My son lost his taste and smell so I kept him home fearing he had Covid – now his school has FINED me
A MUM who kept her son home from school when he suffered Covid symptoms has spoken of her fury after she was fined.
Annette Connolly says eight-year-old Harrison will never return to Lawrence View Primary School in Eastwood, Nottingham after the row.
The 44-year-old, who has three other children, fumed: "They had no sympathetic views.
"He will not be coming back to the school after this."
She told she decided to keep Harrison out of class after she caught Covid earlier this month.
The youngster then began to develop symptoms too.
He felt "sick" and weak and had a cough - but tested negative for the virus.
Despite the results of his PCR, Ms Connolly decided to keep him off for another day after saying he then lost his senses of taste and smell.
"I didn't know if he'd got it, but he might have had," she said.
'HE WON'T BE GOING BACK'
"I was keeping him away from others and trying to protect them."
However, the school then called her asking Harrison to come in.
When she refused, she was told she'd be fined.
The school says financial penalties are only issued as a "last resort" following "many attempts to address low attendance with a family".
Ms Connolly said: "Things have been hard enough for me this year and things are tight.
"They have no empathy or sympathy when all I've tried to do is be a mum.
"It's a shame as we had a good relationship with the school.
"Harrison has a good circle of friends that he will really miss.
MUM'S ANGER
"It's sad that it's had to end this way."
Headteacher Emma McGrenaghan said: "Our school continues to follow the latest Government guidance in relation to Covid and I’d like to reassure parents that we continue to have additional protective measures in place in school to keep pupils and staff safe.
"If a child is well enough, and has received a negative PCR test result, they can return to school.
"We would not knowingly put our families in school at risk.
“The school is committed to providing a high quality education for our pupils and where there are barriers to regular attendance we will always try to work with families."
Youngsters across the country now have to wear masks in school to stop the spread of the mutant Omicron variation.
Children in Year 7 and above, as well as staff, should wear face coverings in communal areas of schools and colleges.
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Secondary school pupils are "strongly advised" to return to wearing face coverings in corridors and assemblies, the Department of Education says.
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And kids who have come into contact with an Omicron contact will be thrown into 10-day self-isolation - potentially causing disruption to learning.
However, no new rules on wearing face masks during lessons and in classrooms have been announced.