Medical advice and information about when to keep your child at home
A guide to common illnesses that we see most often at Bridgewater:
Cough, colds, headaches & sore throats
It's fine to send your child to school with a minor cough or common cold. However, if they have a raised temperature, shivers or drowsiness, keep them off school until the temperature is normal, without administration of ibuprofen or paracetamol.
Vomiting and/or diarrhoea
A child with vomiting and/or diarrhoea should be kept off school for 48 hours after the symptoms disappear.
Ear infection
If your child has an ear infection and a high temperature or severe earache, keep them off school until they're feeling better or their high temperature goes away.
Chickenpox
If your child has chickenpox, keep them off school until all the spots have crusted over.
This is usually about 5 days after the spots first appeared. Let us know if your child has chickenpox.
Conjunctivitis
You don't need to keep your child away from school if they have conjunctivitis.
Do get advice from your pharmacist. Encourage your child not to rub their eyes and to wash their hands regularly.
Head lice and nits
We do not exclude children from school if they have a headlice infestation, but we ask that you treat your child as soon as possible, because headlice spread very quickly in the school environment. They are treatable without seeing a GP. Please visit the NHS guidance on finding and treating head lice here.
We also ask that you inform us if your child has head lice, so that we can notify other parents and carers in the year group, to ask them to check their children's hair (we will never name your child in this communication).
Impertigo
If your child has impetigo, they'll need treatment from a GP, often with antibiotics. Keep them off school until all the sores have crusted over and healed, or for 48 hours after they start antibiotic treatment. Encourage your child to wash their hands regularly and not to share things like towels and cups with other children at school.
Slapped cheek syndrome (fifth disease)
You don't need to keep your child off school if they have slapped cheek syndrome, because once the rash appears, they're no longer infectious. If you suspect your child has slapped cheek syndrome, take them to see a GP and let us know if they're diagnosed with it.
Threadworms
You don't need to keep your child off school if they have threadworms.
Speak to your pharmacist, who can recommend a treatment.
The advice above is taken from the NHS site. Further information on other ailments can be found here
Bridgewater School follows the Public Health England guide on infection control to ascertain if your child needs to stay off school or can attend. This guidance can be found here and is displayed in the school office.