To think that a temperature isn’t always the deciding factor ??

I don’t think 90% is objectively very low although I know you are correct in that the school views 90% as very low or “persistently absent”.

It correlates to only 3 absences every half term and as the school is deliberately pressuring parents to send in sick and contagious children, they’ve turned the school into a big soup of a disease vector. If they didn’t put pressure on, they’d likely have better absence rates!

some parents do have a very low threshold for keeping children off, and if a child is regularly off with low level illnesses and no known underlying issues then that will get school questioning things.

i don’t agree with a send them in regardless policy - Ds has two conditions whereby a run of the mill cold can land him in hospital. But I do think there is a balance to be found.

Schools have no right of access to your house. You do not have to let them in and certainly they can’t insist that you take a child’s temperature right there in front of them!

If they call round and he is genuinely ill, they will be able to see that. If he is tearing round the house having a grand time they might raise some eyebrows.

Kids go through bouts of illness, sometimes nothing and then a run where they catch everything going and it floors them.

Long time ago now, but my dd got swine flu and then everything that was doing the rounds left her like a limp lettuce leaf. Her attendance that year was low. Then nothing else for ages.

I won’t send my kids to school with a fever, ever.

But equally, I agree with you, and know perfectly well it’s possible to feel very unwell without a fever. Show me a child who’s able to learn when they feel terrible, pouring with snot and coughing badly. Not to mention the issue of spreading their virus to everyone in the class.

School attendance policies are nuts.

I am the parent. If I feel my kids are not well enough to go to school they do not go. They do nit have any phones tablets gaming etc if they are off. If they are well enough they read or draw or we do a little mathletics etc. school is not compulsory. Education is and that takes many forms. When you ring the school to report the absence tell them this. Also they can call to the door but they have no automatic right of entry so it is up to you whether you let them in. They are not doing this for the child’s or your benefit. They just want to keep their attendance figures up. I have been very unwell with no temp before. Illness takes many forms and this is true also for children. You are the parent and deciding factor. You will know when it is just a sniffle or cough and they are well enough to go to school or when they are not.

Vitamin C and zinc are what you need. So make sure he has some orange juice in morning and hot cocoa in evening.

You then refuse to take his temperature and say his high temperature is being managed as you’ve dosed him with calpol.

School attendance policies are ridiculous. I am a teacher before anyone starts presuming I don't get the pressures of working in a school.

They have blanket policies because they get slated for poor attendance. There are obviously some families where attendance is poor and could be better. Sometimes a tough approach is probably needed, but sometimes support might be the best approach. If your kid goes to school whenever they are well enough I would say just ignore any grumblings from the school.

My son's school sent a very condescending letter about his unacceptable attendance. This was during COVID when we were following their policy and I had actually spoken to them to seek advice on whether he should attend.

At the other end of the scale my daughter had worse attendance than my son last year (she had COVId, then tonsillitis then a sickness bug one after the other) and her school has never raised an issue. I think it's because they know us a as a family and know we wouldn't be taking the mick
It's a small primary school where they know all the families, and my husband was chair of governors in the last. Vs my sins school which is a secondary MAT school and much more corporate.

We had issues with my son's secondary because he had 'too many' days off. He had had COVID and a couple of other very heavy colds. They did actually send an attendance officer round, but on a day we were all at work and he was at school!

Sick kids should not be in school. Schools insisting on infectious children being in are part of the reason they all get ill so often.

Only 90% attendance would be very low if that was the level for the whole year. What was his attendance last year?

They say that they can now do home visits - if I lie and they do that they may ask to see me take his temperature?

Well that would be ridiculous of them. And pointless, because even if a child had a temp, it could easily come down with calpol but they're still too ill to go to school.

This pressure on young children to be in school no matter what is ridiculous. Anyone that’s sick knows that rest helps you recover. I’m not talking about a bit of a cold/cough. But their immune systems are still developing and some kids catch everything ( I was one!) or ones that have existing conditions that hospitalise them for minor illness. Plenty of them around in school.

Insisting sick children are in school, even with post contagious d&v to spread illnesses further won’t help the issue either. They will be knackered and too tired to learn effectively: the teachers won’t won’t them in either as they are front line in catching the lovely germs plus the difficulties with sick kids in class.

It’s all about targets and numbers. Nothing about the welfare of kids and their families who will then also become sick. Parents should decide if their child is well enough for school. I’m not taking those with worrying absence/safeguarding concerns btw.

I would ignore any rules about that and keep my child home if I felt they were too unwell to go. DD1 has just started primary and was hardly ever off sick from nursery so I don't keep her home at the drop of a hat. But it's my (and DH's) decision if she's too ill. The school's opinion is irrelevant here.

(Obviously I follow rules that require them to be off, eg 48 hours after d&v. I'm talking about the rules requiring them to be in)

By trying to force kids in who are unwell all they're going to do is end up with more kids getting ill and needing time off
It's your child and your decision. I absolutely would not send my child in feeling unwell, temperature or not.

My DD had good attendance and then one year she had a term of catching everything!

School were a nightmare. Letters "reminding" me of the need for good attendance. Her head of year phoned me and said they would ask for a doctors note next time.......I politely told him that dd would be in school when she was well and that if she wasn't I would be keeping her home and not wasting a GPs time asking for appointments and sick notes (that they are not obliged to supply).

Have they said that to you personally because your child has a high absence rate? Or is it just a blanket rule?

Because they won't even making home visits to every child who is off! They just don't have the resources.

If your child is genuinely ill enough to be off school a lot, it might be worth investigating that further but schools are really interested in children without specific health needs whose attendance is trailing down in the 80% or below.

Also be aware that some children are kept off school to allow the physical signs of (physical/sexual) abuse to subside or due to neglect (no one can be arsed getting them there) so it its a general safeguarding rule of thumb. But they're not going to be interested really unless your child is off school for a couple of days every week with a minor illness that doesn't require them to be off school.

We only look at the circumstances of our own children when we are told of these policies but the school will be considering the circumstances of every child in the school and be aware of potential risk factors.

Which is why it feels so heavy handed to the majority of parents!

I’d just lie and say they had a temperature 🤷‍♀️

if someone from the school turned up and insisted on checking for themselves I’d probably point out the existence of paracetamol and ibuprofen - both of which are used to lower temperatures - let them crack on but bend their ear about overstepping the mark and then make a complaint to the LA and senior school team. They’re not medical professionals and if they did turn up that’s basically harassment/bullying.

I don’t think they would though.

Stand your ground.

They may do a home visit to check but I'd bet that they only do that for those who are persistently absent. I also bet they are mainly checking that you are actually home.
If you are home and your child is tucked up in the sofa looking suitably unwell that will be enough evidence.

They absolutely do not have the authority to insist you take their temperature and I would refuse any such request. I really don't think they would ask though.

Honestly in the grand scheme of things absence from school means bugger all - if your child feels rough enough they need to stay home then keep them home.

schools are under a lot of pressure re absence rates - let them crack on with their letters etc , it really doesn’t matter.

I just do what I want. If he's too ill to be at school, he stays home, if he's well enough to go in, he goes in. If they come round to check, so be it.