To think school sickness policy is a ludicrous?

[Pinkvoid]

The same school that have ‘attendance awards’, are always hammering hard to parents about attendance and leave a comment in every school report about your child’s attendance, despite the fact they were off for things that couldn’t be helped such as chicken pox .

I missed a days work yesterday because DS (7) had been sick once the evening before, most likely caused by overeating but I erred on the side of caution. Explained this to the school when I called. He was fine all day yesterday so I sent him in today because why wouldn’t I.

I was already half way to work when I got a phone call telling me to collect him because it was ‘school policy’ that it had to be 48 hours from the last time they vomited. I was pretty furious tbh. Explained that I was two miles away on my way to work which I was due to start in fifteen minutes, I didn’t have anyone else to collect him and that he was absolutely fine/it wasn’t a stomach bug because he’d only been sick once and wasn’t unwell after- it was clearly either overeating or he’d probably been jumping around too much after eating. They weren’t accepting it, insisted I had to collect him and that he couldn’t be in school. So I had to turn around, call in sick at work last minute which they obviously weren’t pleased about and take him home. DS was also upset because he actually loves school and would much prefer to be there than at home bored with me...

AIBU to think they’re being ludicrously over cautious there and common sense should surely prevail? He’s now missed two days of education and I’ve missed two days pay because he vomited once, two nights ago . Also worth noting, I had no idea the school even had a policy, this is the first I’ve heard of it.

Pinkvoid, op im with you bin this one I understand the schools policy but a little common sense and discretion would also be good too. my DS has food intolerances and has now been diagnosed with cvs but due to the policy has had around 20 days off this term even though the Drs have said he is very definitely not contagious and should be at school! then last week when I took him to school with spots all over his belly which I was unsure what they were but fairly certain it was not chicken pox, measles or anything of that kind of thing, they looked like whiteheads? his teacher looked at him on us showing her, I asked whether he should stay or not she sighed and said well you have had a lot of time off so tuck your top in and don't show anyone ! It makes no sense!

Good lesson to not allow your son to jump around a lot after eating or allow him to eat too much.

I teach year 2. I have not had a full class since half term. It is going round and round and our caretaker is permanently walking round with a mop and bucket. I have Crohn's and am very careful but I was ill two weekends and had the Monday and Friday off in one week. Our rule is 48 hours and we have suspended our attendance certificates for this term.
I have a child in my class with stomach issues and we have a doctors letter in his file. His mum still kept him off because his sickness didn't follow his usual pattern. In my opinion most schools try to be sensible but when you have a toxic mix of being threatened with ofsted because of attendance, some children taking a lot of time off school and this is reflected in their results which again could threaten an ofsted and parents stressing over their work commitments and seeing what seems a healthy child bouncing round at home while they are losing pay......

You say yourself your son probably ate too much or jumped about after eating and was sick. Don't let your child overeat or jump about after eating. Schools are only following NHS guidelines to prevent the spread of illness. YABU to complain about the school when you have control over what your child eats and if he jumps about.

Unfortunately there are parents who will knowingly send their child in with a stomach bug because they don't have anyone else to look after them. I've had children before now who have been sick on the school drive and parents have still tried to bring them in.

I get that it's a pain, my DS is frequently sick due to a completely not contagious health issue and he missed a lot of school before they finally accepted his specialist letter, but the guidance is there to try to stop bugs spreading.

I am lucky as have obliging in laws who will look after my children if they are ill, but I can see how inconvenient it would be if such arrangements didn't exist.
DS2 is a child who vomits after coughing frequently. He recently had catarrh and a cough and vomited up phlegm during coughing. He was otherwise well and I sent him to school.
He also vomited once one morning, having complained about feeling unwell for about 15 mins after getting up. Was totally fine subsequently but I kept him off for the required 48 hrs. No one else was ill but it was likely a virus. PITA but necessary for the well being and convenience of the other kids and parents.

I am with OP on this one. Sometimes common sense needs to prevail over 'policy'. As for the NHS my DH is a doctor in the NHS and is always telling me that if every policy was stuck to to the letter all of the time people would die either because they were sent home needlessly or someone who should be at home was talking up a bed. Sometimes we need to think for ourselves.

I also think people should not be so dismissive of OP losing a day's pay. People just don't have money to throw away.

As a teacher and a parent I can see both sides of this. My school follow a strict 48 hour rule, but my sons’ school are more flexible - for example ds1 suffers from migraines which make him vomit and they’ve never insisted on 48 hours because the sickness is not d&v bug related.
On this occasion, the school could have been more understanding, but then they are following guidelines (sits firmly on fence)

Every time my son has norovirus he is only sick once. And is usually brighter within hours of that. I on the other hand am usually wiped out for days when I subsequently catch it 😷

As long as they have only been sick once it’s just 24 hours for my daughters school (in case they are sick again) however if it’s more then once it’s 48 hours clear. Unless the rules have changed in the last 4 years I believe this is the same for the food standards agency, environmental health and the nhs. A one of vomit with no other symptoms can be anything x

I'm a Business Manager in a school, and can tell you that new guidelines were published in September this year, clearly stating exclusion times should be 48hrs. They're on www.gov.uk - Health Protection in Schools and other Childcare Facilities. We have to abide by this, the same as we have to encourage good attendance. I know.

I would ask that you think very seriously before sending your child in before the 48 hours if they've been poorly with d&v, particularly if there are immune comprised children or adults around.

Do school staff have to follow the 48hr rule?

Yes we do. What's the point of asking parents to keep their children at home so as not to spread it if we then do? Fortunately staff do build up an immunity to some of these bugs after years of working in a school!

