sickness policy.

[pink84]

Dc's school does not allow children to return to school until 48 hours have elapsed since last bout sickess.
Is this common in most primary schools?

Think it's 24 hrs in ours.

Yes certainly at our school - they do mean actual vomiting and/or diarrohea though rather than just feeling a bit poorly/under the weather. So if child has been off with a sore throat they can go back in the next day if no temperature and they feel better. But if they have been sick then they cannot go in for 48 hours even if they are bouncing off the walls.

Yes it's normal and it's recommended by the Health Protection Agency and the NHS.

So it's important to stick to it. Otherwise the whole school rapidly gets whatever your child had, especially the little ones who aren't the best at washing hands..

It's a bit difficult though if you have a child who gets sick for non-bug related reasons - eg DD threw up on the first night staying at her cousin's - we'd been doing a lot of traveling (live abroad); strange bed, different people around her - she was fine in the morning. She was also sick a couple of times in the morning of what was supposed to be her first day at school - fine by 10am. If I had to wait 48 hours (which I have seen in various places) she would have missed 2 days for no benefit to anyone; she wasn't infectious. Fortunately, school understood...... (also fortunately she does like school now she's started!)

The problem is though you can't always be sure what has caused it. So it's fairer on everyone to wait 24 hours if it was a one off.

It would be nice if schools could make exceptions where children have been ill from, e.g., travel sickness and pose no risk of infection to anyone else. Unfortunately, too many people already take the p^&s in sending obviously unwell children to school because they have to work or have other plans.

jane - 24, ok, but 48 (which I think is the school policy)? there has to be some room for common sense (though I think I just wouldn't tell the school if they had been travel sick, not particularly intentionally but it wouldn't occur to me it was relevant)

Yes. Ours allow 24 in most cases however at times of great affliction they send out a note asking people to observe the 48 as half the school is off.

I think it's a good compromise...unfortunately some people still do take the piss, and base whether to return a child to school on their work/other commitments rather than how contagious that child is likely to be.

I guess it happens everywhere

48 hour rule here.