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Primary education

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Original poster

What's your school policy on head lice info?

29 replies

amidaiwish · 09/09/2010 16:33

Dithered whether to put this here or in Children's Health, but i'm really interested in your school's policy/approach to head lice rather than getting rid of lice.

Just 4 days into term we have had a text from school announcing "head lice in year 2, please check your child's hair"

We were getting these texts most weeks last year and i can't believe this has happened again so quickly.

We have 3 classes in year 2 - but the text goes to the whole year group. Surely 4 days into term a teacher has seen a child/children scratching furiously and this has triggered the text.

If it is the same children over and over, will the school ever do anything? These blanket texts do not seem to be working!

Does anyone have a nit nurse anymore? Can we club together and pay for one? (or is this not allowed...?)

TIA.

OP posts:
mrz · 09/09/2010 18:28

Nothing much the school can do other than ask parents to check children's heads and treat if they find anything. What we find is parents treat the hair which kills the living lice but fail to get rid of eggs so a few days later back to square one.

No nit nurses as it is considered assault to check a child's hair.

Original poster
amidaiwish · 09/09/2010 18:45

can the teacher do anything specifically like call the parent in if they notice their child scratching, or is that deemed too intrusive?

it just seems crazy, i sent a note to all the parents forwarding advice i received when dd was at nursery re combing for 7 days after no further eggs were found, minimum 2 weeks from time of infestation. That was well received in the class and many mums said they hadn't realised about the combing for that long after the attack. I wonder if we could distribute that advice throughout the school - any restriction on it?

(i know from my HR days that if a work colleague has bad BO for example that you aren't allowed to suggest ways to get rid of it, or hints like "do you know there is a shower upstairs etc...". You have to just state the fact.

OP posts:
mrz · 09/09/2010 19:24

I've phoned parents, spoken to them face to face, asked the school nurse to visit the home, sent home instructions, held meetings with the school nurse to advice how to deal with head lice, collected the huge lice that were falling off their child's head and stuck them to a piece of paper as evidence for the pharmacist (free product on production) and ...
no change the child goes on to infect the class time after time year in and year

nameymcnamechange · 09/09/2010 19:27

My school has called me at home and asked me to take my dc home in the middle of the school day because they have headlice. This is a state primary, btw.

BeerTricksPotter · 09/09/2010 19:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mrz · 09/09/2010 19:48

Oh! forgot the combs! yes we provided every child with a free nit buster comb and the Facts of Lice leaflet!

LA says we can't send a child home because of head lice - state primary too.

pointythings · 09/09/2010 20:14

Our school supplies leaflets drawn up by our local Primary Care Trust - these are actually very useful and do give full information on treatment and follow-up. However, there are still children whose parents just don't bother and that is the problem. We'be been bug-free for over a yaer now, but only because we're completely paranoid - full-on wetcombing with conditioner and Nitty Gritty comb in front of the telly every Saturday evening to check for the little blighters. My two don't start scratching until they're completely crawling (apparently it is quite common for children not to show symptoms straight away!) so paranoia is the only way to go...
Thank goodness they decided to have their hair cut short last March.

Original poster
amidaiwish · 09/09/2010 20:19

the nit buster sheet and nit comb sounds like a good idea. might suggest that at PFA meeting. clearly the "please check your child's hair" softly softly approach isn't working. I am glad you can go straight to the parents if necessary, it only takes one parent who can't be arsed doesn't it. grrrrrrrrr

i wonder if the school can ask the parents to sign in their reading diary that their child's hair has been nit combed... some seem quite oblivious to emails and texts. like everything, the ones that take note of the notices aren't the ones they're aimed at!

OP posts:
asdx2 · 09/09/2010 20:48

Our headteacher checks every child's head periodically unless you opt out and then informs you if he has found anything. I don't know whether the parents are asked to take the child home because he has never found anything on dd. IME headlice seem far less rife than in dd's previous school because of the spot checks so to speak.

nameymcnamechange · 09/09/2010 21:26

Erm ... well ... I can be arsed, actually. But my dc do still get headlice. I wasn't happy about being called in to collect my dc when they had nits because I could be certain that not all of the parents of children who had nits on that given day were being called in. Am quite sure the school didn't have the resources to check all 600 children. They just happened to see mine scratching ...

pointythings · 09/09/2010 21:53

@namey,

And the problem with that is that scratching doesn't necessarily mean they're infected - we do field archery as a family and the wood where our club has their shoots is infested with harvest mites in July through September. They're horrible little critters, you can't see them, they bite you and then drop off and leave you coveredin itchy bites - everywhere. I've had to send notes to school to tell my dcs' teachers that no, it's not nits...

