Occasionally pupils are too unwell to attend school. Mill Green monitors attendance rigorously & will engage with parents and carers as soon as a pattern of absence becomes apparent. When deciding whether or not your child is too ill to attend school, ask yourself:

• Is your child well enough to carry out the activities of the school day? If not, keep your child at home & consult your GP as appropriate.
• Does your child have a condition that could be passed on to other children or school staff? If so, keep your child at home.
• Would you take a day off work if you had this condition? If so, keep your child at home.

Our helpful guides (Minor Ailments and Is My Child Too Ill For School?) can be downloaded using the links to the right.

Informing School of Sickness Absence

By law, only the headteacher can authorise your child’s absence. It is important to keep the school informed if your child is going to be absent as soon as possible at the start of the day. Mill Green has a clear process for you to follow to inform them if your child will not be attending. Telephone the school to tell them that your child will be staying at home. We will ask you about about the nature of the illness & the expected duration of absence from school. If your child is frequently absent due to illness the school may request permission to contact your GP for confirmation that they are too ill to attend school.

If it becomes clear that your child will be away from school for longer than expected, phone the school to explain this as soon as possible. If your child attends school & feels unwell during the school day the school will contact you to arrange collection.

Diarrhoea and Vomiting Exclusion – 48 Hour Rule

From time to time children and young people are sick (vomit) either at home or at school. Unfortunately it is not possible to distinguish between the causes, and therefore it is essential that the same rule of exclusion applies in all cases of vomiting or diarrhoea.

Diarrhoea and/or vomiting commonly affects children and staff and can be caused by a number of different germs, including viruses, parasites and bacteria. Infections can be easily spread from person to person (by unwashed hands), especially in children. In general, it is recommended that any staff member, child or young person with diarrhoea and/or vomiting symptoms must stay away or be excluded from the school until they have been free of symptoms for 48 hours (the ‘48 hour rule’) and feel well. Personal hygiene whilst ill must be very strict.

If your child is sick at school, we will ask you or your emergency contact to take your child home. They should not return for 48 hours to the school premises (this includes being in and around the swimming pool). We appreciate that this is inconvenient in many cases, and you may not believe your child is ill, but you will appreciate that we do this in all cases and it should reduce the risk of infection for all children in school. As an example, if your child is sick at lunchtime on a Tuesday, they should not return to school until after lunch on Thursday, provided there have not been any further episodes of vomiting and/or diarrhoea.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

Further guidance on infection control may be found on the UK Health Security Agency Preventing and Controlling Infections and Public Health Exclusion Table.

* Please note that ‘exclusion’ in this context is different to the definition outlined in education based Exclusions Policy.