To send my kids to school 'sick'?

[Frume]

They are 6.5 and almost 5yo. They both have quite bad coughs and colds. No temps. Not struggling with breathing other than the blocked noses. We live in the South East and have been to London recently. I also have a cough but my partner does not.

Now I don't want to be 'that parent' who keeps their child off when they have a cough or cold.. but obviously amid the whole covid19, I have no idea what I should be doing with regards to sending them in or keeping them off?!

My 7 year old has got a bright red throat and a headache, slight temp and is feeling crappy. I am not sending him tomorrow unless he's much better, even though I still have to go to school to take his younger brother.
I would keep yours off too op if you can.

@ThisMustBeMyDream I’m not naive.... who is so special they can’t ever be off sick?! Genuinely, which professions?

Perhaps you mean people who can’t afford to be off sick? That’s a whole different issue and an even deeper problem.

No. I don't.

I can give you an example of my own profession. As a midwife I work on a unit that should run with 10 midwives. 5 of those are allocated to 8 labour ward rooms. 2 to the antenatal/induction/day unit ward (12 beds), and 3 to the postnatal ward (21 beds). Due to training/annual leave/long term sickness and other factors, the unit regularly struggles along on 8 or 9 midwives. This is the bear bones, and means care is compromised. 10 is a jolly good day I can tell you.

There aren't unlimited midwives. We don't have banks of staff like in nursing. We run on a hell of amount of good will and luck when our staffing levels drop. We can't take midwives from other units to plug gaps on a day to day basis. It isn't allowed where I am, or in any unit I have worked in - for safety reasons. The bank staff are existing employed midwives, or midwives who have previously been employed at the trust. The midwives who have left the trust are only allowed to work on the maternity ward, again for safety reasons.

If midwives start keeping their kids off school for every cold, we will have no staff, and the unit will be closed. This means women having to travel elsewhere... but then what if that unit shuts because of the same reason too? It's all well and good making up things like "oh well partners should take time off". I don't have one. There are lots of single parent midwives in my unit. There are those with military husbands and husbands who work away. I don't have family close by. Again, I am not alone in this. Most midwives can't afford a nanny. The profession is not well paid enough. Midwives start on 24k. Midwives earn up to 37k as band 6 (ie. Not management). Where are they going to get the money from for round the clock just in case childcare?

It simply isn't possible to keep kids off school with a cold, unless they are genuinely too sick for school. A cold is not too sick for school. I'm sure there are plenty of other professions like mine who can not run when people take time off for unecessary reasons.

Pregnant teacher here! I wish parents would keep their sick children off... every day is a game of dodge the next contagious illness!

Yabu. You must know this.

But to add to that, a cold is just a cold. I'm talking about s&d, slapped cheek, chicken pox. We have also had mumps this year.

Everyone should be aware - COVID-19 can be very mild in children. In a child it can easily be as mild as a normal winter cough/cold.

As the number of cases increase soon it will probably be a good idea to work under the assumption that a cough/cold in a child might be COVID-19 and keep them away from elderly relatives.

I'm amazed at the number of teachers here saying keep children at home for a cold. I can imagine too well what response I would get if I didn't go to work because I or my children had a cold. I'm a teacher...

Sirius, but it's not just a cold is it? OP says quite bad chesty cough. That's more than simple cold.

Stormy, a cough is part of a cold.

See nhs advice www.nhs.uk/conditions/common-cold/

Also, see nhs advice on coughs www.nhs.uk/conditions/cough/

None of the advice given by the NHS suggests staying off work or school for a cough or cold.

Yeah, a midwife with really bad chesty cough will give expectant mother a great reassurance, I bet.

Now I don't want to be 'that parent' who keeps their child off when they have a cough or cold.

What do you mean "that parent"? If my DD has a cold she stays home because colds make you feel miserable and I don't want her to infect other kids.

We are expected to work stormy. Take it up with the chief exec who signs off on extremely tight sickness and absence policies, and the disapproval from management when you do ring in sick for a cough or cold. Not the shop floor midwife who would like to keep a job.

I find it impossible to function with a badly blocked nose. Plus a bad cough? Keep them at home. They won’t benefit from being at school and neither will their classmates.

We were told absolutely explicitly when we started at the school that we must not keep them off for colds, even bad colds. I have ignored this personally although we've been pretty lucky with illness generally.

I'd send them in with a cold.

If no fever I'd send them in. If they seem generally too ill to get through the day, then it's your call, I usually send mine in unless they won't get out of bed (they love getting up usually!).

We've always sent our DDs to school when they have colds, unless they have a temperature. Mostly they're quite well in themselves when they have a cold and they would be climbing the walls by the afternoon.

If the cough was very bad, however, I might hesitate. I don't think either of them have had that without a temperature, however.

My niece has just spent another 3 days in hospital as the result of catching what another child gave her, because their parents didn't think they were unwell enough to stay home. My niece is 5 and has bone cancer with a year of chemo to endure still. Why not give the school a ring and check.

I think I've come off a bit blasé by typing in haste but my point is-
Imagine I have two children, one picks up the cold, has a couple of days off, passes it on to the other one, they have a couple of days, I catch it, have a couple of days myself. There would obviously be some overlap and the weekend but that is potentially a full week off work for a cold. Now add in that my young children are grotbags and will have a minimum of two colds over the winter. Working in a school, I am also likely to pick stuff up. If I end up taking 2-3 weeks off work over the winter terms then I am facing some kind of referral to HR.

I'm a teacher, not a zero hours contract worker, not someone who is on minimum wage with no sick pay kicking in until day three. My point is that some people see it as very black and white and it really isn't. The only situation which is completely clear is D&V.

However, as far as the OP is concerned, she absolutely should have a snuggly day with her young children and not feel bad about forcing them in while feeling grotty. She is the parent and knows what is best for them. Schools will always push for attendance!

If they have no temp then they go in

Aww...keep them off. We all want our mamas when we feel ill, coronavirus aside. I still do at 56 .