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.

I’m not sure why you are moaning, the school doesn’t control you, it’s usual for schools to impress on everyone the importance of attendance especially after Covid. If your child is sick just keep them off. The council cannot fine you for one day off school it has to be a common thing. I’m a teacher - I literally do not bat an eyelid when a kid is sick, children are always ill, there is not a day goes by that someone isn’t at home poorly. I only notice when it’s repeated often. They can’t say it’s unauthorised absence of he is sick either if you write a note or ring them.

I have to leave my 5 year old at the door crying as she has a tummy ache and it really upsets me but the headmistress is constantly sending me emails making sure they come in with any sickness except V&D

Because kids like yours and mine can take time off and be top of class. That’s not the case for many others who are struggling anyway then a week off with a cold pushes them back further. My daughter works at home even if she is sick, many will play on Tiktok all day instead

You phone up and tell the school your kid is sick in the morning. If they ask, you send them in with a letter from you saying they were sick, Unless there are lots of medical absences, that’s it.

Sending kids into school when they feel rubbish and are likely to infect everyone else around them is a really stupid idea. It’s not the idea of schools though, I am well aware of that.

We already have lots of our staff unwell this week-most streaming and sore throats, but three have Covid and are quite unwell. When people are sick and feel crap, I think they should stay at home for a day or two and minimise sharing it with others.

Goodness some really unkind remarks on here. I kept my DS off school as I didn’t want him to go in and infect the rest of the school. Maybe if the parent of the child who did infect my DS with this filthy infection had done the same DS and my entire family wouldn’t be wiped out with it.

I had to go into work with it, sat in a room on my own with the door shut. Wore a mask when I had to leave to go to the loo and made sure I washed my hands regularly. Kids in school cannot isolate in a room and end up spreading so hardly the same thing at all! Today I’m WFH.

We have been told our kids can have a MAXIMUM of 5 days per school year with illness. 5 days. That’s nothing when the school is a hotbed of germs. DS had a sickness bug last year. I kept him off for over a week. I had a letter from the school and an appointment with the attendance officer. This is what a lot of us are dealing with. The message from my DS school is you go in regardless of how ill you are. A disgusting policy.

Pretty much country wide now. Adverts telling them they could feel better in the day.

As a ex teacher, school is an AWFUL place when you feel unwell, you probably WONT learn anything and you will spread germs among others!

And what exactly happens if you go over these 5 days? Why does it actually matter what the school say, you are the parent and if your child is sick let them stay at home.

I can’t stand the stupid, shortsighted macho mentality that “it’s just a cold, suck it up and keep working”. These people are the reason there are so many bloody colds going around.

"the stupid, shortsighted macho mentality that “it’s just a cold, suck it up and keep working”.

Like it or not it's government policy and plenty of people on here have the "illness is part of life" attitude so I wouldn't describe it as a "macho" thing. Lots of people have no choice because of no or laughable sick pay.

It's not like men are the only ones that go into the office with a "cold" and women are very responsible and stay home.....

I didn’t mean to imply that it’s an exclusively or even majority male attitude, I just couldn’t think of a better word.

I think the point is it’s the school policy of you must send your child in even when they are highly infectious and unwell that is the problem.

I keep my DS off but OTHER parents don’t. Maybe they are scared of being contacted by the attendance officer maybe they feel they have no choice but to send their child in when every other sick child is being sent in. Maybe it is the child themselves who are scared to take time off when they are ill because they know they will be interrogated by teachers as to why they didn’t come in. It could be a number of reasons.

My point is that during Covid schools effectively shut down to stop the spread. Schools have now gone the other way and the policy is come in even when ill and infectious. Such a huge turnaround and why? As a previous poster said how does sending a sick child into school help? They will be too unwell to learn and just spreading their germs.

As an adult if I go into work sick I can get a drink for my sore throat whenever I want, I can go to the toilet to blow my nose, I can avoid my colleagues by sitting in a room on my own. Most pupils can’t do any of that. My DS can’t even go to the toilet or top up his water bottle during lessons.

Please be aware this pressure is coming from government not schools who have little say. Schools do not want ill kids in school, they want non attenders or prolific absentees in as this is when results can be improved.
30+ kids often in small, badly ventilated/heated classrooms, often with little time to go to the bathroom, to maintain hand hygiene is NOT the same as some one in an office who as OP says can get up, go out of the room, have a drink, wash their hands etc.

I’m a teacher, legally a school cannot say a kid can only have five days off, if you’ve got a drs letter you are fine. If it’s 6 days off in a row with a note from you it’s fine. You may very well have a chat with the attendance officer at school - doesn’t mean you have to go. Schools are just hot on attendance at the moment due to pressure from above and Ofsted.so yes they will scare you with a school letter. Councils only fine you when it’s repeated separate illnesses that can’t be justified/ proven

wellington77 and there lies the problem when you say schools want a “doctors letter”. Everyone including OFSTED and schools knows the NHS is on its knees. You can’t get a GP appointment let alone a “doctors letter”. DS had a sickness bug which meant he obviously couldn’t go into school. I can only imagine the laughter if I rang up our GP surgery asking for a “doctors letter” for DS and his sickness bug.

DH is a GP - they do not give doctors letters for schools.

I understand why many people come to work etc with a bug - many workplaces (like mine) won't pay for a sick day and people can't afford to lose their wages.

What does annoy me however is the people who come in and then proceed to cough and sneeze all over the place without properly covering their faces or washing their hands. It amazes me that we've come through the pandemic and people apparently still don't know how to cough and sneeze in a way that is considerate to other people. Just "keeping away" from others isn't enough - we all have to touch the same door handles, kettles, etc etc.

This isn't aimed at you by the way OP - just a general rant. There's a reason why viruses spread so easily.

Do you appreciate the irony of condemning school whilst going into your job? And more so with the "if I don't I'll lose my job"

Schools ideally don't want sick kids there, but government policy states unless it is deemed by Public Health England to be a transmissible illness then it is not a reason to be off school.

Have you done a covid test?

I have the same symptoms as you and mine is covid (probably the new XEC variant).

Why blindly follow "the rules" when you or your dc are sick? Do you know you are actually able to think for yourself and make an informed choices? If your son is too ill to attend school, tell school the truth or he's vomiting if you prefer. As for you, that's disgusting going into work and spreading your germs around. If you are so ill you've had to lie down in the - shared - staff toilets then I don't see how you are even able to work. Stay at home with sick family members for a few days. It's not rocket science.

This seems like an inevitable consequence of the collapse in school attendance. Too many kids allowed off for minor or fake illness so now we all pay the price.

YABU

Because despite your outrage you have still gone in. You will end up passing it on too.

Personally I would also ignore any school rule that says send children in when they are too ill.

Children who are unwell don’t learn as well because they feel rubbish and that is a huge distraction. It’s about time schools applied common sense and looked at cases individually rather than this ‘ the expectation is 97% for everyone ‘ or whatever threshold they set

I don't know anyone who keeps their kids off school for a cold, or takes time off work themselves. D&V is a bit different and I agree with the 48 hour exclusion but it's surely pretty uncommon to be so unwell with a cold that you can't go to school/work? Take some paracetamol and snot spray and crack on.

My eldest has been at school 4 years and has had one 48 hour period off following a single vomit, youngest only in his second year but had one day off last year, again following a Thursday night single vomit.

Other than that, they've had coughs and sniffles but nothing that I would say needs a day at home. Maybe I'm just mean!

Do you really get so poorly with a cold?

Most people aren't that wiped out, do you have poor immune systems? DD and have both had a heavy cold this week, but have been okay for school and work with paracetamol & some early nights