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

[Justneedadvice636465]

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?

If she passes the cough to other children than their families all need to isolate and their child get tested. Sending a child with a cough to school is not a good idea. I just would have kept her home until the cough went if her tests were negative .

@Wishing14 thats really interesting. I'll soon be arranging a chicken pox playdate, common cold edition.

If you have symptoms and get a negative test you are supposed to continue isolating until 48 hours after symptoms have gone, so she shouldn’t be taking the poorly child to school anyway.

Add to that the fact that their children will catch the cold, develop symptoms and need time off and tests potentially meaning that it they parents can’t work.

I think that she is being selfish and the school are right to insist that they stay home.

I think under the circumstances now, school asking the child to stay off until symptoms are gone is pretty sensible. She may still pass it on, and other child may need to SI, even though it may not be covid.

What are the ‘symptoms’ that warrant testing in this case though? No temp, snotty nose, phlegm, slight cough when doing active things (but not continuous)? I feel like I am missing something?!

Who are these parents who keep their children off for every single cold even before covid? My 2 children have had awful colds for the last 6 weeks (both tested negative 3 times now) and if last year was anything to go by, they likely have weeks of colds, mild coughs and snotty noses to go - it is cold and flu season after all, that is a hell of alot of time away from education and hell of a lot of time of work too.

Obviously this isn't normal times and we do all need to be a bit more cautious but 2 negative tests in a row should be enough for the school to accept that this is just a cold.

But it's really not normal time though. And many schools are already closed in tier4. I can see why the school doesn't want to risk closing/sending kids home because of spread of a cold to test ans SI. And since Oct, school are responsible to provide remote learning for those who are off school anyway.

I had a cough and had test negative so ds was off whilst I waited , once negative he was allowed back
But if thats schools policy not much you could do , I would ask for work to be provided though and an email to show they said she couldn't come in , incase of attendance being flagged or mentioned

I can see why the school doesn't want a child in school with a cough. If he passes onto other children they and their parents will have to isolate and get tested and it could lead teachers taking time off. This happened a lot at DD's school last term .

@ProfessorSillyStuff like employers could just do that , what if 6 employees kids have a cold , what they can all be off , its hard enough sometimes getting jobs with school age kids , if we were allowed in normal times to take every cold and sniffle off
If mine are ill they have always been kept of , if well in themselves but at end of a cold etc they go in, wouldn't send them in sneezing and spluttering though, which is why I have got an attendance letter on a couple occasions

I'm kind of thinking both are unreasonable.
Your sister really shouldn't send a poorly kid in as not everyone will find it as easy to get tested with those symptoms as your sister has.
However, what is the point of bringing in the rapid tests to school if a child is denied attending school with a full negative test twice?

@AnneOfQueenSables nowhere does op say child feels unwell just she has a cold still , maybe runny nose , bit child feels well
I know my work would want me in if i felt well and had negative test

@FairyontopofthetreeBatman where is that advice ?
I got moaned at in dec for keeping my dc off for 48 hrs after a sickness bug , receptionist told me they didn't have a 48 hr rule as it may of not been a bug
I did explain as I wasn't a dr I have no idea if was a bug of something he has eaten but NHS guidelines are 48 hrs and that is what I would follow and maybe if it was a bug if the school had same policy then he wouldn't of picked it up
For years we have been told to send them in when ill which is not always right and hence why I have had some attendance letters in the past
I would send mine in with slight sniffles but if sneezing and coughing or had sickness bugs I would always keep them home
Ds was sneezing a lot other week , he has allergies so I kept him home that day as wasn't fair on him or others in current situation.

Your sister is being unreasonable

Sending a 'Snotty Phlegmy coughing child' to school is about as socially unacceptable as it is possible to be.

Sister will have to suck it up and arrange care for her own child. Jeez. Schools seem to be glorified {free} child minding services it seems.

