Keeping Healthy & Safe at School
Illness and children’s attendance at school
If your child has COVID-19
With the resurgence of Covid-19 in our community and school, if your child is unwell and tests positive for covid-19 we ask that they stay home for 5 days to avoid the spread through our school and to protect our students with high health needs.
When should your child stay home from school?
The Government has released new guidelines aimed at helping parents and schools decide whether a child is too sick to attend school.
The guidelines suggest keeping your child home from school if they are too sick to learn and need time to rest and recover. This could include testing positive for Covid-19 or displaying a “symptom of concern” such as a fever, vomiting or diarrhoea, having difficulty breathing, or if they have been diagnosed with an infectious disease.
If your child experiences vomiting or diarrhoea, they should stay home for 48 hours after the last episode to prevent spreading the illness.
When should your child go to school?
The guidelines suggest children are fine to go to school if they have mild respiratory symptoms such as a mild cough, headache or runny nose, (excluding Covid-19), hay fever or allergy symptoms, or non-infectious skin problems.
They state children should go to school if “they appear well — they are happy, eating and drinking normally, and can easily focus on learning”.
You can find these guidelines at Health Guidelines
- If a child becomes increasingly unwell and/or you are concerned about their health, call your GP or Healthline on 0800 611 116 for medical advice.
The more layers of protection we put in place the harder it will be for infection to spread.
Contacting us
The absence line is available 24 hours 889-7780 ext 1 or you can use our School App to notify us when your child is away. If your child is unwell please keep them at home and contact the School Office before 9am to let us know.
Download our school APP from your App Store - SchoolAppsNZ
Healthline 0800 611 116
Healthline provides a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week over-the-phone health service you can call for free health advice, information and treatment from professional healthcare providers
Healthline is staffed by an experienced, trained team who have worked in many different places and roles— including nurses, paramedics, health advisors and doctors
You can choose to speak with a Māori clinician if you are calling between 8 am and 8 pm. Interpreter services are available and NZ Relay support (for people who are deaf, hearing impaired or speech impaired)
Call Healthline if you:
- feel unwell but you’re not sure whether you need to see a doctor
- need some urgent advice about a family member or friend who’s sick
- do not have a GP or cannot get to one
- are on holiday in NZ and want to know where the nearest doctor or pharmacy is