Never posted before but just had to say, this is or definitely could be a bug, sorry. My daughter was sick once last weds eve, she felt ok but wouldn't really eat too much for the next 48 hours but wasn't sick again. Friday eve comes and she's sick again. I'd kept her off school the 48 hours. Then at 2am Saturday morning my 1year old who has other issues from being a preemie was also then sick and up half the night crying with tummy ache, again only sick once. Then Sunday it was hubbys turn, felt like poo went to bed for a bit and woke up being sick, again sick only once but felt like crap for a few days. Then on Tuesday it got me. Again only sick once and upset tummy but I felt like complete rubbish until Friday and all in all my self employed husband lost a week off work so no wages. When it comes to sick bugs this time of year you can never be too careful and being cautious and following the guidelines helps things not to spread to people like my son and I (i have a chronic illness) who have compromised immune systems, and being sick just once doesn't mean it wasn't a bug and it also affects everyone differently. sorry but you really should have waited the 48 hours

And I don't have money to throw away either far from it in fact. But my husband still didn't go to work until we'd all be clear 48 hours just incase of spreading it to anyone. We had experience of being in scbu with our baby and when you see the precautions taken to stop things like this spreading you know how easy it is to do and why they have that rule in place

Yes it’s annoying and inconvenient if you work but it’s the same in most primary schools. I know in our school there are a few parents who would and do send their DC to school when they’re really poorly because they don’t want to take time off work.

I was pretty furious tbh.

Oh no, were you? I was pretty furious too when another parent, one just like you, sent their 'perfectly fine' DD back to school too early after they'd been sick just the once. I was pretty furious because by own DD, who has type 1 diabetes, picked up her sickness bug (as did half the class) and ended up with a two night stay in hospital.

But hey, that doesn't affect you or those like you, who don't give a shit about anyone else so ...

You clearly thought your DS had a tummy bug or you wouldn't have kept him off at all, so your certainly that it was 'overeating' is bullshit.

Do school staff have to follow the 48hr rule?

We do. It's common sense.

Wilburissomepig
But hey, that doesn't affect you or those like you, who don't give a shit about anyone else so ...
That's how a reasonably sized minority of people behave. I'm on 2 attendance threads and there's a disappointly large number of people who think they'll just send their child to school.

I started feeling a bit rubbish and have woken up this morning feeling worse. I'm bloody well hoping i'm not sick today because that'll be me off for 2 days if I am (just like quite a few members of staff in thr last few weeks).

I can't help but wonder if students coming into schools and puking is what's causing staff to be off at yhr moment as well as lots of students.

Wilbur - completely agree

Even on scbu a parent came in to a room full of sick prem babies after only 24 hours, she was immediately asked to leave but the fact is she tried. She then went to the waiting room where my daughter was and needless to say she then got ill and that was 48 hours I couldn't go and see my baby. Having previously stayed away for 5 days due to a bad cold. People's inconsiderate behaviour will never cease to amaze me

Out of 3 weeks in scbu i couldn't see my own baby for 9 days in total due to illness and not wanting to risk the health of my baby or anyone else's. That's alot more incovienient than 48 hours off work.

I had a similar situation in my class last week. I sent a child home who vomited (although this fact was disputed by the parent, even though I was stood behind the child at the time so know it happened!) and the parent collected at lunchtime. Imagine my surprise when EXACTLY 48 hours later the child walks into my classroom just before lunch saying his mother had declared the 48 hours over. The rule states that you keep them off 48 hours from the last episode of sickness. The mother insisted he wasn’t sick at home after leaving School. The child said he was sick three more times. Mother says he lying. I can’t do anything about it!

I am 7 months pregnant and have already had a stomach bug this term which almost resulted in me almost being admitted to hospital and put on a drip due to not even keeping water down. The rules are there to protect everybody. Nationally, sickness bugs have been a big problem this term. Prior to the bug I caught, I hadn’t been sick for years.

What gets me is... everyone can surely recognise how awful it is when you have a bug doing the rounds at home. So surely anything that can be done to lessen that for anyone and everyone can only be a good thing and the parents who do work would then have an easier time if no bugs were going around in the first place because people respected the rules are there for a scientifically proven reason for the safety of everyone.

It absolutely astounds me the amount of people who send their kids into school when they're clearly unwell. We've had to call parents during morning registration to come and pick their unwell DC's up because they've been sick on the bus on the way in to school.

The whole 'I have to work' argument is unfair because apart from those of us who also work, I'm pretty sure that those who don't don't exactly enjoy their own DCs being ill.

I had a parent tell me a few weeks ago that they knew their DD was unwell because they'd been up all night, but that it was better for her if the school called her to go and pick her DD up, because at least her employer would 'believe her'. Unreal.

YABU and attitudes like yours are the reason bugs spread so much.

There's mpbeen a sickness bug going round my DCs school. Most of the children have been sick just the once with it. So your logic is very faulty on that point. I guess there is the possibility that one child after another in a school year has overeaten air jumped around too much after dinner. It's also possible that the children in another year group started to do the same and it had nothing to do with the number of siblings across the two year groups. Possible but highly unlikely.

But not all children vomited just the once. A couple of children were really ill with it, vomiting on and off for a week or two. There's also a child with compromised immunity who was put at risk and had to take time off to avoid getting ill.

The guidelines are not ones the schools choose, they are health guidelines and are there for a reason.

Attendance levels for a school drop when a bug does the rounds. That puts pressure on the school to put pressure on the parents about attendance. Schools don't choose to have attendance targets either, but they do.