As for the parents of the one child who's always reinfecting everyone else - (insert fantasy punishment of choice here).

Original poster
amidaiwish · 10/09/2010 11:02

i didn't say that children only get headlice because their parents can't be arsed to comb it.

i said that there are parents who can't be arsed to comb it and that the message wasn't getting through to these parents.

i wonder if a sticky-note in every reading diary would work? e.g.
"OCTOBER 1st is nit-busting day. Please comb your child's hair through with conditioner and a nit comb. Please sign below when this has been done".

what do you think?

OP posts:
thetasigmamum · 10/09/2010 11:10

At our school, the whole year group gets sent a letter saying 'headlice! Run run for the hills' or words to that effect. Wink Which is fine. What is not fine is the letter then goes on to say check tonight and if you find anything use X or Y highly toxic chemical product (the letter actually names two of the most toxic remedies there are) on the whole family for a week. There is no warning that the product is toxic, that it might be dangerous for pregnant or nursing mothers, or that there are other solutions. :(

We have a new head this term. I hope she (for it is a laydeeee to contrast with the last 3 heads at that school who have all been men presiding over an almost 100% female staff) will change the letter.

Original poster
amidaiwish · 10/09/2010 11:15

hmmm, well i would not be happy with that!

ours just says "treat if necessary"

still i think there needs to be a "yes i have seen the note and taken action" element to the notification. Mums of boys for a start don't seem to think it applies to them (some, not all). Others are just "too busy" and some have any school texts sent to their nannies/au pairs so they probably don't even see them.

It's just not good enough.

OP posts:
elliepupp · 13/09/2011 12:20

I have thought about offering my skills (?) as an ex-school nurse to schools.
With parental consent I would check each class once a term, give literature and suggestions re treatment (I could buy this in bulk and offer different options at reduced prices) and then do a recheck a month later? Would the schools cough up a nominal amount do you think?

pinkgirlythoughts · 13/09/2011 12:31

Our school phones parents to collect children immediately if they're found to have nits....you have to be able to see the nits without touching the child's head/hair, though, so they would need to be pretty well infested before that happened.

mustdash · 13/09/2011 12:37

DCs school last term decided that no more letters about nits will go out. Apparently it is not fair on the children who have nits, to have attention brought to it. Hmm Personally, I always welcomed the opportunity to be extra vigilant.

The same school however has no problem announcing to the whole year group who has free school meals.

How's that for messed up priorities.

bath70 · 13/09/2011 13:33

We get letters home and we had one of day 2. We do wish our school and local NHS were more proactive though. Isssuing combs to parents would be a great idea. I coludn't get a comb on prescription. Just hedrin which took about a week to get due to being given a prescription for something else which is no longer available. In the end I purchased a comb myself.

Lonnie · 13/09/2011 14:01

I actually think it is dealt with well in the school my youngest 2 are in a letter goes out saying nits have been found in this school year please check

but then I admit I live in white middle class area so most will do just so

sandyballs · 13/09/2011 14:07

What has living in a white middle class area got to do with it?

Lonnie · 13/09/2011 14:24

you know I knew the moment that I wrote it down it would be taken issue with.

sugarandspiceandallthingsnice · 13/09/2011 19:26

At my last school the head refused to let us put it in newsletter! Confused We used to have to tell the parents that we thought we had spotted something. No more nit nurses and we are not allowed to comb etc to my knowledge without permission (and no time anyway). We get as sick of them as you do - had them 6 + times last academic year! Angry

LadyLapsang · 13/09/2011 19:57

Seeing this topic took me back to when DS started in Reception and picked up headlice in the first term...

I told the teacher DS had picked up head lice and I had treated it, letter given out to class, DS's teacher told the class someone has had headlice, DS, very excited, "Oh, it's me!" (He also suggested we should not get rid of them, but keep them as pets...I bought him a gerbil.)

Chelseahandfull · 15/09/2011 10:23

Gosh mrs - how ghastly. The relentlessness of those nits going around the class must be grinding, and how sad you must feel for that poor child.

Chelseahandfull · 15/09/2011 10:26

LadyLapsang - how funny. My little one had the same pet discussion, along with "but Mummy, we are meant to be kind to little creatures" etc. hee hee. Not these ones darling...

Hmm, having read this thread, my head is now v itchy :-)

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