David Street School

David Street School

FAQ Illnesses and COVID - 19

My child is feeling unwell (e.g. cough, headache, sore throat etc) Can I still send them to school?


Advice for anyone who is unwell

  • Anyone who is sick should stay home until they are well.
  • When a child has respiratory symptoms, they should stay at home and seek advice from their GP or Healthline. Staying home is key to controlling the spread of any virus in a school setting.  
  • If your child is sick with Vomiting or Diarrhea they are required to stay at home for 48 hours after the last vomiting or diarrhea episode.

Communicable Diseases


My child has tested POSITIVE for Covid-19. What do we do?

Let the school know as soon as you can. 

Please phone the school. 

Our preferred line of communication when reporting any absences/ and absences regarding cases of Covid-19 and Household isolations is via our absentee line.

Our absentee line is available 24/7.

We will need to know:

When reporting an absence due to  a positive Covid-19 test or Household Isolation please leave the following information:

  • Name of child
  • Child has tested postive  / or Household contact
  • Date of first symptoms / and positive test. 

With this information we can then determine the 7 day isolation period and mark your child out from school.

Your child’s classroom teacher will be in touch regarding home learning if that is appropriate for your child.

Anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 is required to isolate for 7 days. 

  • Day 0 is the day symptoms began or the day the test was taken (whichever came first). 
  • Cases will isolate for a full seven days and are free to return to normal activities on Day 8, if they are not symptomatic.
  • Students who test positive for COVID-19 are not required to self-isolate past seven days, but they should not return to school if they are still feeling unwell.

Advice for anyone who is unwell

  • Anyone who is sick should stay home until they are well.
  • When a child has respiratory symptoms, they should stay at home and seek advice from their GP or Healthline. Staying home is key to controlling the spread of any virus in a school setting.  
  • Many children will have a long-lasting runny nose or cough after viral infections. If it is over 10 days since the onset of COVID symptoms and they are no longer feeling unwell, they are very unlikely to be infectious and can therefore return to school.
  • However, if they are continuing to feel unwell or their symptoms are worsening after 10 days, they should not return to school and a GP review, or a call to Healthline, is recommended.



My child is a Household Contact.
What does this mean? What do we need to do?

If your child is a household contact of someone with Covid we would prefer you kept your child at home while the rest of the household is unwell. This is to avoid the spread of covid at school. If this is not possible and they need to come to school we require your child to do a RAT test daily for 5 days as per the Ministry of Health Guidelines.

  • Test daily using a rapid antigen test (RAT) for five days from the day that the person in your household tested positive.

  • Avoid or minimise contact with the person with COVID-19 as much as possible during their isolation period.

  • Wear a mask whenever you leave home. Wearing a mask is particularly important when visiting vulnerable people, like elderly or immunocompromised people, using public transport or when in a crowded indoor space. 

  • Monitor for symptoms for 10 days.

  • Go about your normal daily activities, provided you have no symptoms and your tests are negative.

If you develop COVID-19 like symptoms at any time, or are unwell:

  • test and stay at home until 24 hours after your symptoms resolve

  • if you test positive, you will need to isolate for seven days.

You do not need to restart daily testing if additional members of your household are identified as cases during the first case’s seven-day isolation period.

After the first case is released from isolation there is a 10-day period when you will not be considered a household contact even if someone else in your house tests positive.

If a new household member (not the original case) tests positive, they must isolate for seven days.

If it’s been 29 days or more since your infection, and someone in your household tests positive, then you’re considered a household contact and you should test daily for five days.


When can I send my child to school?

We encourage you to send your child to school if they are well and have not tested positive for covid-19.



My child needs to isolate at home. What support will school provide around teaching and learning?

Your child's teacher can arrange for hard packs & other learning to be sent home


If you have any specific queries, please feel free to email your child's teacher.

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