To find it increasingly annoying, that parents send clearly ill children into school

Sick teacher here, can't stand the whole thing. Parents send in sick kids, staff drag themselves in with horrible symptoms.
I'm off work now after being coughed on by staff and pupils alike for weeks, trying to teach pupils with high temps and streaming noses who clearly just want to crawl into bed.
I've got underlying health conditions and am very unwell as a result. Schools were always germ factories but I've never known it as bad as this

Secondary school here - weekly reminders in the newsletter about attendance, son had 95% and we still got patronising letter about his Y7 attendance. Y8 he had award for 100% (in first half term) .. both ridiculous as you can't help being ill. You got D&V - you come in when it stops no 48 hour rule (and no permission to go to the loos in lessons). You got anything else - give them paracetamol and send them in they say.

Yes!

I was told 'well she's not being sick now' 🤧

My child has had one day off since September. She was fine but had vomited the night before so I kept her off in line with school policy.

Last week I got a patronising email telling me that whilst attendance was x%, she had missed a days learning etc. Totally ridiculous.

I would still keep my child home if they were unwell regardless of the stupid letters, but some people take these things more seriously than others. I would understand if people send their children in, the letters will make some parents feel they are doing something wrong.

I agree, but it's not primarily the parents fault, it's the schools and the government's obsession with attendance at all costs. It doesn't matter if the child is too ill to learn, if they make the rest of the class ill, if medically vulnerable children or families are put at risk of serious harm, or if the children and staff are put at increased risk of long term health issues as a result. As long as bums are on seats, that's apparently all that matters.

Incredibly unfair and cruel on the poor children. How the hell can they be expected to endure the long hours and stress of a school day when they are ill (apart from a minor sniffly cold). They will learn precisely nothing. And if forced into school they recover more slowly and spread flu and other viruses around, great.

I suppose the source of the problem is the intransigence of employers about sick leave, threats of ‘disciplinary meetings’, compounded by some schools’ obsession with attendance data.

My dc was doing lessons in hospital while on IV painkillers but still we got a letter saying his attendance wasn't acceptable. He has only had time off for surgery, recovery, appointments and when the school have sent him home with a headache.

My child got sent out of class this week due to coughing so much. I kept him off the next day and I told school he’d be off and that I was taking him to the GP. The head said he hoped to see him after the doctor’s appointment. Blame presenteeism more than parents. I’ll always keep my kids off if I think they are ill enough to be off. However, they can’t be kept off for every snotty nose or sore throat. They’d never be in school otherwise.

I do feel for working parents. As a teacher, I found it a nightmare when my kids were younger and got ill. DH and I had to take turns to stay off and my Mum helped a lot too.
I now work in a special school where there isn't as much pressure on parents and carers to consider the schools' attendance figures. However, kids are sent in ill all the time. One boy was sick at 9.15am (into a sick bag, luckily). He told me he'd been sick before school but his Mum told him it was only a "little bit" so didn't count. I have one child in my class who is often sent in ill and literally sleeps with her head on the desk. Another example - a child whose carers don't work and who told that they're not allowed to keep him off because he's looked after (was reported!) It does vary a lot, obviously.
As school staff, we're ill A LOT - especially this time of year. I guess it goes with the territory!

I've had an email my son has had two days off sick since September he is about to miss morning registration tomorrow because he needed a medical review in October and tomorrow morning was the first one available so im expecting an actual letter this time

Not everyone has an understanding employer and a husband/family to help out, for some people if they don't work they don't get paid.

To be fair lots of works places would have plenty to say if you took time off every time your child was mildly ill. You'd be looking at disciplinary in many organisations plus with added pull pressure from schools I can totally see why parents sent their kids in when not 100%.

My son vomited in class and then in the office and was sent home at lunchtime then off the following day only and he was put on special interventions for absence. In year 7. Only days off he had all year… so it’s absolutely not the case that they only care about holidays

Well you don't really have choice do you?

I am happy to relocate at Christmas from UK to a country you don't get threats for keeping a sick child at home.

My ds had chicken pox that was going round the school, then 2 ear infections requiring antibiotics (that I sent into school to continue the course when he was feeling better) and then caught a sickness bug that was going round the class. All this in the space of about 10 weeks, but clearly sick each time, with evidence. Still received a letter about his attendance and referred to the attendance officer.

Bye! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!

OP, you've gone from "schools don't mind if kids are ill" to "ignore the threatening letters" "it's fine if they send teachers round to check".
Quite frankly, some parents do mind if teachers call round unexpectedly and do worry about threatening letters.
I actually agree with you about not sending sick children to school but your worldview is incredibly narrow in that you seem to think that everyone has the kind of flexible job that you have and someone who can easily stay home with sick child.

I don’t think it’s true that schools don’t mind them being off when they are sick, my kids have had a lot of sickness and I get threatening letters and had a few meetings over it, they’ve never been on holiday! My son vomited in school and I was told not the keep him off the next day as the “24 hour rule isnt a thing anymore” that’s what a memeber of staff told me

I managed to avoid getting COVID for nearly 2 years. Started a job in a nursery September 2021. 2 weeks before Christmas, baby coughed right into my face (we all know how babies can be lol). Guess who couldn't taste or smell anything for 2 months afterwards!! Kids are gross (but super cute)

Do they? Have you studied Ring doorbell footage? Polled those who look a bit like a mum in Tesco on a Friday morning? Made a tally chart of which mums park at the gym with a booster seat for ages 5-12?

This just largely nonsense though.

Are you 14? Your inability to put yourself in anyone else's situation gives those kind of inexperienced vibes.

Good luck when it's your turn to need understanding and support.

I agree, it is selfish.

Parents use the fact that schools are strict about unauthorised absences to make excuses not to comply with authorised absence for illness so that they can go to work, the gym, or get their shopping done in peace.

I feel like you need bullet points.

Parent in reception keeps child off school with a couple of colds.
Parent receives letter and "polite reminder" from school that they should not be off with a cold.
Parent receives another letter when child is off with say scarlet fever or chicken pox or vomiting (inevitable).

Parent realises that next step is a home visit so rations days off for when child is properly ill and not a bit snotty.

Does that help?

DS has asthma so respiratory illnesses often hit him harder than the rest of the family.

A few years back he had a few days off for a cold that became a chest infection. His asthma later flared resulting in a 999 call from school, and being unable to leave the house for a week until the course of steroids took effect.

He then had an emergency surgical issue requiring more time off.
This triggered The Letters. Pretty shitty when you've had the stress of a child with serious health issues requiring two A&E visits in as many months.

Later in the year he had a random sick bug... 48hr rule and all that. Because he'd had a certain level of absence, school would no longer authorise illness without medical evidence. I am not taking a child to the GP for a bit of vomiting. It was marked unauthorised which I didn't realise until the end of the year to challenge it. This does matter in that this can be used to fine families if "unauthorised" absences stack up which can happen easily in children with chronic health problems.

I don't send my children in ill for the sake of it, nor do I keep them off because they sniffed. I look at are they in a state where they can learn. I've often had one child on 100% and the other in the "persistant absence" zone, not helped by illness season being weighted in the first half of the year.

Absence does affect educational outcomes, but the current government strategy and blanket school policies really don't help the situation, and support parents at what is a stressful time in itself. That's on top of workplace pressures. If it's a choice of sending an ailing child in versus legal threats, I can see why parents are unwilling to test the legal threats route.