Boy infecting entire class

[Neverplayleapfrogwithmrpipes]

My daughter is in Y8. This week a boy has been in all week with Covid. He is symptomatic and coughing constantly. The school have tried to send him home but unfortunately there was no one available to collect him and he keeps coming in daily.

I totally understand that parents have to work and schools expect high attendance which doesn't help but I wouldn't send my child in with flu or norovirus or Covid.

I don't know what the solution is but now several kids in the class have also started showing symptoms.

@NowWhattt really?! They can't have it that badly then. When my DD had it last year, she was throwing up loads. There's no way school would have wanted her there!

If it was flu like he'd be too ill to physically go to school. Hope no one in the school has a compromised immune system.

I have previously worked in education and sadly plenty of parents sent their kids in looking greener than a fish!

But if he’s coughing but overall feels fine you’d usually send them to school. You can’t keep them off for every cold. We’ve already had letters about attendance from our secondary which really annoy me but they do imply you should send them in no matter what.

Sorry OP. It's a real shitshow. Thousands and thousands of kids with long covid and some people are still 'meh'.

It doesn’t matter. It’s Covid . It affects everyone differently.

I had it the same time as my two children. It was hideous and yet we all had completely symptoms.

This kid may luckily have it mild. Whoever may be infected from them may not be so lucky.

Sorry @NowWhattt the post you've quoted was referencing parents sending their kids in with norovirus, not covid! I honestly can't imagine going to school with noro.

My son caught COVID last year on a residential school trip. The school told us we could still send him in. We didn't, he stayed home a few days until feeling better and testing negative but others continued to go to school who had it. They were encouraged to by the school. More children then caught it. If kids are ill, COVID or anything else they should be at home if at all.possible.

That's absolutely disgusting.

I would write to the governors about that. It's utterly discriminatory anyone who has to have any hospital/medical appointments whatsoever regardless of the random colds/sick bugs/Covid that go around

From my experience.. I have known parents do this and openly admit it. My youngest missed his 5th birthday party ( we had to cancel) as he caught Norovirus … some arsehole parent in his class blatantly told me that little Johnny had been violently sick all over the entire weekend but she had taken him into school on the Monday as she needed a rest. Not only did my kid catch it but most of the class.

Tis what it is. Unfortunately there is fuck all
you can do about other people’s selfishness.

A year 8 child is old enough to stay home alone.
But if he feels well enough for school he will be in just as he would with a cold.

NHS community clinician and told to come in with a positive lft, my clinical lead questioned why I’d even tested.

I feel for the child but even the nhs aren’t isolating their Covid positive staff - it now counts towards absence triggers and the advice is not to test…

I’m a teacher and I agree, I hate these kinds of policies. You have Ofsted to thank though. They want 96% and above attendance and scrutinise the data surrounding it. And, whilst it doesn’t have a separate grading the attendance evidence is used when deciding the judgement for leadership/management and behaviour/attitudes.
For many schools, attendance has taken a huge hit since Covid and so they need to be seen to be doing something to fix it. Of course, most people realise that for those pupils with persistant absence, a rewards assembly and trip isn’t going to fix it because the problem is societal and cannot be fixed by schools. All you do is annoy the pupils and parent who missed half a day for a hospital referral or a few days for covid or norovirus.

The attendance thing and the encouraging sick kids in is ironic, given that illness is the prime reason for absence.

@MiddleParking

One of my DC is autistic and asthmatic. He is vulnerable. Lovely to know people can’t be bothered organising childcare to avoid putting other people’s kids in hospital.

@Neverplayleapfrogwithmrpipes the kids parents are thoughtless pricks.

Odd that the family care enough to test themselves (not easy these days) and yet not enough to isolate when the test comes back positive.

Strange that his family would test and then still send him in.
Maybe he's making it up for some reason?

Seems odd to bother doing a test and then ignore the results and carry on...just don't test in the first place if you don't want to do anything about it.

I think some people test if they might be going to see someone they know is vulnerable but then aren’t bothered about the potentially vulnerable colleagues or others they spend all day with. School attendance schemes won’t help.

Testing for the vulnerable doesn’t make much sense to me anyway if you have symptoms don’t go if someone is vulnerable. Maybe test if just recovered

You know the staff in the school will more than likely be around him with covid at some point right?

The current advice, which is extremely wishy washy, is:

COVID-19

If your child has mild symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough, and feels well enough, they can go to school.

Your child should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if they have symptoms of COVID-19 and they either:

• have a high temperature
• do not feel well enough to go to school or do their normal activities

What to do if your child has tested positive.

Your child is no longer required to do a COVID-19 rapid lateral flow test if they have symptoms. But if your child has tested positive for COVID-19, they should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days after the day they took the test.

@Wibblywobblylikejelly

We are all vaccinated in our house and have booster jabs every year.

The school still have a very strict infection control policy in place, it would be frowned upon if staff broke with this as they are an example to the children.

Why does having gainful employment mean it's OK to send your ill child into school? There's an excellent chance this child is putting vulnerable people in danger.

Wow, it's like schools actively want to be closed again with these 100% attendance awards.

Aren't staffing issues bad enough?

Those poor sick kids being sent off to school when they're poorly.

They can frown on it all they like.
The real question would be are ALL staff receiveing a full wage and it excluded from.their sickness record.

Because if either of those things aren't happening I'll be staff will go in.

Ps there has already been an outbreak in DC class - all of them got vomiting and diarrhoea from it (positive tests) so needless to say complied with the recommendation to stay home while infected.