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AIBU?

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Original poster

to want to complain to ds's school

58 replies

DLI · 23/04/2009 19:29

i am sick and tired that some parents dont check their children regularly for headlice. No sooner has ds got rid of them and he gets them again! i check him regularly and do everything a parent should so why can't everyone do it. ds has hem agin which is about the fourth time this school year! aaghhhhhhhhhh

OP posts:
LauriefairycakeeatsCupid · 23/04/2009 19:37

nothing to do with the school now they've abolished Nitty Nora the nit nurse

it's just other parents which you can't do anything about

TheFallenMadonna · 23/04/2009 19:38

Not sure what good complaining to the school will do.

funtimewincies · 23/04/2009 20:18

The school has no authority whatsoever in the area of headlice. The most that teachers can do is to tell a parent that their child is scratching (not allowed to 'diagnose' headlice) and hope that they will do something about it. If a particular child is regularly infested, is generally dirty and smelling due to lack of washing and it's affecting his social development then it might be child protection issue and the school will try and work with the parents.

Very frustrating, but it's parental not school responsibility.

junglist1 · 23/04/2009 20:27

I get irritated, my 6 year old screeches the place down when he has hairwashes never mind going through the constant combing over and over. At least with boys I can chop it all off, I don't know how parents of girls with long hair cope!!!

FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 23/04/2009 20:33

I agree. We need a national campaign to bring back the nit nurse. Ds had one at the start of the holidays and a few eggs which were cleared as soon as I saw them. Three days into the term I look down, about to leave the house and what do I spot? An egg. I sat there, for an hour and a half picking the little bastards out, 1..2...3...4......5...6...7....8...9...10......13! There were 13 lice, more nits. I know he had none on Sunday. I do feel so sorry for the poor child that has an infestation that can have this many refuges.

Ds gets a dry scalp so he scratches, it's normally nothing to do with nits.

5Foot5 · 23/04/2009 20:42

Well I have often heard people say bring back Nitty Nora but TBH I am not sure how effective that would be.

DD got them a few times when she was at primary school and we had night after night of combing. Also we used to check her head on a regular basis (doesn't seem to be an issue so far at secondary school) But to really hunt down the little sods you do need damp hair and much fine combing.

As I remember the nit nurse when I was a kid she just used to fumble in dry hair for a minute or so and that was it. Now that might be enough to find them in someone who was really crawling in them but I can imagine someone having them quite badly and still not being detected with that level of inspection.

FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 23/04/2009 20:43

She wasn't looking for the lice, it was the eggs that are a give away. They are easier to spot then the lice as they don't move!

echt · 24/04/2009 08:42

Come to Australia, where nits are rampant in secondary schools. I taught for 25+ years in the UK and rarely heard of lice in secondary pupils.
Here, the girls constantly do elaborate hugs, head to head, as if they were greeting long-lost relatives rather than a friend they saw yesterday: headlice city.

cheshirekitty · 24/04/2009 08:45

nitty nora was a deterrent. Parents (most) would clear their offsprings heads if they thought nitty nora was going to be visiting.

goldrock · 24/04/2009 09:27

I've never checked any of my DCs for lice and I don't think I'm being unreasonable I've just never even thought about it - is this something everyone else does regularly ? Luckily their school very rarely has a problem with lice, I can only remember one letter in nearly 6 years, so I guess maybe I would do it if there was a problem.
However, I don't think you would be unreasonable to ask the school to send out a nicely worded reminder I'm sure it would make school life much for the staff as well if there wasn't a constant problem.

FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 24/04/2009 21:22

Nitty nora was a really good idea. Some parents need a kick up the arse nudge.

ds has moved from a private school so I had 4 years of not needing to check. It makes it easy when his hair is so fine and blonde, they stick out like a sore thumb.

MrsFreud · 24/04/2009 21:49

funtime are you sure you are not just quoting an urban myth? where exactly, in what policy does it say you cannot send a letter home asking a parent to check their shild as the school nurse has identified nits?

its these urban myths that dumbs everything down. FGS common sense tells you there is no such rule - if there were then it would apply to nurseries and they would not be allowed to send a child home after vomitting - and we all know they do, with a ban for 24 hours.

So YES complain to the school OP and tell them to check the DFES rules!!!

MrsFreud · 24/04/2009 21:50

btw our school can send a child home if the parent refuses to trest their child for nits following a letter.

