Hi all,
Looking for some advice regarding school absence.
Apologies for long post but trying not to drip-feed.
I have 4 dc's of school age, dd's aged 8,7 & 5 & ds aged 4.
We have recently moved to a new area and dc's are at a new school - they are happy at the school and I have no issues with the school myself. Unfortunately, since they started in September, they have missed quite a lot of sessions through illness - and it is genuine illness. My ds's attendance record is 74%, dd3 is 77% and dd's 1&2 are 82% and 84%.
The school has a sensible 48hr rule for sickness and diarrhoea and there have been sickness bugs going around the school which my children have picked up.
Last week, all 4 dc's were at school on Monday. When I collected them, ds had a raised temperature and was listless. Ds's class teacher said he hadn't been feeling well since lunchtime. Ds said he felt sick and sleepy. Dd2 also said she felt unwell. Monday night, ds was sick, temperature was very high and he slept from 5pm until the early hours of Tuesday. Dd2 had perked up and went to school on Tuesday along with dd1 and dd3. Whilst dropping them off, we saw ds's teacher to let him know ds wouldn't be in class. Teacher remarked upon how unwell ds looked.
When I picked dd's up from school, dd2 was visibly unwell - very flushed, listless and feeling sick. Ds and dd2 continued to have high temperatures (controlled with calpol) and vomiting on Tuesday night.
On Wednesday, I took dd1 and dd3 to school, saw dd2's class teacher to let her know dd2 wouldn't be in school, teacher was understanding and reminded me of the schools 48hr policy. Ds and dd2 both vomited again on Wednesday.
Dd1 & dd3 woke up Thursday morning complaining of nausea and both had raised temperatures. I kept them both home and called the school to advise them.
Ds and dd2 were not sick on Thursday but both still had raised temperatures, headaches and were nauseous. Dd1 and dd3 both vomited on Thursday. All home again on Friday, as per 48hr rule. Saturday, all 4 dc's vomited again. Sunday, dd's were feeling better, ds improving.
Today, Monday, I have kept all 4 dc's hime again as per the 48hr rule.
I called the school to report their absence and was told that the school are very concerned about my dc's attendance record. I was asked "do you have any idea why they have been ill so often?". My only explanation is that there have been sickness bugs going around the school since September and that generally speaking, if one of my children picks up a bug, they tend to all pick it up from each other. I was then told that in future, all absences will need to be verified by a doctor. My GP surgery are hugely oversubscribed and operate a telephone triage system - no one gets a face to face appointment (unless it is a severe illness, I would presume!) without going through the telephone triage system and it is usual for telephone appointments to be unavailable for several days.
I understand the need to make sure children are attending school regularly but I'm caught between a rock and a hard place - obviously I would prefer that my children were well enough to be at school but if they're not, there isn't a lot I can do about it!
My question is, should I make an appointment to speak to the headteacher about this?
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Absence due to illness
27 replies
wheresthewine36 · 14/11/2016 13:03
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