SCHOOL ABSENCES

Following on from last week’s newsletter item from Mrs. Foster regarding unaccountable absences from school for students, please read the following important information.

As we all know, attending school is vitally important to all students. It is also vitally important to know when your child is to not to attend school due to illness. This can be very difficult at times for parents to judge.

As we are coming into the winter months, I thought I’d take this time to remind parents of a few reasons why students should not attend the school environment while they are unwell.

As we are aiming to build resilience with all of our students, we want them to learn to cope with minor health issues. We, as a school, have the responsibility to care for all students by preventing outbreaks of any contagious illness.

In doing this, we need students to remain at home when any of the following have occurred:

If your child has vomited at home, please keep your child home from school for a full 24 hours from the last vomit. Many students are sent home after coming to school still unwell, and then also vomit in the classroom. This spreads the germs and greatly disrupts the classroom and learning of other students.

If you need to administer Nurofen or Panadol to your child in the morning before school, then your child is not well enough for school. These drugs wear off around lunch time and often the student starts to feel unwell again. These drugs camouflage underlining illnesses and the germs can still spread.

If your child has a hard persistent cough, this can disrupt other students in the classroom from learning due to the sound of the coughing and the child being unable to hear the teacher. If your child is coughing persistently, this will also tire your child and they will not be at their peak to learn, due to being exhausted from coughing. Furthermore, coughing spreads droplets of germs throughout the classroom and can be quickly spread to the students and staff. Obviously, coughs can linger after having a cold, and it is reasonable for a student to come back to school with the occasional cough.

No student should be at school if they have had diarrhoea within the last 24 hours. Click on the link below from the Department of Health guidelines for the full fact sheet. http://www.health.vic.gov.au/edfactsheets/downloads/gastroenteritis-in-children.pdf

If your child has a temperature, 24 hours need to have elapsed once the temperature stops before returning to school.

If your child is suffering from any other contagious disease or illness, please get your doctors approval before attending school again.

To help reduce the spread of illness, please take the time to discuss personal hygiene with your child. Remind them to cover their mouth and nose when they cough or sneeze, dispose of any tissues in the bin and wash their hands properly and regularly.

If your child has been prescribed antibiotics that are to be administered three times per day, these can be administered at home. The first dose can be administered between 7am – 8.30am, the following dose can be administered between 3.45pm – 4.30pm. Then the last dose can be given at 8pm or before bed.

Please be aware the school is not allowed to provide Panadol to students.

If your child becomes unwell at school, you will be contacted and required to arrange for your child to be picked up within a reasonable timeframe.

Whilst your child may still want to attend school, despite being unwell, please explain that they can’t due to them being too unwell and also explain the dangers of spreading germs to other students and staff.

Also, a child may feel better at home, but if they come back to school too early, they can quickly deteriorate due to being exposed to a busy classroom environment, and recess and lunch time physical activities.

Thank you for supporting these procedures and for helping to contain illnesses within our school community.

Amanda Daemen

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