Its in the childs best interest, poor things spend all day itching and being teased.

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 24/04/2009 21:55

FluffyBunnyGoneBad - why are private schools nit free? Can they not afford the fees?

Servalan · 24/04/2009 21:57

TBH the school are probably as frustrated as you.

I taught for a while and I got head lice a couple of times . I have long, thick curly hair and it was a nightmare to sort it out.

I had just got together with my now DH at the time - Friday nights were spent with him running the nit comb through my hair because I had too much hair to be able to check it properly (who says romance is dead, eh?)

BTW at a school I did training at, my mentor told me that I couldn't directly tell a child's parents that their child had head lice. We were only allowed to send a generic letter home "a parent of one of the children has kindly informed us that their child has lice, please check your child accordingly..."

Looking back, not sure if it was just my mentor was a bit nuts or a strange school policy. It was a few years ago, so hopefully things have changed.

RumourOfAHurricane · 24/04/2009 21:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Merrylegs · 24/04/2009 22:02

It could be your child re-infecting everyone else. To really blast the little bggrs your have to check and treat every 2/3 days for a couple of weeks. Have you?

It could be that you are not clearing them effectively.

If your kids has nits, be responsible and tell the school. They can send out a letter to everyone, (you can suggest it if they haven't before).
Something along the lines of:
"A case of nits has been reported. This is a problem that does happens from time to time. Please check your child's hair carefully and treat accordingly."

(Alternatively, just send them to private school. I hear you get a better class of nit there anyway).

Mspontipine · 24/04/2009 22:03

Goldrock you are being unreasonable - you sound like one of the parents that everybody complains about - it may well be your children that keep re-infesting the others whose parents at least check on a regular basis. Why would you think that you're immune?

aristocat · 24/04/2009 22:04

i agree bring back nit nurse. my ds & dd have escaped these creatures so far. my first day here at MN and looks great !!!

springlamb · 24/04/2009 22:08

DD's lice appeared the first week of school last September. I tried everything to get rid of them, gradually moving onto and through the myriad of chemicals. I spoke to class teacher, spoke to headteacher, spoke loudly outside the classroom about 'people who won't sort out their kids' lice' in the hope of shaming the offender. DD told me that the offender was very popular at breaktime as the other children liked to pick out and squish the lice. Charming!
By mid October dd was off school with a sore scalp. I asked the headteacher if she thought this was acceptable, that my child should be missing out on her education.
DD started a new school after the October half term. Although in the same socially mixed area, this is a school renowned for its strict policies, it demands (and gets) a high level of parental involvement in terms of complying with uniform, homework etc. She hasn't had nits since. Funny that.

FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 24/04/2009 22:09

We had no nit at the private school.

They were not from ds, his head had one lice and some eggs on the last day of term, they were all removed as I checked. Then he had 13 lice within 3 days of going back. There were no empty eggs so they didn't hatch on his head. Bring back the nit nurse! We should have a MN campaign

springlamb · 24/04/2009 22:23

I wish they had compulsory checks too. I know lice is not a 'health' risk as such but it is very unpleasant for kids (and me) to be itching and dd was sensitive to some kind of lubricant they let out when feeding so it was bloody uncomfortable for her.
I do think that teachers/staff know exactly who is crawling with 'em and it's a sorry state of affairs when a discreet word can't be had with the parents. But they are not allowed to.
I don't think my world would have ended if one of dd's classroom assistants had sidled up to me with a nudge nudge wink wink 'she was scratching a bit today, you might want to check her out'. They didn't need to as I was complaining on a regular basis.
On entering our house after school, no drink or snack offered until the nit comb had had its daily outing.

FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 24/04/2009 22:27

What's the best method for getting them out? I sat and combed them all out on Thursday but had to pick the nits out as ds has really fine hair. I've looked again today and his hair is clear. Is there a more effiecient way to get rid of them bar chemicals?

MANATEEequineOHARA · 24/04/2009 22:31

Ugh, we have been headlice free for a while now thank god, but last year was dreadful, and I did mention it at parents evening. The teacher told me they can send a child home if they see lice, but they are not allowed to actually check, so the lice would have to be very visible. Ugh.

Side note - nitty gritty combs were the best treatment we found.

FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 24/04/2009 22:34

Yes, they are £10!!!, ds really does have very fine hair. I've tried so many combs, they get the lice out but his hair and the nits go straight through the teeth.