The Government has updated its guidelines for helping parents decide whether their child is well enough to go to school. 1News breaks down what you need to know.
One of the things they don’t tell you when you’re expecting a baby is how many times you will look at that child’s snotty nose or listen to their cough over the coming years and wonder whether you should send them to school or not.
A years-long pandemic has not made that decision much easier.
But Associate Education Minister David Seymour wants to help by releasing new health guidance on when to keep kids at home and when to send them to school.
The refreshed guidelines are part of Seymour’s plan to lift New Zealand’s school attendance rates, with short-term illness or medical reasons currently the biggest cause of justified absences.
“I think we’re going to have to start being a bit clearer about what exactly is a valid reason to stay home,” he told RNZ’s Checkpoint earlier this month.
Today, Seymour said health was important, “but you don’t keep people home under all circumstances”.
“Sometimes you’ve got to make a call between health and education, and we’re bringing back some balance in that regard.”
Here is what the Government’s advice now says about making that call.
When a child can still go to school:
The advice describes mild symptoms that may not necessarily mean a student is infectious.
If a child hasn’t had a fever for 24 hours or had medicine to reduce their fever in that time, and only have a mild cough, headache or runny/blocked nose, they can go to school if they have tested negative for Covid-19 and seem otherwise happy.
The advice says children with a history of hay fever or allergies can go to school if they develop their usual symptoms of sneezing, coughing, a runny or blocked nose or itchy face.
“If your child only has a runny nose after a change in air temperature, for example, moving from outdoors to indoors, or they only sneeze because of the sun or dust, they do not need to be kept home from school,” the advice says.
Children can also go to school with eczema.
When a child should be kept home:
The health advice outlines several “symptoms of concern” that should mean children stay home from school.
These are:
- Fever
- Vomiting or diarrhoea
- Sore throat
- School sores and other skin infections that are red, swollen, oozing, weeping or blistered, or feel hot to touch
- A new rash or itches
- Head lice (nits) and scabies
- Wheezing or difficulty breathing.
Children should stay home for five days if they test positive for Covid-19, although the guidance says some students may need longer to recover. If somebody else at home has Covid, students can still go to school if they don’t have symptoms and feel well.
Children also need to stay home from school if they have another infectious illness that their doctor or the public health service have said they need to isolate with.
As always, if a child gets increasingly unwell, parents or caregivers are advised to get health advice.
Guidance for anxiety
The Government’s advice includes a section dedicated to students experiencing anxiety about going to school.
Common symptoms of anxiety over school include: Not wanting to get up and ready; feeling sick or having stomach aches or headaches; being angry at home or school; not sleeping well; and worrying about small issues, such as having the right things for school.
The guidance includes advice for helping an anxious child get back to school, as well as links to other mental wellbeing supports.