Guidance on keeping children off from school for illness

It can be tricky knowing whether to keep your child off school or nursery when they're unwell.

By law if your child is aged 5 to 16 years old they must be in full-time education (at school or at home). It's important to phone school or nursery the first morning and on a daily basis to let them know if you are keeping your child at home and the reason they won't be in.

Missing a lot of school because of ill-health can have a big impact not only on your child's education, but also on how they feel about school. It may affect their confidence, make them feel socially isolated and they may feel nervous about going back to school.

The advice in the below link is based on government guidelines. Some schools and nurseries may have their own rules. If these rules are causing problems and are different to those below then it may be worth directing your child's school or nursery to the official guidelines by the UK Health Security Agency.

https://wyhealthiertogether.nhs.uk/parentscarers/child-unwell-ok-go-nurseryschool

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

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