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??

Any sniffle could be 'suspected flu' though. I'm not keeping a kid home if they are not actively unwell.

and yet you retain parental autonomy. I'm not taking a sick kid to school for school to make the parenting decision I should have made

I don’t know how you’re supposed to differentiate between mild flu and a regular cold, it’s not like GPs would run a flu test for every case of the sniffles and young kids are often snotty November-March so you can’t expect them to not attend school or nursery for a third of the academic year. Then if it’s bad flu they’re going to be far too unwell for school, probably running a fever and maybe even puking so wouldn’t be going in anyway. So I don’t really get what point you’re trying to make? I know it was a bit of a miss this year but taking up the flu vaccine for your kids (and yourself if eligible) and instilling good hygiene habits like hand washing, blowing nose into tissue etc. are all you can do really.

😬<groan>

Is this one of these idiotic I'm so dumb and therefore the world outrages me where OP never comes back?

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

You find it annoying that people are dying? Are you a socially awkward 12 year old????

😷in case OP's idiocy is catching. Social contagion 'n all.

Yet if this was a parent social services would be straight round but because it’s a head teacher she probably got away with it.
I wouldn’t want her around children. What a bitch.

I agree in a way (ie in the infection control sense).
The arbitrary approach to school attendance is frustrating (my own daughter is rarely off, she's been off school ill just one day since summer. I think probably most pupil absence is unnecessary tbh). I've no idea how much this attendance obsession is applied to teachers? Because teacher attendance is my biggest frustration. My daughter's English teacher has been off sick for several weeks, and it's affected her confidence with her upcoming English prelim.

Not counting an absence doesn’t make it not an absence and whereas that may make sense in primary school trust me in High School things move quickly - sixth form even more so so they don’t want to miss too much to have to catch up on

Plus we are still coughing a week later we can’t hide in quarantine

Exactly this.

It's unpleasant to be in school when ill, so why would I send them? Not everything is about what the school has declared.

What about work places not supporting parents to have time off work ill children? I think that's half the battle. I know when my kids are ill I'm not worried about them having a day off school if they need it, I'm worried about works response if I need a day off.

omg the bitchy. imagine becoming a teacher knowing you are susceptible to bring ill like the rest of society. only those impervious to contagions should dedicate their lives to putting your kids needs ahead of their own health and wellbeing.

what do you suppose all these parents are letting kids have unnecessary time off for op?

In Scotland, if you’re ill you’re off. None of this attendance bullshit.

My daughter's attendance is already too low this year purely due to hospital appts in London ( we live in Essex) and then she had a couple of days in hospital and a day to recover after an operation. Now she has to have a day off every two weeks for the next few months for a drug infusion.

She has never actually had a day off of college due to being unwell.

Today she has a heavy cold and is feeling rotten but has gone in because she is worried about her attendance.

Luckily college are a lot more relaxed about it all than her school were - they threatened us with a referral to social services after she had 16 hospital appts in three months. I pointed out to the school that I'd have had social services knocking on my door if I'd sent her to school instead of taking her to her hospital appts!

That’s a myth

@PaisleyGilmourStreet I can assure you my daughter's absence from school or college has always been necessary. The drug infusions and regular hospital consultations are required to keep her alive. The drugs stop her body attacking itself but they also mean she is permanently immunosuppressed so picks up bugs all the time but soldiers on.

Please consider yourself lucky that you have no understanding of what that is like to deal with. She will have to deal with this for the rest of her life unless a cure is found.

It seems @Pavementworrier isn't bothered enough to return to the thread but it's a totally daft idea to suggest that children can be off whenever they like with "suspected" flu. Thats free rein for term time holidays with no repercussions or fines, what a gift to have all siblings off at the same time

The joke about attendance is during covid entire classes were sent home for a week if one child coughed, they also sent them home when the teachers were on strike. But dare to be unwell now? No fucking way, they have to be in.

Children deserve to be able to access education when they are mildly to moderately unwell.

I think punishing children for being sick is insane and arguably illegal in terms of the equality act. But I'm sure you're onto something... Somewhere

Wrong!

You can be infected by flu and have no symptoms at all or be only mildly ill.

I can't believe this myth still exists after all that Covid debacle.

Look, if a child has flu they shouldn’t be able to attend school. I’ve only had it once to my knowledge and I was a child, I couldn’t move for at least a week. It knocks you out entirely, you have a raging fever and become so exhausted you’re unable to move.

All kids should have the flu spray anyway, as should vulnerable adults. Just use common sense and don’t send them in if they have a fever but if it’s just a runny nose and bit of a cough when they’re otherwise fine, of course they should come in.

Where I come from it's very normal to take kids out of school a bit early or during term for holidays because holidays are education too. Nothing falls over.

If this is true then aside from going into a full blown lockdown again, what do you suggest? If people are asymptomatic or just have a runny nose with zero other symptoms, they’re obviously going to be spreading it around unwittingly. It can’t really be avoided. Just have the vaccine if you’re eligible.

Not true. Some people with flu can be asymptomatic, others have mild symptoms and others quite awful symptoms. It varies wildly