Should I send my child into school?
Children should be in school.
It is vital that children and young people return to school for their educational progress, for their wellbeing, and for their wider development. School attendance is mandatory. This means that it is your legal duty as a parent to send your child to school regularly.
However, if your child has symptoms of COVID-19, they should not be in school.
The main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are:
- a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
- a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
- a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
Children may also display gastrointestinal symptoms.
The chart below gives guidance on when it is acceptable for children to be absent with specific reference to COVID-19.
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