Absence and Illness

At Wise Owls Nursery School, we know children may sometimes be absent due to illness, holidays, or family events. Please help us keep everyone safe and well by following our absence guidance:

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• Reporting absences: If your child is unwell, please let us know by 9.00am. For planned absences (such as holidays or appointments), give us notice as early as you can.

• Unexplained absence: If we don’t hear from you, we will contact you as part of our safeguarding duty.

 

Illness exclusion periods

To help reduce the spread of infection, we follow NHS and Public Health guidance alongside our own nursery policies. Key periods include:

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• Sickness/diarrhoea: keep at home for 48 hours after the last episode

• Fever: return once fever-free for 24 hours

• Chickenpox: return once spots have all scabbed over

• Conjunctivitis:

  • If your child is under 2 years, pharmacies cannot supply over-the-counter treatment, so a GP appointment is required.

  • Children may return to nursery 24 hours after the first dose of prescribed eye drops/ointment.

• Other contagious illnesses: please check with us or your GP

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Medication

• We can only administer prescribed medicines in their original packaging, with a signed medication form completed by parents.

• We are a no Calpol nursery: we do not give paracetamol (Calpol) to manage general illness or fever during the day.

• The only exception is if Calpol is specifically prescribed by a doctor for febrile fits, in which case we will follow the medical advice provided.​​​