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Son off school again today attendance terrible!!

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  • i had a letter in the first half term of the year (sept-oct) because spud had had lots of time off. he got 2 chest infections and was really poorly, nothing we could do about it and no way he could go to school when he had a temp and was too weak to walk etc. (also too weak to play on the playstation before anyone asks lol!). school had a new attendance drive for this year and they are really trying to raise attendance rates.

    the letter was a standard one sent out to every child whose attendance dropped below a set level. it made me feel rubbish but i think sending him to school when he was ill would have been worse because they get shouted at and punished if they can't concentrate or don't write enough. i remember being in school when i was ill and it was horrible, i used to get a lot of migraine and the only way to get sent home was to vomit on a teacher :rotfl:

    but anyway, this might be part of a target-meeting strategy to try to get their averages up. it doesn't mean they think you're a bad parent. i hope he starts to feel better soon.
    'bad mothers club' member 13

    * I have done geography as well *
  • victory
    victory Posts: 16,188 Forumite
    I know carmina it was probably a standard letter they sent out, it is just that he does not look statistically good on 85.5%!!
    Thanks again zziggi you have been really helpful and I much appreciate it xxx
    misspiggy wrote: »
    I'm sure you're an angel in disguise Victory :)
  • looby75
    looby75 Posts: 23,387 Forumite
    I have the same problem with my 15 yr old daughter, school were awful and the education welfare officer became involved, wrote to both detailing trips to gp etc and , ashamed of myself here, sent her into school when poorly so they could see that she was genuinely ill and not pulling a fast one. School have been much better since and no further word from the ewo. Perhaps as suggested you could ask your gp to run some tests in the meantime I hope he feels better soon

    I have been really lucky with ds school. They have seen for themselves just how quickly he could go from being bright and happy at 9am to hot, shivery and in pain by lunch time. They have had to call for me to come and pick him up loads of times, so they know when he was off it was always with good reason. So far there haven't been any problems with the EWO, I did fill a form in at ds school explaining all his absence which the head teacher also signed but that's been about it.

    I just hope that now he's had his tonsils out his health and immunity will improve, so far he's had to have 2 days off school since they went back on the 8th Jan and he's got a really nasty cold again (but still well enough to go to school) :rolleyes:

    Victory, have you discussed the possibility of your ds getting his tonsils out with your gp? If he's getting a lot of ear infections and tonsillitis it really might be worth considering. I had to push to get my ds referred to the ENT clinic but on his very first appointment the consultant agreed to remove them asap and was rather annoyed that he hadn't been referred long before he had when I told him how bad things had been in the previous 18 months.
  • victory
    victory Posts: 16,188 Forumite
    no the GP never said about removing the tonsils but it is a good idea, if it keeps going on then I will suggest maybe they could consider it....xxx
    misspiggy wrote: »
    I'm sure you're an angel in disguise Victory :)
  • emilyt
    emilyt Posts: 2,051 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    My DD2 also had a lot of time off school. She suffers with asthma and was always picking up chest infections. The doctor always ended up putting her on steroids. So i couldn't send her into school. Also she was too poorly to go anyway.
    I too got a letter stating that she was off school too much. I rang up the place where the letter had come from. Not the school but the local authority. The lady was very understanding and said that the letters wete just sent out automatically if a child had too much time off. She was in her G.C.S.E year and they wanted to make sure that the children were attending as many lessons as possible.
    My DD was upset when she couldn't go in school as she loved it so much.
    She took her G.C.S.E'S last year and got 10 passes at grade A level.
    All i can say is speak to the school and make sure they are aware that he is ill. I am sure he will start to have better health with all the vitamins e.c.t.

    Emily.
    When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile :D
  • Have had similar with DD age 14. Since hitting puberty age 10, starting periods age 11 and growing like made she has had so much time off school with sore throats, swollen glands, feeling run down, etc, etc. I always kept school informed, i.e. always did a letter explaining why she'd been off and they were fine. But then got letter from the school saying because her attendance record was lower than the norm they'd had to inform the authorities (just something they were obliged to do). So we hot-footed it to the doctors to say that we really needed to have something on record in case we had to prove that she wasn't just pulling a fast one.

    Then last summer she had two allergic reactions at school which culminated in her being referred to a consultant paediatrician to have them checked out. I took the opportunity to also mention her constantly feeling unwell and after checking her over and lots of questions he decided she was suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which he said is very common in teens (particularly girls but not exclusively) and it's basically because their bodies are going through so many changes they just don't have the reserves to cope with illness. It doesn't help that she's a real worrier and of course there are always friendship issues amongst girls which really gets her down but at least we were able to go back to the school with a definite diagnosis. Her form tutor has been brilliant making sure she's OK, liaising with me, letting her other teachers know that this is what she's got, etc. Would also mention from birth she's always had a really bad sleep pattern (can't get to sleep/wakes up during the night) which I think hasn't helped either.

    There is a website for young people with ME (sorry can't remember the name of it but if you google that in it should come up) which is very informative. It may be that your son has a similar problem.
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 46,915 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I was wondering about CFS / ME as well.

    If you look on the Health board for info about Vitamin D, that might be helpful as well through the winter.
    Signature removed for peace of mind
  • id get him in the car and in to school seems like he is being a bit of a sciver .
    ask him if he is being bullied etc his attendance is awfull no one can be that ill all the time . get tough or his eucation will suffer .
  • looby75
    looby75 Posts: 23,387 Forumite
    id get him in the car and in to school seems like he is being a bit of a sciver .
    ask him if he is being bullied etc his attendance is awfull no one can be that ill all the time . get tough or his eucation will suffer .

    what a stupid thing to say, yes of course someone can be that ill all the time!!!!

    I think the op knows her son a bit better than you do and is a better judge of whether or not he is genuinely ill and she has already stated that he isn't "swinging the led"
  • victory
    victory Posts: 16,188 Forumite
    looby75 wrote:
    what a stupid thing to say, yes of course someone can be that ill all the time!!!!

    I think the op knows her son a bit better than you do and is a better judge of whether or not he is genuinely ill and she has already stated that he isn't "swinging the led"

    Thanks Looby , yes he is genuinely ill and no he is not 'swinging the led' xxxx:D
    misspiggy wrote: »
    I'm sure you're an angel in disguise Victory :)
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