Illness Policy Explanation
Why it is important to keep your child off school when ill
At Aclet Close Nursery School, where most of the staff are parents ourselves, we understand that taking the decision to keep your child off school is a hard one. Apart from childcare, there is the difficulty that children often want to come, even though they are not well enough. It is particularly difficult when there is an event coming up that you and they have been looking forward to.
There are very good reasons why children need to be kept off Nursery
- Infection Control
Small children, despite our close care, do not always have the have the highest hygiene standards. Hands are not always washed as carefully as possible, and some children are fairly new to the concept of toilets; consequently gastro-intestinal problems will spread rapidly. Children are also naturally very ‘touchy-feely’ at this age – they hug, they cuddle, they touch and they share – everything. The only sure way of reducing this is to say that if a child has had either sickness or diarrhoea (loose bowel movement) then they MUST stay away from school for at least 48 after the last episode of sickness and diarrhoea.
- Viruses
The same applies to some viruses – for some children these can be a nuisance – for others the consequences can be more severe. We follow the ‘Public Health England Guidance on Infection Control in Schools and other childcare settings’ and the ‘exclusion table’:
We are happy to advise parents/carers as to when a child should return to Nursery.
- Medicines and Antibiotics
With your written permission, we are able to administer medicines/antibiotics if your child is well enough in themselves to attend school*. Please call at the office to complete the relevant paperwork.
*Please note that medications must be prescribed for 4 times daily.
We ask that children are not given calpol/medicines before attending and that they aren’t dropped off at Nursery whilst asleep, as this can mask symptomsand prevent staff from accurately monitoring any deterioration.
Keeping in touch
A first day phone call takes place for absence; therefore, we ask you to ring Nursery to let us know if your child is ill; this helps us to advise other families and to report to Public Health, if needed.
