threadworm at school - should the class teacher send home a notice for parents?

[mumwithtwo]

Hi there, I would be interested to get some feedback on this topic. My son has had recurrent threadworms in his first two years at school, so far about four times a year. Every time we treat it with tablets from the pharmacy, and our whole family is treated. I asked his school if they could send home a notice to parents in his class, so they could be aware and treat their children if they had symptoms of threadworm (worms are very contagious between children). The school said they would not do this. I was very surprised, as if there is a case of head lice, a notice is sent home to inform parents. My feeling is that if there are untreated children with threadworm at the school, the problem will persist. What are people's thoughts on this? Thanks!

[Bitchinkitchen]

@Flaxmeadow

We were also given vitamins, by the teachers, milk by the teachers, alerts of care. They were great but that's back when teaching was a vocation

Do you think that maybe all that sort of basic responsibility being taken on by teachers rather than the people who should have been doing it parents has led to generations of adults who aren't aware of the basics of care that kids need, and now that teachers are nolonger permitted to do those sorts of things, those basic standards of care are falling?

[Appuskidu]

They were great but that's back when teaching was a vocation

Are you suggesting that teachers now care less about children than teachers did 50 years ago?

[CallmeAngelina]

Thanks for describing what a nail brush looks like, @Flaxmeadow, or we might never have known.
Why on earth would a parent need to go into school to teach their child how to use one? What's wrong with doing it, oh I don't know, at home?

[CallmeAngelina]

Gosh, anyone would think that @Flaxmeadow is on the thread purely to take yet another pop at what she perceived to be a shit teaching profession.

[mumwithtwo]

Thanks for the messages.
Yeah I think the school deputy principal is scared of alarming the parents if they sent a note about threadworms home. It's funny really, because I just went and told as many mums from my son's class as possible, and told them to spread the word (not spread the worm! ha ha!). I'm in New Zealand, so school is back.

[mumwithtwo]

By the way, my son's symptoms of threadworm are as follows:
irritable, grinding teeth while sleeping, tearful outbursts, itchy bum, hyperactive behaviour - all in the few days leading up to discovering the threadworms. How much ADHD behaviour in schools is to do with threadworms, there might be a link. . . It is quite interesting because my son (age 7) had them seven or eight times in two years since he started school and now we can spot the signs. I have a stash of the threadworm tablets now!!! By the way, threadworm are spread between children and are not from animals - animals have different kinds of worm but not threadworm. We don't have any pets.

[mumwithtwo]

That sounds awesome. Wish my kid's school would do that.

[mumwithtwo]

@wagtailred

We send out a letter about threadworms, same as a nit note. We also do a little chat and talk about handwashing (although thats a big topic anyway now).

Sounds like a good plan.

[solidaritea]

@Flaxmeadow

We were also given vitamins, by the teachers, milk by the teachers, alerts of care. They were great but that's back when teaching was a vocation

Universal milk provision (which was given by the government, not teachers) is no longer necessary due to changes in lifestyle. Other types of care are more necessary now, and so schools provide that. For example, all schools now have safeguarding leads who carry out support that used to be the remit of social services.

As for nailbrushes, I assumed they were phased out because they weren't particularly effective, especially when shared. Nothing specifically to do with schools. This website www.healthline.com/health/how-to-clean-under-nails is obviously not a research journal but is as far as I can be bothered to research. It suggests that nail brushes don't really do anything. PHE advice is everywhere now - it shows how to rub nails on palm and rub thumb, with no mention of a nail brush. I presume if PHE think this is sufficient, then this is sufficient.