New rules for sickness/diarrhoea exclusion

[green4lynn]

My daughters school has sent home a leaflet saying that the exclusion period for sickness and diarrhoea has been reduced to 24hrs from last bout of illness. It is from the council (East Riding of Yorkshire) so I'm guessing it'll be extended to include all schools and possibly settings. Has anyone else had a similar thing?

[Mouse]

Our schools have had this for a while now. I think it's all to do with targets to minimise the amount of time children are absent from school. I'm not sure how much it actually takes the children's well-being into account!

I was in trouble a couple of years back when i kept my daughter off school for 48 hours, even though she was fine after being sick just the once. I was told she should have been back at school the next day if she was fine!

[EmmaReed84]

This makes me laugh so much! My school once called me up to collect my son because he was coughing... Yes you read that right... COUGHNG!

I picked him up and took him straight to the doctors, mainly because I knew he was okay and didn't need to be off and wanted to be able to say the doctor also advised the same.

The next day I took him in and said he was fine, nothing wrong at all, just a little cough! The reply was "Oh okay, so if he starts again we can just give him a little drink!"

Then two weeks later my friend's child was off because she was sick, like stupidly sick! My friend called in everyday and the school moaned because it was affecting their attendance!

[Kiddleywinks]

I too think this has more to do with the pressure being placed on schools to meet attendance targets than on the well being of the children. Surely the government should be following the HSE guidelines when considering these targets....?

Thinking about it, won't the attendance be affected more by reducing the timescale :

1 child off for 48 hours versus multiple children off for 24 hours?

[Simona]

My daughters school has sent home a leaflet saying that the exclusion period for sickness and diarrhoea has been reduced to 24hrs from last bout of illness. It is from the council (East Riding of Yorkshire) so I'm guessing it'll be extended to include all schools and possibly settings. Has anyone else had a similar thing?

There has been NO change in the guidance for registered settings from Public Health England and until we hear to the contrary that is what we should follow which is 48 hrs...that was recently confirmed by one of my local Health Visitors

I know some settings choose to apply 24 hrs but that is their choice

Unless we have a change in our EYFS we must follow that under the Health requirements...better be safe than sorry

[vickylou]

I received a letter yesterday from my son's secondary school to say that now you have to ring in everyday child is absent or it will be unauthorised attendance! And if absent for 3 days they will require a doctor's note!! Sure the doctors are going to love having all these kids turning up at their surgeries during d&v season just to get a doctor's note!!! Oh and that is if you can even get an appointment! Apparantly if no doctors note then all days will be marked unauthorised and we will get a £150 fine from the magistrates court!!!!! School has new head and think she wants to stamp her mark!!!

[bunyip]

Remember that you are also a 'food business' and as such, the environmental health people expect anyone with D&V to be kept away from the premises for the 48 hours.

[hectors house]

I received a letter yesterday from my son's secondary school to say that now you have to ring in everyday child is absent or it will be unauthorised attendance! And if absent for 3 days they will require a doctor's note!! Sure the doctors are going to love having all these kids turning up at their surgeries during d&v season just to get a doctor's note!!! Oh and that is if you can even get an appointment! Apparantly if no doctors note then all days will be marked unauthorised and we will get a £150 fine from the magistrates court!!!!! School has new head and think she wants to stamp her mark!!!

This is to stop people taking the children on holiday during term time and phoning from Spain (or wherever) and saying child is sick.

[sing-low]

Remember that you are also a 'food business' and as such, the environmental health people expect anyone with D&V to be kept away from the premises for the 48 hours.
But doesn't t that apply to schools too?!

If my kids' school reduced the exclusion period, I'd be kicking up a fuss.

[wee_elf]

Just wait until all the teachers are off with it, they will quickly change their tune if they have to close suddenly!

[Emra81]

I received a letter yesterday from my son's secondary school to say that now you have to ring in everyday child is absent or it will be unauthorised attendance! And if absent for 3 days they will require a doctor's note!! Sure the doctors are going to love having all these kids turning up at their surgeries during d&v season just to get a doctor's note!!! Oh and that is if you can even get an appointment! Apparantly if no doctors note then all days will be marked unauthorised and we will get a £150 fine from the magistrates court!!!!! School has new head and think she wants to stamp her mark!!!

Unless the rules have changed, even in employment you self certify as being ill for the first 7 days so I really don't see how the school can expect the local doctors surgeries to support this new policy! I'd also question the legalities of this in terms of the £150 fine from the magistrates court....I bet that new head has had an earful from many a parent since that letter went out!

And re the op about changing the exclusion period to 24 hours - I recently posted on another thread about one of my parents getting D&V from his son (my mindee) and then passing it on to his own Mum who he visited over 24 hours after being symptom free. Until there is clinical evidence that 24 hours is enough and the HPA change their recommendations then I'm sticking to 48!

[bunyip]

But doesn't t that apply to schools too?!

If my kids' school reduced the exclusion period, I'd be kicking up a fuss.

I would've thought so. Although I guess the school can claim that the food business side of things is down to the catering contractors and say it's their job to manage the food side of things. Divide and rule - or divide and dodge the responsibility. :(

I think the issue is that people get screamed at by their superiors if they fail to hit targets, such as attendance. They therefore take risks on little details such as, say, staff and children's health because 99% of the time they'll get away with it. That only becomes an issue if something goes wrong. Sadly, there is a huge risk-taking culture of "getting away with it" in modern life. :mad:

[Simona]

Unless the rules have changed, even in employment you self certify as being ill for the first 7 days so I really don't see how the school can expect the local doctors surgeries to support this new policy! I'd also question the legalities of this in terms of the £150 fine from the magistrates court....I bet that new head has had an earful from many a parent since that letter went out!

And re the op about changing the exclusion period to 24 hours - I recently posted on another thread about one of my parents getting D&V from his son (my mindee) and then passing it on to his own Mum who he visited over 24 hours after being symptom free. Until there is clinical evidence that 24 hours is enough and the HPA change their recommendations then I'm sticking to 48!

Totally agree with you...until HPE changes the rules then I will comply with 48 hrs...let guidance be followed and not changed willy nilly as in EYFS and Ofsted who interpret their own way

Should children with V&D be in school? will they cope when not well...of course not...we forget about them as irrelevant

Quite a few issues raised in this thread...the fine for absence is probably due to schools being responsible and accountable to DfE for children missing days at schools...hence not taking/granting holidays during term time

Parents have to let the school know each day if a child is ill...that I am aware of....yes they could be in Spain and saying child is ill with V&D so not back until Monday and they get a long weekend break...schools cannot ask GPs to provide certificates as GPs have not got time for that and it is not a requirement.

Has anyone ever seen a policy on exclusion in any school displayed where all parents can see it...such as in every classroom door?
I have experienced many times children been sent to school with V&D and told to say nothing because parents are under pressure to go to work

Are there any examples of parents being fined by the magistrates court? the fine is imposed by the school and paid to the school...another source of funding for them I fear...who would pay to take a case to the court? the school? ...very unlikely

V&D usually disappears within a few days but there are instances when it can turn nasty for children...is it worth risking that for a few hours of missed lessons?
I fear not!