Just had a letter from DS's school saying that because he was off for 5 days out of a possible 36, he has just fallen short of their "ideal" attendance record. They say that Ofsted regards any absence rate of less than 85% a term as "persistent absenteeism" - he was off with swine flu for 5 days, FGS!! (plus a half day for a tummy upset when he was sent home from school). That's hardly persistent - his record before that was probably 2 days since he's even started sec school - now in year 8 - persistent to me is 3 days, 2 days, 1 day, etc.... not a block of 5 days that he had absolutely no control over and for which he was TOLD to stay off school for 5 days for by the hospital GP!! Do you think I'd be unreasonable to write a letter saying that they should maybe look at the pattern of illness before sending out what appears to be a bog standard letter? It also says they will monitor closely next term - talk about the guilt factor - didn't mention it to DS, is very sensitive and I doubt he would even mention it to me if he was feeling ill for fear of being told off!! It's all guilt, guilt, isn't it? sorry for rant - I DO realise that there are persistent offenders out there, I just felt that the letter was very offensive. Any views welcome.
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