AIBU - school threats

[DianeC2020]

Hiya.

My son's school has had a norovirus outbreak, which they can't seem to get control of. It's spreading from year to year and has been going on for 2 weeks. For the last week, I took my son out of school because my husband's immune system is compromised and we don't want him to get norovirus (my son seems to catch everything going). The school are demanding my son goes in, even though we only have three days left next week before Christmas and there isn't much he will miss out on.

Am I being unreasonable? The school is on my back, but don't seem to care about our family's situation.

just say he has noro . 48 hours off I think from last episode of d or v
Nothing they can do. Pretty sure they won’t ask for proof !

Yeah, I did wonder about lying. But my son is likely to blab when he sees his friends and teacher again. He's only 7.

Op you’ve posted in paid childcare!

If you keep dc of every time there’s bugs in school you’re really going to cause issues disrupting his education. Just ensure he washes his hands with soap and water when he gets home (alcohol gel doesn’t kill noro).

There is a huge amount to be gained socially in those last few days.

If he's 7 is he even going to be talking about Christmas when he goes back in Jan? Surely in all the excitement to talk about presents etc the fact he was off before Christmas will be forgotten by him and his friends?

Yes say he has noro and keep him off. Then you can have peace of mind. I wouldn't suggest this if your husband wasn't immuno compromised. I think a nice family Christmas is worth it. We once had noro that went round the whole family and hit me twice. I was exhausted and didn't have any complicating issues.

Your child is going to be exposed to bugs everyday he attends school what about chicken pox, strep A, Covid, normal colds, slapped check, HFM .....the list is endless he's never going to be at school.

You can’t keep him off school every time anyone is sick. He will never be in.

I would've been gutted to miss the last few days before Christmas, they were always so much fun. I also don't really think you can keep him off every time there's a bug going around although I can understand why you don't want your husband to get sick.

Why have you posted in childcare? Get your thread moved.

He should he in... there's always something going round.

As a parent you have a legal duty to have your child attend school or provide an education ie home school.
Schools have a legal duty to monitor attendance so yes they will be on your case.
As already said you can’t keep your child home every time there might be an illness going around, 9 times out of 10 someone is contagious before they even have any symptoms so the words stable door and bolt spring to mind.
Im sorry for your husbands situation, if it is that severe maybe look at measures you can put in place at home to reduce any spread of infection, eg have your son wash hands and change clothes before getting up close to his dad, make sure he understands good respiratory and personal hygiene measures.

If is a noro outbreak the school can call the ukhpa (replaced public health england) for advice. They are supposed to anyway if there is a fairly low threshold of new cases. I would ask what the school were advised, and if they havent called ask them to ask about this specifically.