Sickness & Absence
When your child is ill it is difficult to know if you should send your child into school. These guidelines from the NHS website should help. Click here to directly to the NHS website.
Not all illnesses needs a child to stay away from school. If you need to keep your child at home you must inform the school by calling 01908 376011 by 8.30am.
Some questions that you could ask yourself before making the decision if your child is too ill to attend school are;
- Is my child well enough to do the activities of the school day? If not, keep your child at home.
- Does my child have a condition that could be passed on to other children or school staff? If so, keep your child at home.
- Would I take a day off work if I had this condition? If so, keep your child at home.
If your child is ill, it's likely to be due to one of the few minor health conditions that you can find more information out about below.
Cough and cold
A child with a minor cough or cold may attend school. If the cold is accompanied by a raised temperature, shivers or drowsiness, the child should stay off school, visit the GP and return to school 24 hours after they start to feel better. If a child has a more severe and long-lasting cough, they should go to a GP. They can give guidance on whether your child should stay off school.
Vomiting and diarrhoea.
Children with diarrhoea and/or vomiting must be kept off school until at least 48 hours after their symptoms have gone. Most cases of diarrhoea and vomiting in children get better without treatment, but if symptoms persist, consult a GP.
Sore throat.
A sore throat alone doesn't have to keep a child from school. But if it's accompanied by a raised temperature, your child should stay at home.
Healthier Together Website
The Healthier Together website is a digital resource designed to support children, young people and their parents/carers. It aims to empower parents and carers – giving them the right tools to manage their children and young people’s physical health and emotional well-being. In addition, it has a lot of information for young people to access and use for themselves.
The section for Parents/Carers covers key areas such as ‘Should my child go to school/nursery today’, information on a range of common illnesses and childhood vaccinations, in addition to a large section on SEND. Another section entitled Health for Young People speaks directly to young people and provides information on mental health, sexual health and LGBTQ+ issues.
Thanks to a functionality called Recite Me, the site is also accessible to people who may be disabled, visually impaired, speak English as a second language or are elderly. The web content can be translated into over 100 different languages.