- Parents and Carers
- Trauma Support Resources
- Translated Information for Parents
- COVID-19
- Bushfire & Heatwave
-
Parent Fact Sheets
- Aboriginal Education Services
- Allergies and Asthma
- Attendance
- Australian School-based Apprenticeship (ASbA)
- Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT)
- Authorised Absences
- Authorised Persons
- Child and Family Learning Centres
- Curriculum
- Supporting students with disability in Tasmanian Government Schools
- Student Behaviour
- Drugs
- Diversity
- Education and Training after Year 10
- English as an Additional Language
- Enquiries and Complaints
- Enrolment
- Excursions
- Getting Involved
- Gifted and Talented Students
- Gifted Online Courses
- Grandparents
- Headlice (nits)
- Healthy Eating Schools and Canteens
- Homework
- Immunisation
- Infectious Diseases
- Intake Areas from 2021 for Tasmanian Government Schools
- Kindergarten in Tasmanian Government Schools
- Launching into Learning
- Learning in Families Together (LIFT)
- Levies and Charges
- LGBTIQ+ equality in Tasmanian Government Schools
- Meal Time Support
- Medication in Tasmanian Government Schools
- Online Safety in Tasmanian Government Schools
- Outside School Hours Care
- Professional Support
- Reading
- Ready For School
- Religious Instruction
- Reporting
- Respectful Relationships Education
- School Association Committees
- School Associations
- School Chaplaincy
- School Health Nurse Program
- School Psychologists
- Social Workers
- Starting Secondary School
- School Speech and Language Pathologists
- Starting/Leaving Ages
- Staying Safe
- Supporting Students with Carer Responsibilities
- Testing and Reporting
- The Department for Education, Children and Young People
- Travelling to School
- Uniform
- Volunteers and Visitors
- Work and Tasmanian Government Schools – Kindergarten to Year 10 Students
- Work and Tasmanian Government Schools – Senior Secondary Age Students
- Year 10 Transition Statements
- Year 12 Completion Letters
- Literacy and Numeracy
- Assessment Programs
- Grandparents and Carers
- Early Years
- Cyber Safety Resources
- Together with Families
- Programs and Initiatives
Headlice (nits)
As parents or carers, you have the primary responsibility for detecting and treating head lice.
If your child has head lice, you must treat your child with a recommended treatment. Your child may return to school after treatment has begun.
What are head lice?
- Head lice are very common and have been around for thousands of years. Anyone can get head lice and some people get them multiple times per year.
- Head lice are small, wingless insects that feed on blood from the scalp. Nits are the eggs of headlice and can be white, or black.
- Head lice die very quickly away from the head (usually within 24 hours).
- Head lice crawl and cannot fly or jump from head to head. Head lice can only be spread when people are in close contact, or by sharing hats, combs etc. with another person who has head lice.
Where to start
To help prevent the spread of head lice, we ask that you:
- Notify your child’s school as soon as you detect head lice or nits in your child’s hair
- Take advice as to the best treatment for your child and family and follow the pharmacist’s instruction.
What your school will do
- The school will notify you if there is reason to believe your child has head lice.
- The school will notify parents if there are known cases of head lice in a particular class and ask parents to check their children’s hair.
- The school will NOT administer treatment to your child.
Tips
- Head lice can be hard to spot, but look out for brown or grey insects about the size of a match head that sit at the roots of your child’s hair.
- A nit will not easily come off the hair, but dandruff will.
- Teach your child not to share brushes, combs, hats, swimming caps or hair bands, and to keep long hair tied back at school
- Consider washing bedding and clothes if your child has head lice to avoid recurrence after treatment.
Where can I get more information?
- A pharmacist or doctor.
- Talk to your child’s teacher or principal.
- Visit the Department of Health and Human Services website: www.dhhs.tas.gov.au
- Raising Children’s Network