School absence rules are super powering the spread of flu

[Pavementworrier]

And people will die unnecessarily as a result and it's really annoying

Why the hell can't there be a rule that kids with flu or suspected flu (at least during peak flu season) don't have absences counted??

Why should flu be counted differently to anything else?

If a kid has proper flu, they aren’t going to school, rule or no rule, because they won’t have the energy to get out the front door.

This is why school kids get offered the flu vaccine.

The government don’t own your children. You make the decisions and fight if you have to, but children with flu should be kept at home.

The reason that flu is so contagious is because some people aren’t that ill with it and walk around spreading it.

School sent home the NHS guidance today about whether or not your child is well enough for school. Ofsted, etc make them obsess over attendance. My daughters have been off yesterday and today, we’re all (me included) feeling rough. Fevers, hacking coughs, no sleep. When the calpol’s at its peak power they get up and play a little - apparently this means they’re well enough to school. If I sent them in they’d infect half their class in time for Xmas, be miserable and probably take longer to get better. I get what you’re trying to say OP.

Some parents keep obviously ill children at home, but other parents send theirs even when they're vomiting. Not much you can do about it.

If someone is contagious with no symptom, nothing can be done either way.

Who cares what the school counts it as? I’ve absolutely no interest in my child’s attendance %. If she’s ill, she stays home.

The statutory guidance from gov is completely crystal clear that illness should be recorded as authorised and that medical evidence should not be asked for apart from in exceptional circumstances. No one should be getting fined for illness absences and if they are, point the school and the LA in the direction of the statutory guidance and tell them to change the absence to authorised.

My oldest came home early today. Been in bed since before 5pm dosed up to his eye balls.

My youngest school even the teachers are dropping like flys. Our house is all full of various grades on this super cold d&v going around.

Unfortunately the vaccine this year is only 30% effective, which is rubbish.
Add to this classrooms with no ventilation and it’s germ soup.
There ought to be hepa air purifiers in every class without an opening window.
I’m sure my Grandson’s school is faring better because they actually open windows plus the younger kids can go outside in bad weather because of covered areas.

What if u dont know its flu

They need to count absence but will just mark it as illness. The world doesn’t stop for colds, and trust me if you or your child get the flu, you’ll know about it. No child with flu would be able to go to school at all

If they have proper flu they won’t be in school, it leaves you exhausted.

That's utter nonsense.

Its true you can be up and about with flu but then thats just like having a cold or sniffle which most people just work through, kids or adults. My OH was ill yesterday but today he's fine, he might have a flu virus, or he might not, what are people supposed to do, stay at home forever?

Why does this sound like a criticism of schools? Why do you not think workplaces should be able to mark flu absence as sickness?

I think it’s fine the way it is anyway.

I agree with you that the absence rules need revisiting. But that applies generally not just specifically in relation to flu

I think what schools try and do on a whole school level is good.

Absence does damage achievement, and schools do need to keep on top of persistent absence.

But, at a personal level it is really annoying to get a shirty letter from school when your child has been unwell.

I think that parents need to parent and send children in when well enough and keep them home when sick, and ignore stupid school correspondence. Remind yourself that you are not the intended audience.

DS at secondary, had 3 days off with a nasty cold one week (as did most of his friendship group) and then the following week had a day off with a stress related migraine. The stress related migraine was caused by school telling him he was dropping “down a group” in the sweepstake because he’d had more than 2 days off this term. So please tell me how that helped??
I had a letter from his previous school stating he had had too many days off. 7 in an entire year. 6 of them were school mandated appointments for mental health/CAHMS assessments, BEAM assessments, Healios assessments and a BeeU appointment, all of which the school required us to take him too. 1 was a hospital visit; because as he arrived at the school gates on his bike, the head decided he was going too fast and put out her foot, flipping him over the handlebars and forcing the edge of the handlebars into his testicle which popped!
Quite literally there is no winning with schools and absence policies.
My husband is currently on day 5 or 6 of the cold from hell and in bed (I’m not because I’m bloody mum and I can’t possibly be as sick as him…don’t even poke that one) because my kids bought it back from school.

Exactly this!

No kid is going to school with real flu. They wouldn’t be able to get out of bed.

A cold (even a heavy one) is nothing like flu.

Yet again education needed about what flu is. Its a virus, and like any virus, some people will be asymptomatic and some will be hit very badly and then all variations inbetween

That sniffle that you had last week, could have been flu.

Flu can be asymptomatic or mild. It wouldn’t be anywhere near as contagious if anyone who caught it was immediately confined to bed.

However obviously mild flu symptoms are probably not enough to keep a child off school, so it will always spread even with parents with the best intentions.

I really wish people would stop spouting the nonsense that if it was flu they wouldn't be able to get out of bed. It is not the case for everyone. Some people will have very mild symptoms and others will be floored.

‘Flu can be asymptomatic or mild. It wouldn’t be anywhere near as contagious if anyone who caught it was immediately confined to bed.

However obviously mild flu symptoms are probably not enough to keep a child off school, so it will always spread even with parents with the best intentions.’

Asymptomatic cases are normally associated with a lower viral load and far less viral shedding. Keeping sick children home still makes sense.