he is due to SEN) and encouraging people to ignore their own body is asking for more cases of hospitalisation and serious illness that could have been prevented by early care and rest, and not spreading it to everyone else!

No they'll likely be sicker for longer, pass it around class and also u likely to learn efficiently if poorly

No because the paracetamol will wear off and then they will feel dreadful.

Schools now seem to keep children in school with a high fever. My nephew was fine last thursday morning so sis sent him to school - she had a phone call about 1pm to say he had developed a headache and sore throat over the morning and now had a temperature of 37.9 but they were not allowed to send him home (38.2 and above is their criteria) so did she give permission for the school to give calpol? She said she would pick him up but the school said they were not allowed to send him home - until fever reaches 38.2 or above. My sister had an argument with the Head as he would not let her take nephew home. In the end she just took him but Head said absence would be unauthorised. Today apparently there were 12 off in his class as this illness has spread like wildfire because last week there were children in school with high fevers!!

That’s awful it’s verging on neglect surely?? Temperature is only one factor if a child is visibly ill and 37.9 they should have used common sense rather than sticking rigidly to 38.2

I’ve always judged it on how well my kids seem, I’ve never used a thermometer to decide whether they should go to school.

Miserable, full of snot, not eating breakfast (a sure sign my eldest isn’t well)? Stay off my love. Snotty but otherwise well and perky? Off you trot.

I don't really understand the approach to attendance in UK schools. All these measures seem aimed at marginally improving the attendance of the kids who are already getting on well and have a decent attendance record, rather than targeting the kids with very poor attendance who are really at risk of missing out on education. Those families need a one-to-one approach that actually tackles the specific barriers to education they're facing (neglect, chronic illness, caring responsibilities), rather than these daft policies around minor illness which make the numbers look marginally better while turning classrooms into Petri dishes.