[quote donewithitalltodayandxmas]@FairyontopofthetreeBatman where is that advice ?
I got moaned at in dec for keeping my dc off for 48 hrs after a sickness bug , receptionist told me they didn't have a 48 hr rule as it may of not been a bug
I did explain as I wasn't a dr I have no idea if was a bug of something he has eaten but NHS guidelines are 48 hrs and that is what I would follow and maybe if it was a bug if the school had same policy then he wouldn't of picked it up
For years we have been told to send them in when ill which is not always right and hence why I have had some attendance letters in the past
I would send mine in with slight sniffles but if sneezing and coughing or had sickness bugs I would always keep them home
Ds was sneezing a lot other week , he has allergies so I kept him home that day as wasn't fair on him or others in current situation. [/quote]
It’s on the text that you get with a negative result.

Your sister is being VU, ok it might not be covid, but why send a child to school who has a cold???

@oakleaffy

Sending a 'Snotty Phlegmy coughing child' to school is about as socially unacceptable as it is possible to be.

Sister will have to suck it up and arrange care for her own child. Jeez. Schools seem to be glorified {free} child minding services it seems.

Nailed it

@AnneOfQueenSables

If you have a negative test when you start to show symptoms, you're supposed to still self-isolate because there is a window when tests are more and less effective. You can have symptoms, test negative, stay home, test again and be positive. The fact is schools should be aware of the guidance and working closely with the NHS so it doesn't really matter if posters on MN don't understand it. Schools are quite clear on which pupils can be in and which will be sent home.

What? This is rubbish!

I am still confused.. with the symptoms described you might keep them off a day or two if you thought they were too unwell (I tend to keep my child off with a heavy cold probably more so than anyone I know) but there is no need to be getting a covid test, and there have been no ‘symptoms’ of covid described in this case.

This is the current NHS guidance regarding sending children to school with mild cold symptoms.

"If you have a negative test when you start to show symptoms, you're supposed to still self-isolate because there is a window when tests are more and less effective. You can have symptoms, test negative, stay home, test again and be positive.
The fact is schools should be aware of the guidance and working closely with the NHS so it doesn't really matter if posters on MN don't understand it. Schools are quite clear on which pupils can be in and which will be sent home"

This is b.s

Are people really saying that children should never be allowed to contract minor illnesses? Are you the same people who dettol everything into submission? You are fucking with your kids’ immune systems, they are supposed to be exposed to viruses and bugs, that is how the immune system gets stronger. Exposure to grub is also one of the ways the gut microbiome develops in childhood. We have evolved alongside viruses, bacteria, etc and our bodies are evolved to deal with the majority of them. FFS I despair. The world has gone completely mad. Yes, we need to avoid COVID at the moment, but a cold is not an issue.

@MrsMiaWallis

"If you have a negative test when you start to show symptoms, you're supposed to still self-isolate because there is a window when tests are more and less effective. You can have symptoms, test negative, stay home, test again and be positive. The fact is schools should be aware of the guidance and working closely with the NHS so it doesn't really matter if posters on MN don't understand it. Schools are quite clear on which pupils can be in and which will be sent home"

This is b.s

And even more frustrating that someone who clearly doesn't know the guidelines is insisting that they know the guidelines and that school should know these (incorrect interpretation of the) guidelines

@littlepeas

Are people really saying that children should never be allowed to contract minor illnesses? Are you the same people who dettol everything into submission? You are fucking with your kids’ immune systems, they are supposed to be exposed to viruses and bugs, that is how the immune system gets stronger. Exposure to grub is also one of the ways the gut microbiome develops in childhood. We have evolved alongside viruses, bacteria, etc and our bodies are evolved to deal with the majority of them. FFS I despair. The world has gone completely mad. Yes, we need to avoid COVID at the moment, but a cold is not an issue.

I think people are just saying that now is not a good time to go to school with a cough or cold because even if it isn't Covid, if you pass cough to everyone else they will all have to take time off school and work and ultimately much more people will be inconvenienced particularly as a teacher could be off to. Children's immune systems are not going to be irreparably prevented from working just because they haven't had a cold for a few months. There is plenty of bacteria in the environment for their immune systems to deal with.