It seems that we are on full on winter survival mode in the UK at least! It has been much colder with lots of snow and ice than what it normally is tis time of the year. In addition to this, many children and adults are falling ill.

It seems that there is a really nasty case of flu or Covid or something else going around. Some of my students and my son have been very unwell with fly type symptoms. My son just got better after spending a week in bed, which is very uncommon for him. I can only imagine how bad it could be for those with any underlying health conditions. And it is not just affecting children; I have heard of parents catching it from their kids, just like my husband did from our son!

And it seems that even more children are coughing; a symptom most likely caused by the same bacteria/ virus. It could even be Strep A, as there have unfortunately been outbreaks of it in schools causing severe un-wellness in some.

This raises the question of when is it up to parents whether they feel comfortable taking their children to school. For example, if there is reports of many children being ill, is it ok for a parent to keep their child home in order for them to not get severely ill? Or should they follow the school’s strict attendance policy?

There should really be more leniency with this, in particular after Covid and schools need to trust parents’ judgment at times.