Do you think I should complain to the school about this.

Best thing is to wrap him up safely in cotton wool and keep him at home all the time.

TEACHER WAS WRONG! You have tried to keep your child going and not missing school, teacher could make your child end up getting worse and so missing school.

my dh went to boarding school and they had what I think is a very good system - there you could potentially be "ill", "off games and in", "off games and out" or "well". Given they had games every day this allowed for a sensible staged convalescence without disrupting lessons. You were assessed by the matron.

I've sent my children to school with an "off games and in" or an "off games and out" type of note and never had any problem. It's not a regular occurrence and it never occurred to me it could cause difficulties. perhaps I've just been lucky.

It's different for an adult though, Cory. They make their own decisions. They don't have a parent and teacher dictating to them, and would likely be in a position to negotiate on their own behalf. If they knew their boss was going to insist on something, then they would anticipate that before going in/calling in sick.

Schools 'bully' children who are off sick because they are under immense pressure to improve attendance. The school I teach at gets fantastic exam results - it's a genuine comprehensive and got the second best GCSE results in the county - and has had good, verging on excellent OFSTEDs, but our attendance is such that we could be put into special measures for it. And nearly all of our absences are authorised by parents - we're not talking a mass skiving epidemic. Is it fair that a school can go into special measures, its teachers scrutinised, its management taken in hand, because parents keep their children off school? Not really, but it can and does happen. It's not a surprise that schools are desperate to do everything they can to improve attendance.

hercules1 on Mon 02-Feb-09 05:48:38
"I am all for kids going to school but if he is as ill as you are claiming I wouldnt have sent him in the first place."

So how would you handle the kind of school that bullies pupils who are off sick more than the bare minimum? Not saying that Petetong is in this situation, but I certainly was.

And are you saying that you yourself would never go in to work if you are not fit enough to go to the gym or play in a football match? And if so, why not?

I am wondering if DS had to go to school ill because there was no one to look after him at home?

I am all for kids going to school but if he is as ill as you are claiming I wouldnt have sent him in the first place.

Any PE teachers on here? Surely if a child started coughing like mad, you'd tell them to take it easy for the rest of the lesson?

Get a grip PT.

Perhaps Petetong's ds is sensible enough not to take responsibility not to overexert himself at breaktime if he was unwell. We have no evidence that he was running around playing football at breaktime. If he was feeling unwell, most likely he wasn't.

Did your letter also ask for ds to be kept in at break/lunch time and from other lessons where he may have exerted himself?

If not then the oversight is yours not the schools.

seeker Sun 01-Feb-09 07:55:36 Add a message | Report post | Contact poster

"If he had a bad cold, presumably he's be at home, and if he was having an asthma attack then of course he couldn't do games."

That depends very much on the school and the individual parent. I felt pressurised into sending dd in when she had a bad cold, because of the headteacher's response to absences. There are headteachers who will make life a misery for any child who is frequently ill and consenquently make pupils frightened of taking time off even when they should.

You should see the number of letters parents send in excusing their children from pe. Masses and masses. You are being completely unreasoanable.

But the petetong didn't say that her boy had a bad cold or had asthma - he had a sore throat and a cough on exertion.

If he had a bad cold, presumably he's be at home, and if he was having an asthma attack then of course he couldn't do games.

But if every child with a sore throat and a bit of a cough was excused PE they might as well shut down the PE department from November to March!

Personally, if I go running in the cold when I have a bad cold, I tend to develop pleurisy or other lung infections. I've learnt to listen to my body. My GP says there is nothing intrinsically wrong with me, I just need to show some common sense.

agree with laxymum.

Also, if the school are extremely strict on attendance- basically, you have to be almost unconscious not to attend- then they have to accept that not all students present on a certain day are going to be fit enough to do PE. Can't have it both ways. If they say, you shouldn't be in school unless fit to do PE, then they have to accept that unwell pupils will stay at home.

Dd is very prone to ear infections and her last school would not accept her taking time off for these. Now I don't think vigorous exercise in the cold (let alone swimming) is a good thing if you have an active ear infection. But staying at home waiting for the EWO didn't seem a very attractive option either.

I'm surprised at people's reactions that if you are well enough to go to school you are well enough to do PE. I think this is wrong. You should listen to your body. Sitting in a warm environment doing a lesson is completely different to running around, getting out of breath in the cold.

Getting tired and cold doing PE must reduce your immune systems ability to fight the cold. I think you have every right to complain.

When DD's asthma is bad I excuse her from games. I've never been questioned though the school is an old fashioned prep school with a robust mentality.
Thet accept that though she may be fine to study french with her inhalers she's not fit to streak accross the fields ona cross country.
Ditto when she had weeping blisters from an extra curricular sports event.
That said, they know if she's fit she's out there in the wind and rain giving 100%.

Petetong - our secondary school wouldn't make a student do the pe lesson and like your school would "find a suitable job i.e. instead of playing football, being linesman, referee or ball boy. "

As someone else in the thread said you might go to work but would skip the gym if you felt under the weather.

Cant you just write: dear mean pe teacher, unfortunately petetong ds will not be participating in pe class today as he has been unwell, if you need further clarification do not hesitate to call me on xxxxx. sorry enter key not working, so spacing a bit out