Why would school refuse a call and insist on a meeting

[Insistingonit]

My dd is in year 5. Attendance hasn’t been good due to frequent illness. Once she got to 90% the school insisted on a GP appt to verify Illness each time which we did. We already supply the appt letters for appts in school time.

She is now at 88% . We have continued to provide proof of illness. They are insisting on speaking to us we agreed and said we will arrange a phone or video call. They said it has to be in person. Why? We are happy to discuss but don’t see the difference?

What a completely ridiculous comparison. Sara Sharif did not have documented absences from her GP ! The fault there was obviously first and foremost her abusers followed by the statutory agencies who DID NOT follow up when there were clear concerns . Just because one child who was clearly in an abusive home was missed does NOT give the school the right to dictate to parents in completely different circumstances.

There is currently no safeguarding issue, my children had time off in the autumn term with chicken pox and a sickness bug, which meant their attendance was low. As a teacher I could take no more time off work as I had already had quite a lot to look after my child. Is that a safeguarding issue? I was happy to explain absence but could not take time off work. I actually had no medical evidence where as the OP does.
The school have a duty to try and work with the parent to encourage attendance, but demanding the parent takes time off work will not do this. It still however is not a safeguarding issue. We know the child has been in school, the school are free to talk to the child and hear their voice.

That"s it, get them to explain themselves in writing, also ask to be directed to the regulation/policy that they are following in regard to this requested meeting.

I work in education. Safeguarding checks are absolutely not required at 88% attendance unless there were other concerns.

It's the school trying to put pressure on.

How would that reduce genuine illness in a child?

So what would the consequences of a parent resisting that pressure be? Nothing I assume. It's not as if social services have the bandwidth to deal with box-ticking, non-issues like this.

We all know what this is about and it certainly isn’t about child welfare or safeguarding. This is ENTIRELY about the school ‘showing’ OFSTED how they are doing ‘all they can’ to meet attendance standards. It’s really not your problem. It’s theirs. I would remain firm. Point out again that every absence has been documented .. and tell them that if they don’t stop this ridiculous nonsense, next time one of your kids has a highly contagious illness like chickenpox - I would just send them in.. and see how that affects their figures ! Stupid bean counting without logic winds me off the clock

It’s comments like this that make safeguarding much harder! This is not remotely similar! The school regularly sees and talks to the child. There is medical evidence for their absence. They are regularly seen by different professionals. The parent is engaging with both school and medical professionals, it’s just that their preferred method of communication is via phone so they do not lose their job. The school is still seeing the child and the school could do a home visit when the child is off if they are that concerned! What a ridiculous comparison.

School putting pressure on, that’s just what a family needs when their child is being persistently ill.

This sounds like a school concerned about their own attendance records rather than a child’s physical well-being. It’s the opposite of supporting a child and their family, they’re making the situation worse

@Insistingonit the meeting won't just be with the school but with the attendance officer for your LA.

I have been through similar with my daughter who had a run of illness.

They want it in person so they can communicate between themselves before and after the meeting with you. They also want to see you for safeguarding reasons.

It is annoying but by kicking up this much of a fuss you are going to cause more problems for yourself.

It wouldn"t, but there isn"t a box to tick for that.

My husband is a GP and has had to contact several schools to ask that they stop dragging him into their attendance issues by insisting that parents get a sick note for every illness. Unless it’s a chronic or worsening condition, it’s a waste of an appointment.

'Normal' levels of illness for who? Does she have something underlying that means she's particularly susceptible to falling ill? Because 88% attendance is really bad, in school terms.

Personally I don't like the big push on attendance no matter what, but I know from my son's school that anything under 90% is classed as absolutely terrible and needing intervention, with potential court action being mentioned to parents.

Exactly, absolutely nothing will happen.

Not ridiculous at all. the Sharif family went to great lengths to hide their abuse from the school and other bodies. It’s what abusive families do, and I have seen this at first hand.

I am not suggesting at all that this is the case in the OPs situation, but schools don’t have the luxury of arbitrarily deciding whether or not they are dealing with a genuine case of unfortunate illness or a deliberate attempt to deceive, all they can do to protect vulnerable children is to follow their Safeguarding procedures to the letter no matter how annoying they appear.

And people wonder why everyone is home educating 🙄

It wouldnt. But they work on statistics and treat everyone the same so as to remove bias. Statistically it was the most effective technique at thier disposal even if for some individuals it was inappropriate and had no impact.

I was explaining why in person might have been requested over phone or online and one possible reason is that it can have an impact at a cohort level because its awkward.

I would suggest you work out a time that you can be there in person and suggest that to them. Explain what you've said here, that you have also had to take a lot of time off work due to her frequent illness and you cannot afford to take more for a meeting. So offer to meet before or after pickup time, in the evening, first thing in the morning when you drop off, when you pick up for her next appointment so you'd have had to take time off work anyway, whatever would work for you. And say if that is not possible, it will have to be a call which you can take during a break at work.

Honestly - this is fucking insane. What a waste of social services time - making a safeguarding referral because it’s protocol, when you know fine well half the days off he was recovering from surgery.

Having lived outside the U.K. for several years, I’ve gone back and everyone’s adopted an insane groupthink on this. Of course time off school is bad. But illness - especially surgery! - means it is completely necessary. Madness.

There may be documents to sign? I think there are at the school I work at sometimes.

At 88% she is classed as persistently absent so they may start fast track procedures which have written plans/information. We also print the attendance doc to look at patterns etc.

We also find in person meetings more impactful than calls.

I know she is having bloods done - I would also ask for further advice as that is a lot of illnesses.

There may be documents to sign? I think there are at the school I work at sometimes.

At 88% she is classed as persistently absent so they may start fast track procedures which have written plans/information. We also print the attendance doc to look at patterns etc.

We also find in person meetings more impactful than calls.

I know she is having bloods done - I would also ask for further advice as that is a lot of illnesses.

The question to me is whether there should be a meeting or not. I don't think a call is appropriate, for reasons of confidentiality (you could be overheard at work, you are not sure who at the other end is listening out of view, other DC of yours or step DC do not need to hear this).

The reasons not to hold a meeting have been discussed and you have decided on your course of action, I read.

I agree. My DD had pneumonia in year 7.
it started as a cough then she had a fever. Doctor said she had a virus and wouldn't give antibiotics , school were concerned she was off a bit and kept ringing to get her in so I'd send her back for a day or two the minute she felt a bit better. The whole thing went on from mid Jan to almost mid March. no antibiotics and me feeling guilty and pushing her to go to school the minute she felt a bit better as it was "only a virus".
Eventually she saw the main older doctor at the practice as she collapsed crying and said she could barely breathe. He ordered her home to bed and said she couldnt go anywhere until she was better, prescribed a double set of antibiotics and a chest x ray. GAve me the confidence to tell the school to stop nagging her to go in and let her rest.
By Easter she was better and had 100% attendance the following term.
if your DD is ill then let her get better and ignore the pressure to drag her in. I still feel guilty and annoyed with myself and the school at that whole episode xx

I have a child who has been off a lot due to illness and we both work FT hours and to be honest, I’d just play the game here. If you don’t do it, she has another bout - you’re just going to be asked the same. I’ve just been summoned for one, and I took the opportunity to ask them what they’d do to try and keep the school cleaner. They’re now going through personal hygiene and have deep cleaned the classroom and lunchtime area once a week. It’s a two way meeting, and might benefit you.

Documents for what though ?