To wonder if my kids have to be vaccinated to go to school?

[Cuddler]

Hi,

My son is due to start school in September this year.Its all sorted,today he went to an induction thing and i got handed a form about which vaccinations he had/hadnt had,and just general health questions.

He hasnt been vaccinated since the ones at 16 weeks,so no mmr.My other 2 children havnt been vaxed at all.Im not asking for opinions on whether this is right as i have made a well informed choice and its something i have thought about for a long time and feel strongly about,I know theres not really a law about kids being vaxed to go to school but i just wondered if anyone knew if the school could "make a fuss" about it,or if anyone has any expereience of this.

Until a couple of months ago were going to home educate so it wasnt an issue,but obviously now hes going so just wanted to ask.

Not just op, all the other non vaccers too?

"Our school asked if all children could be vaccinated as two children were having treatment for cancer."

What was the response, carocaro? Did anyone ask if the same was going to be requested of every child and adult in the DC's Brownie pack or anywhere else they come into contact with other people?

Those who think that children shouldn't be allowed to go to school unless vaccinated, how far do you take it?
Personally I have no issue with the demand that all kids should be vaccinated before attending school, I'd just HE. Have you ever stopped to ask if your kid's teacher is vaccinated? Have you checked that your childminder is? Do you check that the parents who have your child over to tea regularly is vaccinated? That all the children and adults at the library session, at Tumbletots, at Beavers, at the informal drop in playgroup, at the pool where you take your kids on a Saturday afternoon are vaccinated?

I'd take your post to mean you would refuse to vac your kids in the case

Good point carocaro, to a cancer patient who is nutrapenic, any disease can be deadly as their immune system is very low, i know this because my brother who has now since died was not sent into school due to infections as he was nutrapenic after chemo.
People that are not vaccinating are contrabuting to deaths of cancer patients and deformaties in pregant womens foetuses.
Get your children vaccinated

I was going to say exactly what Grahamtribe said.I want to home educate anyway but feel like its too much for me at the moment and hope one day dh can stay home and we can do it together.

No i wouldnt vaccinate in the situation caraco described.

Gene, to answer, no, I wouldn't do it. I would ask the school and LA if they'd prefer to find and facilitate a suitable alternative education for my DC until there was no further need for it.

Sorry on phone

My post was to grahamtribe, seems from your response u would refuse to comply with the school's request in a similar situation.

Xpost

Well thanks for answering.

Interesting. Can't think what the hell else to say to that. Keep thinking of those kids parents.

Cuddler, one child with one parent at home HE-ing and the other bringing home the bacon shouldn't be too much of a challenge IME (though I don't know your circumstances of course). Can I politely suggest that you have another think/look into it if it's really what you want to do, I fear you might regret it if you don't. Whichever you choose, good luck. :)

Well, I hope HE'ing works out better for your family, than it did for mine! Massive source of resentment between my mother and me.

I think the school were crossing a line by asking to have children vaccinated.

The school have a responsibility to ensure good sickness records and monitoring are kept and of course strongly emphasise to families that a sick child with a viral/bacterial illness should be kept off school until better ESPECIALLY as there are vulnerable children in the school.

And of course a reminder home asking parents to ensure children are up to date with their immunisations could be helpful as some parents do forget to get them done, or a child may have missed some.

But I don't think the school have a responsibility to push parents into vaccinating unvaccinated children.

I thought teachers had to be vaccinated, in the same way that Drs and hospital staff do?

It works for some, not others, Jessie. :) The secret is in knowing when to change the masterplan, I suspect.

cuddler, there are loads of happy, friendly and very well informed HE-ers on the MN Education part of the website (look for the Home Education sub forum) . It help you to stroll over there with any questions or concerns.

carocaro - did the school also ask all parents to check whether their children's immunity was up to date?

becasue, for eg, the efficacy rates of the whooping cough vaccine are really quite low, and have been shown to be far less long-lasting than once thought. same for the mumps part of mmr.

dd2 (as I said in a post earlier) had mumps recently. she caught it from one of her classmates - it was round her year (and the other, lower years, like wildfire). dd2 is unvacccinated, so it did not surprise me hugely that she caught it. but there were many bewildered parents once I reported what it was (and the struggle to get the GP to swab for mumps - a notifiable disease was farcical) - they had all been told 'a mumps-like virus' (presumably because their children had had the mmr, so it couldn't be mumps. no sirree)

so - the question is, who did dd2 catch it from? and the rest of the 20 odd children in her year? (she was one of the later ones to have it, oddly) the ones who all came back to school after a couple of days, as they 'were feeling better' - hpa guidance is a clear 5 days after swelling of glands; not back once the child feels better (which is what kept it spreading at dd2's school). and how come so many vaccinated children came down with it? (not that they did, officially, of course)

I don't know tbh, EasilyBored - can anyone answer pls? Regardless, the question I put can still be aimed at those in the pool on a Saturday afternoon, the Brownie leader, her support staff and the Brownies (Brownie leaders definitely don't need to be jabbed, my mother's one), the kids and leaders at Tumbletots or in the library etc etc etc.

That is definitely true Graham. You need a willingness to see your child as an individual!

when I was in teacher training/NQT year I didn't have to declare my vaccine/immunity status. this was 10 years ago, maybe it has changed.

Well I imagine that if your child's immune system was compromised through cancer, you probably wouldn't be taking her swimming, or to a soft play centre.

That's not what I was asking EasilyBored. I was addressing my question to those on here who believe that vaccination should be a pre-requisite for acceptance into school, not with reference to children with cancer.

I'm not sure they should be a pre-requisite for going to school, although I think they should be encouraged. I do think that if you work with the public, especially vulnerable people (such as children, sick people r the elderly) then yes, it should be part of the job specification. If you have a medical reason not to, then a Dr's note should be provided. I don't think not having a vaccination because of medical reasons should stop you from working in certain areas, but I do think that if you're not doing them ebcause of the 'chemicals' or you don't think they work, then you need to think about the potential consequences of that (for yourself and others).

Lucky HE children never go out or have friends or work or...do anything else for the rest of their lives that involve other children or adults then.

No, but I commend your blinkered foolishness in the face of science

EasilyBored, what you're suggesting already happens, in general. Doctors, nurses etc are required to be jabbed AFAIAA although we still await being told if teachers are. Vaccinations are heavily "encouraged". All that's fine, that still gives people . I'm interesting in the more militant views and how far the people who hold them go to ensure that the adults and children that they and their DC mix with are vaccinated.

They jolly would should be.I just don't get why gov's don't make it mandatory.So utterly selfish not to.

Fine if you don't want to vaccinate but don't put others at risk.Why should mothers who choose not to vaccinate enjoy serious diseases not being rife at school because others do the responsible thing?I doubt very much if non vaccinators would put their kids into a germ riddled school if all the other kids weren't vaccinated.

It's not just ill children but parents/grandparents too.Plenty of people battle with cancer/illness etc in private without broadcasting to the world.You're also putting babies and toddlers too young to vaccinate on the school run/at school functions at risk too.

If you don't want to vaccinate home educate-simple.

Hells bells, I meant "that still gives people the option to vaccinate or not to as they wish. Sorry.