To find this new school rule ridiculous?

[Wherearethebees]

My children have returned back to school with a new rule in place that each child is only ‘allowed’ 5 days of sickness per school year. Any other sickness will be unauthorised leading to a fine.
Several families received letters that their children had X amount of days sickness last school year and this is their warning to not repeat it. I received one as my eldest needed an a&e visit in June which resulted in a week off school, (as well as several days through the school year for a chest infection and separate ear infection) I kept them updated and provided proof.
Apparently it doesn’t come under their invisible list of which illnesses are acceptable to have during these 5 days.
I understand that it may be to avoid children missing school as they just can’t be bothered to go in, term time holidays which have doubled recently in this school and fake illnesses so they can have a day at home, but there are children who are genuinely unwell and can’t plan ahead for this or foresee when they will be unwell, particularly in winter when there are all sorts going around.
My youngest for example has had 3 awful colds this year from nursery, enough to be floored and unable to play or eat much for a few days, so basically I would be fined for keeping my child home to recover if this was a universal rule. It’s not like I want to have time off work and lose pay, as well as lose money to the fine, so what do they think they are achieving?
This will cause a spike in children being sent to school unwell spreading illnesses and causing even more children (and even teachers and other staff) to be unwell.
Does anyone else have this rule at their school? Is it really enforceable?

DS' school doesn't as far as I know, but I agree with you- ridiculous. Unfair to parents of children who do need time off school because they're poorly and invariably have an underlying condition that's stressful AF to manage anyway, and because others will send their children in with more serious illnesses to avoid the risk of getting a fine which can make some children very sick indeed.

School is in the wrong with policies like this.

I suspect this is a (misguided) attempt to clamp down on families they think are throwing sickies. All it does is bugger things up for DC who are genuinely ill.

Ablest policy that targets the wrong people.

As a parent I also just find it infuriating to have to justify myself to the school, I don't feel it's their place to act as judge and jury on whether my child is sufficiently sick to need a day off. That's my job!

Write a letter of complaint to the school governors and point out that this new and unenforceable policy endangers the health of the pupils.

That's a joke. And no wonder we have posts from teachers saying why are parents sending kids in!
Can't bear this obsession with 100% attendance. Everyone's immune systems are shot after covid, give people a break!

I wonder what the school would do if you're DC had already had a week off with chicken pox, then a few weeks later threw up in school, and the parent refused to collect or observe the normal 48 hours exclusion period because it was "unauthorised"

@prh47bridge - pretty sure this policy is actually illegal. Do you agree? If so, what's the most effective way of objecting to it so that is is changed?

I missed half my sentence i meant teachers saying why are parents sending kids in who are ill

Speak to local council education dept, see if they know or are okay with this, is it a head teacher getting carried away with having good attendance record or is it a new local policy.
There is always the sad face in the local press option as it sounds like the sort of story they would like.
Also I would get the school to confirm in writing that they would expect you to send in an ill child, send an email now asking the question encourage all the other parents to do so as well..
Then every time your DC is poorly send an email asking should you bring them in or not? Then wait for them to answer.

Calm down.

Absence with medical proof won't go down unauthorised.

This is to put off Fred who has every other Friday off "sick".

The schools lost any credence for instilling attendance boundaries when they lobbed all the kids into "e-learning" during Covid.
If the authorities can decide that F2F learning isn't vital when it suits them (Covid, RAAC, strikes etc) I'll damn well decide when it's appropriate for my kids to be in school when they're unwell.

I absolutely believe that attendance has taken a hit in the last 4+ years.
Change is needed but threatening parents and children is not the way to do it. The authorities made this bed themselves and now they need to lie in it.

Schools should not be allowed to do this.

It was the government not individual schools. Same with the push on attendance now. It's the government.

When mine was in reception he had chicken pox and scarlet fever in the same school year. What are parents meant to do in this situation? He had 5 days off for chicken pox and 8 for scarlet fever.

This recent attendance thing is the government changing the fining rules BUT what this school is issuing isn’t the govt guidelines. This isn’t something all schools are saying. This is this school, or possibly this LEA, putting their own spin on the govt updates. There was another similar thread this morning.

I just checked what our high school have sent out and it’s nothing like this. They are certainly not saying “any more than x days off sick and you get fined”.

But there often isn't medical proof. I don't see why I should have to make an appointment with our overstretched GP just to get a letter of permission for my child to stay off school.

You can't be fined for a sick day. If your child is sick, keep them off school. Absolutely do not send them in!

Not sure that your pedantic clarification changes the point of my statement. I referred to both schools and authorities. To be clear..."the powers that be" chop and change the rules to suit themselves and then try to scare people into falling into line when they feel like it's time to crack the whip. Hypocrisy whichever way you look at it.

Response to @MultiplaLight , sorry

I think you only get automatically fined if it's a holiday, not just because it's unauthorised. Anything outside of that they would have to do a LOT of legwork and working with you before probably court and a fine.
Overall I would say the new policy probably isn't aimed at you, and it's all noise and no teeth.
I would probably say let them keep their "records" of whether you're "authorised" to be sick however they like, and make sure you keep your own more accurate records somewhere safe, and if there is ever a question about it you can dig them all out.
If they were really sticking to some terrible consequence, it's hard enough for people with physical illnesses let alone mental illnesses or other non physical reasons for being unable to come to school.

But you can't get medical proof. GPs would rightly tell you no if you tried to get a note for a bog standard virus that's caused a day or two of a fever or some vomiting. They're busy.

The policy is stupid. And will lead to increased absences when more unwell children are sent in and spread whatever they've got around.

This is going beyond the law.

Think about it - if a child got cancer and was hospitalised for chemo etc there is no way they are going to fine.

If it is genuinely medical they do have to authorise.

That's exactly my first thought.

I guess that's what you ask the school.

So if my child has x number of days off due to exclusion period of one illness you will keep them in school and expect them in despite exclusion period for another?

And if they start asking for sick notes give them your GP address and tell them they can request a private sick note at their own cost.

Is a policy like this legal?

just a reference for the above it's if the legwork of improving attendance isn't effective OR if you are going on holiday, you MAY get a fine. So as long as you're not having sickies to go on holiday, you can ignore (but keep the evidence each time)
educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/08/19/fines-for-parents-for-taking-children-out-of-school-what-you-need-to-know/#:~:text=if%20this%20isn%E2%80%99t%20effective%20or%20the%20absence%20is%20for%20unauthorised%20term%20time%20holiday

Not if the OP and other parents at the school challenge it.

As they are put the health of their own child and others at risk.

To be honest if I knew my child had something like chicken pox and a school had imposed that policy, I would send them in at the beginning of the illness and make a song and dance about it so other parents realised how illogical the policy was.