when a child is off sick from school ?

moomoomama27

I think the school have taken a stupidly heavy handed approach! I don't think 11 days is too long, especially for 3 different occurrences of illness, it's just bad luck it's happened almost back to back!

There are procedures a school will have to follow with court being last resort!


In the school I work in the first step is a meeting with the head, followed by a meeting with education welfare which is usually where it ends, as when you explain the normal response is basically try and minimise absences!


When my daughter was in primary school in the first term she was absent for 20 days due to very bad asthma flare ups, it obviously wasn't ideal and we did last with school to keep her caught up, but some things are unavoidable!

j.e.j.

Sounds like a lot of daft rules and red tape to me. You get this in the workplace, too, - people facing disciplinaries for being ill. 11 days does SOUND like a lot, but if he's ill he's ill! Do they want you to send him to school and pass the illnesses on to others. Maybe that wouldn't have such a detrimental affect on their statistics (where's the roll-eyes smiley when you need one?)

marisco_2

I am surprised at the schools response, as it appears to be a bit heavy handed, going by what you have disclosed here about your childs absence. Is his attendance normally really good?

You are doing all the right things in contacting the school to inform them why he is absent and following this up in writing. Many children at my boys school are falling victim to this vomitting bug. Being off for 5 days and then 3 days is not that big an issue. Considering that if a child is sick at school they are requested to stay away for 48 hours. So if your son is ill on day 1 the school would not permit him back till day 4 anyway. Sometimes this bug can hang around and the child can be physically sick for a couple of days or more.

I would recommend totally working with the school. Phone the office and very calmly and politely request a meeting with the Senco. This person is often in charge of overseeing attendance and addressing it. When you see him or her explain why your child has had this absence and ask for an explanation of their approach to you.

Being proactive and asking for any work that can be sent home so your child can catch up on what he missed whilst ill will also stand you in good stead with the school. The more reasonable and approachable you remain to working with them the less they have to argue with. Reverse psychology if you like.

FBaby

There's illness and illness. Even if the school doesn't doubt that you didn't claim he was ill when you were actually on holiday, they could be concerned that you are dramatising his illnesses. Indeed, 11 days so poorly that he can't make it to school is a lot for minor illnesses.

They rightly think they need to investigate, hopefully they will see that it was circumstancial rather than concerning and move on.

rachbc

Threats of court do seem heavy handed but what needs to be remember if that no matter how legitimate the absence the affect on the child's education is the same whatever the reason. 11 days is a huge amount to miss in less than a term. Have you been into school and made sure he has a plan to catch up with what he has missed, ensured he has notes/ access to vle etc?

bestpud

susieanne wrote: »

If a child is off ill from school can a parent get into trouble with there local authority for the amount of time that child is being off school ill ? As a parent i always follow the right procedure if my child is ill i would phone school and tell them that they wont be in school then i write a letter when they return to school .

Basically my son has had 11 days off school this term in total due to illness ( bad colds , sickness bugs )
The 11 days wernt altogether he was ill for 5 days with a bad cold/flu then he had a sickness bug was off for 3 days then got the sickness bug and temp again on another occasion so off school again .

The school are now threatening me saying if they are off again i will be reported and talking about i may end up in court .
I just want to add even though i would like to know my rights these threats do not scare me i will be quite happy to talk to anyone from the education board . just like to know where i stand so i can be ready with what ever they throw at me

Do you have more than one child at the school and have they all been off that much?

mandragora_2

What was his overall attendance like last year? Was it in the high ninety percents (ie 97or 96%). That would be a good starting point for you.

94% is a bit of a magic number for many local authorities, as that's a good target for them to set as a global attendance target for a school. Another magic number for attendance officers is 85% - what the govt deems as 'persistent absence' - so many schools start looking closely once attendance drops to near the 90% threshold, which equates to about a day of absence a fortnight.

JC9297

j.e.j. wrote: »

11 days does SOUND like a lot, but if he's ill he's ill! Do they want you to send him to school and pass the illnesses on to others. Maybe that wouldn't have such a detrimental affect on their statistics (where's the roll-eyes smiley when you need one?)

That's the thing though, some parents do keep children at home when they are well enough to be in school.

jellyhead

How old is the child? 11 days sounds a lot, but little children are less able to look after themselves I think, and less able to assert themselves when they feel unable to cope with the rest of the school day. When mine were in reception they had time off for colds and tummy bugs but as they got older they only had the day off it they were really ill. Obviously you need time off for a tummy bug, but there are colds and then there are bad colds.

I had a letter once when my eldest had 6 days off within the same half term. school had a threshold after which the policy was to send a letter.

jellyhead

JC9297 wrote: »

That's the thing though, some parents do keep children at home when they are well enough to be in school.

Sometimes school gives parents the impression that they don't want children to come in if they are spreading germs around. My eldest's high school sends kids home at the slightest sniffle, but primary prefers them to be in school unless they are so ill that they can barely life their head from the table.

It's against the rules, but I put paracetamol in my eldest's lunchbox sometimes, because he can survive the day if he gets a paracetamol top-up halfway through the day, just as adults at work have to. There's a big difference between a sore throat and flu. I love having them at home, but they enjoy school ... sob!