Should my child stay home from school?

Parents often ask us if their child should be in school.  If your child has no temperature but has a cough, cold, headache, earache, then as with adults, medical advice is to give them paracetemol, (suitable for children, Calpol etc), and send them to school.  We will always contact you if your child's condition worsens or if we believe it is contagious such as chicken pox, vomiting etc.

Preventing or minimizing illnesses - it can be done!

One way to lessen the number of days your child needs to stay at home is to prevent the illness in the first place.

Childhood immunisations can prevent many diseases, such as measles, mumps, and chicken pox.  Many illnesses can also be prevented through proper hygiene.

Some hygiene reminders for your children:

• not to share food
• not to share drinks
• to throw away used tissues
• to wash hands frequently using soap or hand sanitizer.

Did you know that of the pupils who miss between 10% and 20% of school:

• Only 66% of pupils gained a Level 4+ in English or Mathematics at Key Stage 2, compared to 87% of pupils with over 95% attendance.

• Only 35% manage to go on to achieve five A* to C GCSE including English and Mathematics, compared to 73% of pupils with over 95% attendance.

DFE, 2011

Finally remember to phone the school for any absence and bring a note when your child returns to confirm the reason for the absence.

Please note: regulations for schools give Head Teachers the right to consider whether to accept the parents/carers reasons with regard to their child's medical absence, and they may decide not to authorise these absences.