Parents! Please don’t send your kid to school with a cough or temperature

[noblegiraffe]

We’ll have to send them home again, and that’s a whole lot of hassle that could have easily been avoided by parents following the government advice.

No, you don’t get to decide whether the cough or a fever is ‘simply a cold’. Neither do we. Just follow the guidelines please.

Apart from anything, it’s freaking their classmates out and we can really do without stressing out the kids even more about this.

Thank you.

Do you suspect schools will officially close next week? If so, how long for

No, they’ll keep the schools open and leave the staff to get ill, double classes up and use us as childcare.

I think an early Easter break should happen, at the very least

Noble... For years dp have been shamed into sending dc in.

Please don't get nasty with dp who suddenly now have to keep them off... It's years of programming!

@OliviaPopeRules that’s my thought. On my childrens’ class what’s app group it’s full of panic of schools shutting and then:

• my DH/I/child has cough etc, but it’s ok it’s cold, allergies etc
• it’s ok we will get the grandparents in
• offers of play dates/suggestions of small groups
• going to other areas of county (caravan, second homes)

You only have to look on threads about chicken pox and tummy bugs - the number of people who go on holiday, “have to get out of house” etc. Despite posters telling them how selfish they are being.

Dozer there were kids sent into school on Friday who were clearly ill.

We’re not talking about a parent being slightly confused about what constitutes a continuous cough (and hey, if your kid is newly coughing a lot, then better safe than sorry) but parents knowing they shouldn’t send their kid in and sending them in anyway.

If local authorities are really saying to send any DC “with so much as a sniffle” or ANY coughing home, then that’s a local decision.

Confusing that they have given different guidance to central government.

Also, local authorities don’t have authority over academies and many other schools.

Please don't get nasty

I’ve not been nasty.

Sure, noble, but did they have fevers and/or “new, continuous” coughs (whatever that is).

At any given time a lot of DC have the common cold, sore throat, earache etc.

Barracker but those who's also work in education what d we do?..
My older dd is no issue to pull out. If it was just her she's OK at home alone..

With her '' slight temp '' but I'm also in education and I have a younger dd and I feel obliged to go in, but I'm terrified about younger dd!
It's not a new cough but she has chest issues.
. If schools sent her home, that makes it far easier for me to leave my work!!

At any given time a lot of DC have the common cold, sore throat, earache etc.

And they will be sent home. Education staff are not doctors.

She can hold her breath for over 10 seconds without coughing

FFS, are people still believing this rubbish that has been circulating about holding your breath being an indicator of being OK?

The problem is the wording they use.

Nursery say persistent or new cough. This cake out in an informative email.

School say cough. This cake out in a 3 line text message.

Doctor surgery say cough. This is a note on the surgery door.

They probably are all following the same guidelines.

That’s not what government has decided.

You’ve said your LA has told schools they have authority over to do that.

I’ll be sending Ds in on Monday with a cough. But he’s had it for three weeks, no temp and I’ve both spoken to 111 on Thursday night and he was seen by a nurse practitioner on Friday morning (complete with face mask) who diagnosed a throat infection.

Yes, Dozer, they did. I talked to them about it.

I teach teenagers, not preschoolers. They know what’s going on.

Noble I also work with dc sent in sick but we are all under new guidance after decades of being told to send dc in sick and we are usually in a domino effect of pressure.

If I was told to get my dd it's win win and not embarrassing at all..

@Dozer if you do the 111 symptom check it asks if you have a "repeated" cough - I think that is clearer for most people. It's a cough that is more than a one-off, but doesn't have to be literally constant.

Genuinely asking for advice...... What are we counting as a continuous cough? My daughter had sore throat last week and started with a cough on Thursday night kept her home on Friday but school said to see how she is over the weekend......not really coughing today but she hasn't been herself. More than happy to keep her off (would prefer to to be honest!!) but is 24 hours continuous? Can her siblings still go to school?

Parents can judge, they know there own child best

Not at our school. Their judgement comes from whether or not they need to work/go to a spin class/have a spa day/can't be arsed to look after them.

We have kids sent into school DAILY who are clearly ill.

Coronavirus will be no different.

Don't much trust 111 either who said it was fine for a child to be at school despite his parent having tested positive for Coronavirus

@Thegreymethod keep her off until 7 days after the cough started. Siblings are up to you.

It’s a new cough the grey - needs to isolate for 7 days.

New AND “continuous”, which is unclear.

Dozer, lets just err on the side of caution shall we?

The NHS 111 “symptom checker” recommended by a PP says “a new continuous cough - this means you've started coughing repeatedly”

Still as clear as mud. “Repeated” has a different meaning to “continuous” and the info is ambiguous.

111 online has clarified that continuous means you have started to cough repeatedly.