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This practical, easy-to-use information to helps schools and early learning services to support students and whānau | families to:
- prevent illness
- manage common winter bugs
- support ākonga | students to return to learning as soon as they are well enough.
We understand that some students have ongoing or extra health needs. We encourage schools and families to keep making decisions based on each student’s situation and medical advice.
How to decide if a child should be at school #
Health New Zealand has information to help schools and whānau know when it is okay for a child to still be at school and when a sick child should be at home.
Knowing if a child is well enough to be at school – Health New Zealand
Keeping clean#
Stopping infectious diseases and illnesses spread is as easy as washing your hands and following some simple rules about keeping clean.
Download these posters to remind ākonga about keeping clean.
Common winter health issues#
Cough and colds#
Coughing and colds are common in tamariki. They are caused by viruses that spread easily when people cough and sneeze.
Learn more about how to manage them.
Coughs in children – KidsHealth
Colds in children – KidsHealth
Eczema#
Eczema is a dry skin condition that can flare up or get worse in winter.
Learn more about how to care for children with eczema.
Eczema in children – KidsHealth
Scabies#
Scabies is an itchy skin rash that’s caused by a reaction to a tiny mite that gets under the skin. It spreads easily and needs to be treated with medicine before it will go away.
Download this poster about treating scabies.
Infectious diseases#
Lots of children will get an infectious disease in their time at school or in early learning.
Download the information poster to learn more about the symptoms of common infectious diseases, how they spread and how to decide when a child must be excluded from school or their early learning service.
Being prepared for infectious diseases#
This guide gives you detailed information on serious infectious diseases and how you can be prepared to stop them spreading.
Ventilation#
Good ventilation can reduce the risk of children and teachers getting sick from airborne illnesses.
Supporting ākonga with ongoing health needs#
We encourage schools to work with whānau where their ākonga have ongoing health needs. You can support them to say connected to learning and to return when they are well enough.
Support could be:
- flexibility around returning to school
- offering wellbeing or health planning
- providing additional learning support
- connecting whānau with health or specialist services.
Schools and kura should follow medical advice when you are supporting students with ongoing or complex health needs.
School High Health Needs Fund #
The School High Health Needs Fund (SHHNF) is available when children have high health needs that require care and support for more than 6 weeks.
The funding contributes to employing a teacher aide or support person.
Who the School High Health Needs Fund is for
Regional health schools #
If a child can't attend their local school for health reasons, they may be able to get help from a regional health school.
These schools provide short-term education support until a child can return to their regular school.
Download the toolkit#
Download a summary of this information with links to key resources.
