Would you say something to school

[Paigeyr]

On ClassDojo app my DS son show updates about what they are doing in reception. Todays one showed circle time and one child sat with everyone had hat, scarf and coat and gloves on during lesson and was sat with a sick bowl on their lap.

would you say something? I don’t get why this child was in school and sat closely with everyone else whilst clearly unwell

I am so glad that I can do my job without someone feeling they have the right to an explanation for a decision I’ve made as a trained professional.

You have no idea to the background to this OP and you need to pick your battles with the people you presumably trust to look after your child.

What would mentioning it achieve? Apart from making the teacher or TA feel a bit shite and probably less pics of what the kids get up to being posted on Classdojo, for fear of getting that 'wrong'. Who'd want to be a teachet these days!

I'm surprised at some of these replies. When I was in school, and also my DC school, when children fall ill they are taken straight to the office and wait there until they are collected. What is the point in a 48 hour sickness rule if you keep a known sick child in close contact with the rest of the class? The argument that they are always exposed is pointless, as it is usually the case for the 48 hour rule too. And risking them being sick in the classroom is much more likely to expose them.

When my year 2 child told me somebody had been sick in his class and sent home but was in the next day, I did ask reception about it. They said they didn't know anything about it but it shouldn't have been allowed to happen. That was all they said.

Don’t be ridiculous

It’s funny that you replied to the one poster that agreed with you!

Definitely don’t email about this for the many reasons explained already.

😂😂😂 I thought this!

This could have been my child except she's in Year 5.

She has a medical issue that she's on medication for which can cause her to feel sick (but not actually be), her teacher is very good at spotting when it's actual illness and when it's related to her medication. If they're about to do PE my child could well be wrapped up in hat scarf and coat etc but with a sick bowl.

You have no idea whats wrong with the child and nor should you.

Seriously 😒

Might have been a nose bleed rather than sick?

There's a lesson here for teachers. Don't send photos home.

I’ve never worked in a school with a “medical centre”. Neither of my children have attended a school with a “medical centre”. Our office has “one and a half” staff which means there is usually only one of us there (we’ve had our hours reduced due to budget constraints). Today I was in a meeting where I was taking notes. In that hour the phones were diverted to the head teacher and the reception area was unmanned. Any unwell child would have had to stay in their classroom. We also hand a sick bag to any child who says they are feeling unwell “just in case” but they are rarely used. We also have a child who often vomits after lunch - this child has a medical condition which causes this, there is ZERO risk of infection so we keep them in school as much as possible (as agreed on their EHCP).

Medical centre !😂😂😂😂

I've taught for over 20 years, the only school I worked in with a medical centre was a boarding school.

OP never said there was any evidence of actual vomit in her opening post, just that they were holding a "sick bowl". It's standard to give an unwell child a sick bowl as a precaution, it doesn't necessarily mean they have any form of infectious illness. Kids are given sick bowls for all sorts of non infectious reasons (nose bleed, concussion, tooth knocked out...I could go on for years).

I'm surprised at some of these replies. When I was in school, and also my DC school, when children fall ill they are taken straight to the office and wait there until they are collected.

How could you possibly know that every child who says they feel sick is whisked to the office?

Unless your child's teacher is following a script like a call centre worker he or she will be using her judgment and knowledge of the children and assessing the situation.

What a school did when a woman who is now old enough to have her own children in school isn't relevant. Schools are not the same places as they once were.

I’m wondering what a school medical centre even looks like, for those who have them. We have a nurses ‘office’ in our secondary. It’s basically a room with a rubber mattress if anyone’s feeling faint, with a basic first aid kit and a box of sanitary products 🤷🏼‍♀️

Didn’t think medical centres were that unusual in large schools. It looks like a GP’s office with a bed and lots of first aid/medical kit. Large school with multiple children needing to go during the day for routine medication, cuts, bruises, feeling unwell, accidents etc.

Have only been involved in one school without and (as I said) that was a small one form entry primary. It did have a small room with first aid supplies, a sink and a chair in it though and that’s where children were looked after if they needed any first aid. But it was the secretary who looked after children there, not a school nurse.

We have a cupboard with a chair and a box of plasters ! (1200 pupils )

*There's one thing that will definitely happen after this phone call.

There won't be any more lovely photos of the children on your dojo. She won't bother doing that again.*

Yep!

I'd be a little 🤔 but wouldn't say anything unless my child became sick in the next few days, needed absence, and absences are held against the kids. Then, I would definitely have something to say.
Although as an emetophobic, I would have thrown up myself at the sight of a child being ill. As a child and as an adult, I can not be near vomiting, actual, or the thought of.