To despise school policy of going in when sick

[Thankyouschool]

So once again we’re just over 2 weeks in to the new school term and DS has brought a mutant cold virus home.

Its wiped out the entire house. His two brothers are ill so is DH and so am I. DH has started a new job so is struggling on but luckily WFH. I’ve come into work & locked myself away trying not to infect my colleagues. I am so ill with streaming noise and eyes I’ve had to lie down in the work toilet. My head is banging & I can’t stop coughing.

All because the DS secondary school he attends tells everyone they must go in even if they feel unwell. The recent government campaign promoting everyone going in even with heavy colds doesn’t help “you might feel better when you get there” the poster shrieks with a young school girl with a streaming cold on the ad.

I thought after Covid we’d get better at telling people to stay home with infectious diseases but apparently not.

I am so so angry.

If your DC’s are unwell why have you sent them into school to infect others. You’re the parent who makes the decision, not the school

You know when they're not well enough and just tell the school. New rules may have come in but staff aren't stupid. They have been created for persistent non attenders so as usual the rest have to suffer. Xx

Boring. ‘Schools’ do not make these rules, the government do. Email your MP. Or better yet, go and cough and splutter all over them.

Kids can’t be off with every cold, and a bit rich to be so angry when you’ve also gone to work around other people. Getting a cold is part of life, seriously I’ve had some serious illness in my 30-40’s and a cold is really not that bad. Dose up and crack on

I’ve refused to sign the paracetamol authority forn. If my DC feels poorly they will come home. Their attendance has always been good, but if they are poorly they are poorly. This week they have been off with Covid and sickness, we’ve all caught it. 😫

Their Argument will be that she had to go to school

My school certainly makes up their rule that in the 2nd day of absence an attendance officer will turn up at your door.
I’ve had to turn him away at the door on occasions.

It does in some places, at the very least a disciplinary and who can be arsed with that.

And he had to go into school. Hypocrite.

Oh come on, unless in a very physical job or working with vulnerable people, it is perfectly normal to go into work with a cold. We've all done it for decades, we've all caught stuff felt a bit ropey and we just push on. Everyone who is a wilting flower who stays away at the first sniffle will pretty soon find themselves out of a job - quite rightly.

You have no idea from whom or when your child caught this cold. Therefore to say this us all because of school policy is utterly stupid. They could have caught it at anytime.

Some parents are very quick to let their dc have days off school. The first sign of a sniffle or a whine and they'll be ringing in. I see it on here all the time, posters asking about giving their dc mental health days because they're a bit tired or they don't like sports days. These are the people those ads are targeting. Yes, if they're obviously ill, keep them off; if it's just a bit of a sniffle, it's fine to send them in.

It's a cold. Not measles / chicken pox etc. When DC grow up, they will still be expected to go to work and fulfil other commitments when ill so going in to school with a cold is teaching resilience in preparation for adulthood. Especially for teens. In early primary school I'd be more likely to keep them home for extra rest and cuddles but by secondary school they should be able to follow standard advice re hand washing, not sneezing into hands, disposing of tissues properly, staying hydrated and taking paracetamol.

Of course schools make the rules.

There's another thread where the OP's father has died and the school won't authorise her son's absence for the funeral.
Schools also have different policies eg 24 vs 48hrs for vomiting and diarrhoea.
Government may create the pressure, but specific rules like the above are down to the individual schools.

Streaming eyes and nose and thumping headaches sounds like COVID tbh. Government policy is to live with it, so we have to live with it.

This means we can expect to have "colds" a lot more often than we used to. As for the school govt guidanceis to only keep kids off either a fever so it's not really the schools fault....

@Itsmahoneybaloney could you link
them please

See photo and link. Kids ones, adult ones and max strength 💪

https://www.boots.com/boots-good-gut-live-friendly-bacteria-30-capsules-10269387

@Itsmahoneybaloney Thank you I appreciate that! I'm going to order some

Start with 2 weeks on max strength for adults and then move onto normal ones. Be consistent and don't miss any - especially the kids.

Mine too started as a cold and then it got to headache worse than any other headache ever and just feeling nauseous, dizzy and totally drained of energy. I'm 5 days in and still not right by any means.

If my children are too ill for school they don’t go in. I don’t give a fuck what school says and I’m not paying a fine.

They’ll have to take me to court.

Why can’t they? None of these ridiculous policies in Scotland. My children stay home with sore throats and minor colds. They are still top of the class and doing fine. Why do we need to push through to go into school and work? It’s not what I teach my children.

Children and adults should stay home when they have a streaming cold. Go in when it’s a sniffle.

YANBU. If school avoidance is that bad then the school need to look at it properly and work with those families. The answer is not to force unwell kids into the classroom just to improve numbers.

This isn't good at all. It's teaching children to put work before our own health.