However, please avoid unnecessary absences and encourage your children to attend school if they have just a mild illness. This text is taken straight from the NHS webpage called “Is my child too ill for school?”

“It’s fine to send your child to school with a minor cough or common cold. But if they have a fever, keep them off school until the fever goes. Encourage your child to throw away any used tissues and to wash their hands regularly.”

and;

“If your child has mild COVID 19 symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough, and feels well enough, they can go to school. Your child should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if they have symptoms of COVID-19 and they either:

• have a high temperature
• do not feel well enough to go to school or do their normal activities.

Your child is no longer required to do a COVID-19 rapid lateral flow test if they have symptoms. But if your child has tested positive for COVID-19, they should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days after the day they took the test.

The “Is my child too ill for school?” page does have lots of examples of when it is wise (for your child but also the rest of the school community) for your child to not come in to school. I really encourage you to read it carefully.

It is also worth noting that the GPs are being encouraged to maximise school attendance by Royal College of General Practitioners alongside the Department for Education recognising the other challenges that families and schools are facing.