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Original poster

School turning child away due to mild cold even with negative test?

161 replies

Justneedadvice636465 · 04/01/2021 10:20

My sister has 2 dc and one has a cough. It's clearly a cold she has a runny nose and just sounds snotty and phlegmy. She of course got her tested and it was negative twice three days apart (her partner works for a testing site and she is also a keyworker) she informed the school that she has a mild cold snotty nose and a little cough if she's running around a lot etc she told them she has tested negative the last one being just yesterday and the one before Thurs when she first got symptoms but the school have said that she can't attend school for the 10 day isolation period which means she also cannot work. She feels the school are being unreasonable as she has tested negative so doesn't understand why she can't go in as prior to this a mild cold wouldn't stop them going school?

Who is being unreasonable?

OP posts:
GarlicSoup · 04/01/2021 12:07

@MrsMiaWallis

I think the school is being unreasonable.
Rubbish. What if the child infects others with their ‘cold’ which could cause other families concern that it may be Covid and cause them to test and or isolate unnecessarily.
Wakeupin2022 · 04/01/2021 12:08

And I wouldn't send my child to nursery if they had a cold, because then they spread it to other kids, then eventually they get it back

Do you work? My DS used to have a high temp about once a week. He regularly had a cold. If it was a sniffle I sent him in. If he was actually ill I kept him home. It still amounted to a lot of time off nursery and a lot of juggling by DH & I to manage it - without any additional support with childcare!

If I had kept him off every time he had a sniffle he would literally never have been there. You may think I exaggerate but I really don't.

He is super healthy now and rarely ill.

UsernameSpoosername · 04/01/2021 12:16

The school is BU. She has a negative, I thought kids could back after the 10 days isolation period OR on receipt of a negative test result?

Sweettea1 · 04/01/2021 12:18

School are being unreasonable if I had to keep my dc of every time she had a cold she won't be attending in winter months. 2 tests say negative of course child should be aloud in no one says you have to isolate for a cold.

Sweettea1 · 04/01/2021 12:18

Plus a common cold can last for weeks.

Xenia · 04/01/2021 12:20

Some children have a cold almost all winter. Schools probably have no legal right to deny them an education.

TheCrowsHaveEyes · 04/01/2021 12:21

They're not denying them an education. Most schools send work home if a DC has to self-isolate.

midnightstar66 · 04/01/2021 12:25

Well she shouldn't really send a snorting phlegmy dc to school at the moment but I'd expect with 2 negative tests that she'd be able to return once symptoms have gone rather than a full ten days if that were to happen first. I guess teachers are just trying to stay as well as possible at the moment though and just make it through

Heidi1976 · 04/01/2021 12:27

School is being unreasonable. If she just has a cold with a negative test (and hasn't been contact traced) there is no need to self isolate for 10 days. The world has gone bonkers. It's a COLD.

Mia1415 · 04/01/2021 12:27

The school are being unreasonable. My DS has had several colds last term and still went to school.

MaryLeeOnHigh · 04/01/2021 12:38

@emilyfrost

A negative test is irrelevant; she still needs to self isolate. Your sister is BVU.
This is nonsense.
ThumbWitchesAbroad · 04/01/2021 12:42

The system we've been using in NSW in Australia has been quite effective - if you have symptoms, you stay off school and you're not allowed to return without a negative covid test, but you stay off until your symptoms have gone.
So there isn't a set isolation period over here - but you don't come to school with your germs and create a cascade effect with other children who then have to stay off school and have a covid test, and possibly pass it to their parents who have to stay off work and have a covid test etc. etc.
Obviously if you have a positive covid test then you have to stay off for the full isolation period.

It's a pain, of course it is - but everything about this situation is an utter pain and your sister just needs to get over it and do what she's supposed to.

LilMidge01 · 04/01/2021 12:42

Your sister is upset and ranting because she is anxious and stressed and with good reason (she is a key worker, potentially losing out on income if she cant work and has to manage childcare and we're in a pandemic) and her anxiety is manifesting as anger.

The school is right to be cautious and even if it is a cold, to prevent others having to go off and test and isolate too.

However, be kind to your sister about this. Give her as much support as you can. Listen to her air her grievances and try not to invalidate them whilst also gently saying its shit but for the best. Good luck to her

TheCrowsHaveEyes · 04/01/2021 12:52

The system we've been using in NSW in Australia has been quite effective - if you have symptoms, you stay off school and you're not allowed to return without a negative covid test, but you stay off until your symptoms have gone.
That's the system here too. It's just very vocal posters think they can ignore the NHS guidance and if they post the same nonsense over and over again, it will change the rules. It doesn't.

hansgrueber · 04/01/2021 12:56

@MrsMiaWallis

I think the school is being unreasonable.
Schools can't do right for doing wrong!
ItsNotGreenItsBlue · 04/01/2021 12:56

Schools have gone to hell, refusing a child with a sodding cold and two negative tests. No wonder the public is turning against them.

Wishing14 · 04/01/2021 13:05

My goodness, you can’t keep kids home for a cold. The world has gone mad!

foxesandsquirrels · 04/01/2021 13:07

Am I the only one concerned at how much we are messing with kids immune systems? It is so important that they get colds and other harmless bugs. There will be another pandemic and this it'll be ravaging through kids non existent immune system. The school is being unreasonable, but I understand why they are, the world has gone mad.

Wishing14 · 04/01/2021 13:09

I’m also slightly confused, you need a test for a new continuous cough, not for the type of cough you generally get with a mild cold? So you wouldn’t be testing them at all.

foxesandsquirrels · 04/01/2021 13:09

and FYI, people have symptoms for weeks on end. How long has it taken you to shift a cough?

Wishing14 · 04/01/2021 13:10

Also agree @foxesandsquirrels

RainMoon · 04/01/2021 13:14

@dementedpixie

School is unreasonable as there is a negative test
This, any child coughing will also need testing even if just a cold and cause more problems. And little Johnny will go home and say “Robbie was coughing in class today” then you spend the evening dealing with 30 panicking parents phoning you asking why he was in school.
RainMoon · 04/01/2021 13:14

Sorry quoted the wrong quote! I disagree with this!

RainMoon · 04/01/2021 13:15

@Inniu

So she sends her child to school, child gives cold to other children, 10 other children now need to stay at home for a week while they have 2 tests as does the teacher.

That’s why she needs to keep her child home.

This is the quote I wanted to agree with.