Awful flu - DS almost missed 2 weeks

[Hercthro]

Has anyone else got this awful flu going around? Weve all had it and my DS has been off school since Tuesday last week , he has also had hand , foot and mouth with it . His attendance now looks awful, but hes genuinely been so sick. We ended up in hospital twice once with a temp over 40 we couldn't get down and once as he was rolling out with a headache vomiting.

Im thinking of letting him have a couple of hours in bed this morning and sending him in , as his attendance is so bad now . About 80% of his class are also off with it . If anyone's had it how long did it take you to recover? I'm a week in and still awful.

How old is DS? He’s been really poorly and in hospital so I think it’s understandable he’s been off. I wouldn’t want to send him back in until he’s fully better really

No don’t send him in, let him recover. Phone the school and speak to them about it. My son had 75% attendance one year mainly due to one prolonged illness. The school where fine becomes I kept communicating with them about it.

Thank you , He's 5 in year one, most of his class are off with the same thing . A few parents have tried to send the kids back and have been called to pick up by lunchtime so hopefully the school don't think I'm not genuine.

He only missed one day in reception. But this year's been brutal he had croup in September and he has astma as well which I think is making it worse.

Flus is bad this year, particularly for children. Don't send him in purely for attendance stats. Let him recover properly. He's not going to learn anything if he's not well

He's 5?! keep him home! It's not like he's doing his GCSEs.

Yep DS is back today he has a week off felt better went back a week had another 5 days of being ill and still is 100% right and he is 13

DD is day 3 off as well

there is nothing you can do his attendance is also off a cliff

Forget about attendance and focus on your son recovering fully. Sending him in too soon risks his recovery taking longer

All that will happen is you will get a letter saying attendance is too low. The school explained that they have to send them but it’s just admin. JUst keep communication open with them, phone them today and say you will try to have him back next week

It's so bad there are news articles about it. Full sympathy it can be really dangerous. This is why I loath that they've taken attendance monitoring away from any kind of common sense or discretion. This is clearly not a case of repeat can't be bothered on a monday or holidays (which I do think should be up to the parents but anyway).

Luckily our school does have common sense and applies it when they can. Keep communication open. Keep records including hospital visit times etc and its literally in the news and on the radio how bad it is.

My son is A levels and has missed 4 days now.

He has been properly ill with a cough that ends in vomiting or not being able to breathe

He is a gym goer and very healthy and fit and this has floored him.

Don't worry about your son's attendance.

His attendance is now about 82% as he has a brace so misses some registrations for appts for that so the school might get pissy but tough.

He says half the sixth
Form also off.

Mine has missed two weeks with flu - secondary school and loads of kids have been off with it. It hits some of them harder than others. It's made me very anxious but I'm trying to tell myself this happens, it's going round like wildfire this winter and the most important thing is to recover well and build back up. I do fret about attendance scores and missed work, but am trying not to - easier said than done! But there are so many kids in the same boat, it's been dreadful this year already and still so much of winter to get through!

Thank you everyone. I'm going to keep him off and let him rest today. I was worried he was missing too much, but your all right he won't learn when sick.

I'm sorry to hear some of you have had it just as rough . It's genuinely been the worst we've ever had.

I remember one year like that when dd was about the same age. She was incredibly poorly and so were a lot of her classmates. It was utterly miserable.

I wouldn't worry about the attendance at all, I would just give your ds as much time as he needs to properly recover. If his attendance is queried, you can just explain how poorly he has been. Please don't send him back to struggle through the school day if he isn't yet 100% - and certainly not for the sake of the attendance stats. His health is more important.

He's only five OP - don't worry. And definitely don't worry about missed work at that stage. Keep well

My 6yo has the same. She's been off since monday, thought she recovered yesterday so sent her in And got asked to collect her (she's saying she's fine it's just the cough) it's a bloody nightmare flu

Loads of threads about this years flu. Honestly I'd go for full rest if you can. It's not just the flu, it's the post viral fatigue which can become problematic.