Keeping DC off school- Have I got this wrong?

[Smallsteps88]

DC started school on Monday 7/9/20.

By the time of returning from school on the evening of Wednesday 9/9/20 they were both coughing and had sore throats. Very clear to me that it was just colds from returning to school but school school require a negative covid test before they can come back to school. This has been repeatedly advised via all school social media and letters.

I kept them off on the Thursday 10/09/20 and got drive in covid test appointments that afternoon.

Test results arrived (negative) on the Saturday 12/09/20 so they were off on the Friday 11/09/20 and returned to school on Monday 14/09/20. Still coughing but not as bad as at the start.

Thursday evening 17/09/20 DC2 feeling awful with streaming nose, blocked sinuses, and coughing badly again. Another cold or just worsening of the one they already had. Friday morning DC1 was the same so kept both off school. No tests available although I didn’t think they would qualify as the cough wasn’t new.

DC were feeling fine by the Monday 21/019/20 and went to school.

DC1 was sick again by the Wednesday evening and stayed off the Thursday 24/09/20 & Friday 25/09/20

It’s worth noting that at this time there became a huge increase in local covid cases in our town that has continued to rise since then.

By the Friday 25/09/20 evening DC2 was feeling rough again, I figured the weekend with plenty of sleep would sort him out but he wasn’t any better by Monday 28/09/20 and so I didn’t send him in. Older Dc also still not well enough to go in.

DC2 felt well enough to go in on Thursday 01/10/20 and has been well since.

Yesterday head of year told him his attendance wasn’t good enough. I have asked the head of year to contact me to discuss this.

Have I been wrong to keep DC off school in these circumstances? I work FT and if I don’t work I don’t get paid so it has been a nightmare for me to make this decision each time. DC2 has SEN and can’t stay home alone so if he is off I am off and not earning. I thought I was doing the responsible thing and following the school guidelines. Most of the days he was off he wasn’t well enough to be in school anyway but on the days he was well but coughing he couldn’t have attended without a negative covid test according to the school rules.

No, you've not been wrong and thank you for being a responsible parent. Regardless of what they've had, you've reduced spread.

I'd imagine schools are also managing cases of absenteeism of pupils who aren't unwell (there's been posts on threads about this on here of how to navigate keeping well DC off due to safety concerns yet keep their DC registered) whereas yours clearly have been unwell.

In hindsight I'd have tried to get another test (I realise this was really tricky at the time, but they were available when being persistent) just so that I could rule it out (false negatives, cases rising, possible to have a cold and covid at the same time) as then I could go back to work. But no, you aren't doing the wrong thing.
We have a responsibility to protect others.
I'm sorry you've been out of pay and thank you for protecting everyone. I hope your children are on the mend now.

How frustrating for you! I’m dreading this kind of revolving door situation. I actually think it’s responsible to keep children with colds off at the moment as the more that these spread, the more children develop Covid-like symptoms and have to be tested and isolate.

Thank you everyone. I thought I was going mad and had misinterpreted the rules. I’ve spoken with the head of year now and confirmed that all his absences were due to illness or the self isolation required in the absence of a negative test. He is happy with this, he said he hadn’t intended to cause any concern and that he had been speaking with all pupils who have been off school so it wasn’t that he had singled out DS or that Ds’ attendance was of particular concern.

Rules or no rules and tests or no tests..your kids sound like they've been feeling horrible so I don't think you should feel bad for keeping them off. I can't imagine that they'd have wanted to be in school
I'm a teacher and I have chronic illnesses and take a lot of time off work myself over the years. I hate that kids aren't allowed to be off school simply because they feel unwell. All the attendance stuff it utter bollocks. And also why would schools want kids passing stuff round even not in a pandemic.

Stick up for your kids. One, you followed the rules and two...they felt rough and needed to be at home!

I can't imagine that they'd have wanted to be in school

Not initially but they were both fed up at home before long. My eldest was suffering a lot more than the youngest but he still wanted to go to school. He got up one morning and showered and dressed only to climb straight into bed in his uniform as he was just feeling awful. They’re both anxious about missing school and falling behind. We’ve been trying to keep up at home but for some reason the school has decided to only use google classroom in the event of school closure which to me sounds silly as loads of DC will be off on different days so it makes sense to upload work on a daily basis for anyone who is off. They must have a reason for it.