Doctor's appointment- taking children out of school during the day

[PoppyGlee]

Hi, DD in year 1 was given a lunch time doctor's appointment with a specialist, has been waiting for this appointment since April; would you know if I can take her out of school for an hour and drop her back at school after the appointment ? So she does not miss her lessons. I've left a message with her teacher asking if this would be ok, have not heard back, would the school release her for a hour in the middle of a teaching day? Is this the done thing..? Thanks~

[JohnLapsleyParlabane]

Very normal.

[MyYoniFromHull]

It's a totally normal thing to do. They may need sight of the appointment letter. There's a specific code for the register for medical appointments

[Justbookedasummmerholiday]

Dd 12 just missed an hour for her first orthodontist appointment without an issue. Further appointments will always be on a Fri morning. Still no issue.

[CauliflowerSqueeze]

Yes it’s fine. If you can do it between the 2 registrations then she won’t get any absent mark either.

[MyYoniFromHull]

I'd usually just tell them in the morning that I'll be collecting at X o'clock and will bring them back after. Everyone does it, you don't need to be worried about it

[SheRaaarghPrincessOfPower]

Of course you can, why on earth would you think otherwise?

Wouldn't bother going back for the afternoon though, tbh. Last time we had a late morning appointment we got out at 1:30pm.

[PoppyGlee]

Thanks all~~ you are the best, and phew great the know :))))

[CauliflowerSqueeze]

Take her back afterwards.

[SheRaaarghPrincessOfPower]

Why take her back?

[SuburbanRhonda]

Wouldn't bother going back for the afternoon though, tbh. Last time we had a late morning appointment we got out at 1:30pm.

Why would you deliberately miss 1.5-2 hours of your child’s school day for no reason and get an unauthorised absence for the afternoon?

[SheRaaarghPrincessOfPower]

Is your school immediately adjacent to the hospital?

Appt finished at 1:30pm, by the time you're out of the hospital and have driven home, it's not worth it.

Not an unauthorised absence btw.

[SheRaaarghPrincessOfPower]

Who gives a fuck about absence marks for a hospital appointment anyway

[Glumglowworm]

Absolutely normal especially for specialists where you have to take whatever appointment they give you

[VerticalBlinds]

Agree 100% normal. Specialist appts are when they are, you are expected to attend. It's not like the dentist or something.

I take them out and bring them back afterwards - school have always been fine with this. As others say, depending on school, they may wish to see letter. Mine have not asked for this.

[user789653241]

I always make a copy of letter and take it to the school office few days in advance. Then inform the teacher the day before, that dc has appointment so I come to pick up at xx:xx, or coming in after lunch, etc.

[Theonlyoneiknow]

You shouldn't have any kind of absence mark for a hospital appt. I know dS never has

[Love51]

Of course you should have an absent mark if you are absent during registration! M for medical. Authorised, but still absent. Teachers can't claim the child was there when they weren't!

[grasspigeons]

you'll get an absence mark if you miss registration. it will authorised but count as absent. if you nip out and back between registrations you don't get a mark.

[Theonlyoneiknow]

So when you have an absence report at the end of the year are these included ? Just wondering now

[grasspigeons]

If you miss registration, you should get a (m) in the register. This is an absence code.

Your report would then say your child had attended x sessions and had x amount absences and of those absences x amount were authorised and x amount were unauthorised.

If your appointments were scheduled at times of day where you were present at each registration, even if you missed the same amount of school you wouldn't have an absence mark.

The register is literally a register of who is there at the time you take the register. If you aren't there, you aren't there. you are absent. The absent codes fall into authorised or unauthorised. medical appointments are authorised - but you still aren't there.

[Apple23]

If the time you need to collect her falls over lunchtime, then arrange to pick her up from the school office at the end of the morning session. If you try for a time over lunchtime then either she will be waiting for you or you'll have to wait whilst the staff find her, inevitably from the far end of the playground or in the middle of eating her lunch.
Feed her after the appointment and if there's more than an hour left before the end of the school day then take her back in.

[JonSnowsWife]

Very normal. Do prepare for the possibility of the appointment running late ans having to give her the afternoon off anyway.

This has happened with me with a 8:30am appointment. Ended up seriously overunning due to an emergency and wasn't seen until after lunch.

On the other hand DD has been in as a regular outpatient so know the procedure usually takes 15minutes tops. She's been in it at 11am before expecting she'll be in for the afternoon. Didnt get seen to until almost 1pm.

YY to what @Apple23 said. I've been kept waiting whilst DD has been fetched from PE lessons despite me telling them we have to leave at x time.

[drspouse]

Totally normal, we're really lucky in that the school IS right next to the hospital.
It is on the attendance report if you miss registration but as Medical.