Illness advice from school (well.. NHS)

[WhimsicalMoth]

See attached photo ... Did anybody else get this from their childrens school? It came attached to the weekly newsletter on Friday.
It's supposedly the NHS advice, but it seems ludicrous to me that you would send your child to school with hand foot and mouth... and threadworms ???
I can just about understand tonsillitis if it is under control with antibiotics or glandular fever
If they are taking painkillers etc.
but even head lice, I would be inclined to keep my child off until treated for this.
Would you send your child to school with threadworms or hand foot and mouth disease?
And would you be happy for your child to socialise with other children that do have these without your knowledge, at school??

It spreads so fast because it's contagious for several days before any symptoms appear.

My DD has threadworms 3 times when in reception. The first time I didn't realise what an itchy bum could mean and just presumed her bum hadn't been wiped properly. Are people honestly saying she should've missed 6 weeks of school? She most likely caught the bloody things from school and most likely infected other kids by the point we realised. It's inconvenient but it's not life threatening. Same as a child going to school with a cold. Should they be kept off for weeks on end as well?! Jesus Christ.

It's not even the inconvenience, it's the children on the class who could be immunosupressed for a variety of reasons and get really really sick or worse. The teacher or LSA who is pregnant and their unborn child is seriously harmed. Nits - my child is back as soon as treated. Tonsillitis- mine are off for 48 hours after they start antibiotics as that when they are no longer contagious

Wow I can't believe they say kids can go in with hand foot and mouth. That was the worst experience I've ever had with my daughter - she cried pretty much constantly for four days and nights because she was in agony, and I caught it too and felt rough. I can't believe that the advice is to go in and spread it! Eurgh. Agree OP with you that if people didn't send kids in with grotty things like worms no one else would have to catch them but I guess the trouble is those things just go round and round and round so some kids would never be in education if you kept them off.

There is a huge correlation between absence and attainment (or lack of). Also between absence and those kids who most need to be at school because of disruptive home lives and family income challenges. School can and does change lives but only if students actually attend.

Keeping children off when they are not unwell or only suffering from things that are endemic like threadworm or headlice is terrible parenting IMO. Education is more important than the inconvenience of a bit of extra washing or combing.

Oh I really do feel for you! We've been okay (touch wood) this year so far! My child started reception last sept. But when she was in nursery this time last year it was relentless and awful for the whole family. You have my sympathy! It is awful!

Yes that is true

Why does it not mention temperatures or feeling unwell under more illnesses? My mother was ill for a month with measles. No way would she have been able to go back to school after a few days! I used to get tonsillitis and other throat infections (laryngitis, pharyngitis) regularly as a child/teenager, often requiring antibiotics. Usually I could barely eat, swallow, talk or even stay awake. Yet apparently I was well enough to go to a school??? Some types of tonsillitis (eg strep throat, which is tested for by a swab in many countries) are as infectious as some of the illnesses that are listed as requiring absence, eg measles, chicken pox and Covid. Would it not be better to try to avoid spread?

I wouldn't be wouldn't be sending my guild in either glandular fever. That's how you end up with ME or CFS.

You can also be really sick with glandular fever. And that poster doesn't make any reference to that.

Hate shit like this to be honest. I'm the parent, if my child is unwell they'll be off school, end of story. I still remember when my son was in reception and the head teacher told us all to dose them up with calpol and send them in if they felt a bit poorly!

There seems a real extremist stance with illness and schools in the last few years. It's like by telling people to spread the hell out of contagious illnesses if they feel ok, the better attendance will be. Strangely enough, by pushing illness onto classes, it's doing the opposite in terms of supposed attendance goals - for teachers and kids. Illness is the main reason for absence, not as some quarters like to say because 'parents are keeping kids home for every little sniffle'.

Some people just say 'meh, there's alot of [insert whatever shitty illness they like here] about, so I can use that as an excuse to make even more people ill?

As for the nits thing, send kids back in when treated would equate to less nits around class.

This is a really frustrating thread. It's not saying that if your DC is in agony with tonsillitis and a high temperature you should send them to school. It's saying that if your DC has tonsillitis then they can go back to school whenever they're well enough - whereas when my partially vaccinated DC had very mild chickenpox she had to be home despite feeling absolutely fine.

HFM is at its most contagious before the symptoms show, so once the first child in the class or nursery room shows symptoms and in particular the spots, the genie is out of the bottle and it's already spread and being spread further by the other asymptomatic children.

It can be really awful, it's among the worst doses both of ours have had and I caught it one time and felt absolutely rotten, but they've also had it mildly and not needed any time off.

There's no point in keeping them home when well if it's already rife in the room.

Schools are riddled with lice and worms all the time. It would be impossible to irradiate them entirely (even full lockdowns for weeks/months didn't do the trick!) Once you realise your child has either of them, just treat them then send them back in.

It is indeed frustrating, so many posters are missing the entire point of why the guidance has been released.

It’s tonsillitis for me that I worry about when it’s ok to go to school
it’s impossible to know if it’s been caused by strep without a swab and strep is so contagious and can be dangerous to certain populations.
I have never understood why we would risk a spread of strep in classes.

Well that’s what I hope the originators of the poster meant but unfortunately it’s not explicit, some schools are over zealous with attendance due to ofsted and take everything at face value. So ringing in that you child is ill with glandular fever they may now just say government says they can come in and it’s marked as unauthorised. I dont have direct experience of this as my child has good attendance but he has sn and I’m on a lot of sn groups and the shit some people have to put up with regards attendance is unbelievable, it’s like no one applies common sense

My ds is 19 now.

We were given the same advice when he was in infants. It's not new guidance afaik.

And back when he was 5yo there was much less fuss about attendance!

Public health no more it seems. I’d be livid if some half brained mother sent her children to school knowing they’ve got lice. Didn’t they learn anything from their own parents? How filthy and regressive behaviour. We’re winding public health back to pre-Victorian times.

I guess prepare to spend the primary years livid then. I don't think many parents would be keeping DC home with lice.

Yes, I understand it now! Now you’ve explained it and I’ve had another look at the guidance in the light of your explanation! But from first reading, I didn’t get it at all - it’s far from clear.

‘Should I keep my child off school’ sounds like gentle advice for those who are swithering! There is no ‘you must keep them off for the specified number of days’. No ‘then keep them off for further days until they are well.’

Then the ‘should I keep my child off school - NO’ implies that you should indeed send your child to school with all these illnesses!

I agree,i have 2 teens now but we were given a letter in primary that stated you SHOULD still send your children in with x,y,z so there wasn't even the caveat of "if they feel well enough". Its the constant letters even though we are sticklers for our kids going to school when well but there have been so many bugs the last couple of years. We have already had 2 attendance letters this term because of only 1 day off sick and 2 appointments ( with proof...we are bloody lucky to get appointments full stop so we have no hope of arranging them outside of school hours).

20/30 percent of school age kids have threadworms. Those of you saying your kids haven’t had threadworms are likely wrong. Threadworms often go unnoticed -not all kids itch.

One presumes that you have a job that will accept you staying home with your precious child because they have nits?! No, any employer will laugh at you.

It also often takes more than one dose of treatment before you get rid of them. One particularly virulent infestation took me treating it every night for a week to get rid of it.

I would suggest you home school your child, and certainly don't let them near dirt, or grass, or other children at any point. And keep their head shaved at all times.

Would the "half brained" father anger you as well?