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?

Because it isn't the way the gov want it done. It's clearly outlined in the gov statutory guidance Working Together to Improve School Attendance.

and if they insist and OP loses her job because she's had too much time off as a result? That definitely isn't good for OP's child,

I can’t believe the amount of mucking about you & your family Drs etc.etc have been put through, wouldn’t have stood for it!
I wonder if you put this all in writing (on actual paper! 🙂) & give to sch. maybe the message would get through?
I’d be minded to send a copy to the local paper , the GP practice, & local MP even?

I didn't have that issue, i was already well established as a pain in their ass because of their horrendous level of disability discrimination that ended up with me getting the LA involved and them getting their knuckles rapped legally.

They already knew not to fuck with me where the law and what they could and couldn't do legally is concerned. Pissing off an autistic parent who makes SEN education/rights/laws their special interest is never a good plan.

I'm afraid my view on being 'that parent' is that i will be THAT parent, loudly, proudly (and politely) because i am my kids one and only advocate, and if i don't defend them and stand up for their rights and mine, then who else will?

I'll be damned before i let someone ride roughshod over me when they have zero legal standing to do so. fuck that.

It’s really not, she has complied with their ridiculous, counter to guidance, requests to evidence her child health. She isn’t refusing to meet, she’s asking for a convenient way to meet to avoid further absence from work. Schools need to understand that they can’t just summons autonomous adults to the head teacher’s office for a telling off.

The OP is well aware of her child’s school absence, and the potential impact of this - she doesn’t need to take half a days leave to be told it again.

OP they are trying to show their authority by attempting to force you to 'see the head'. Read up on the statutory guidance previously mentioned, including gov 'Keeping Children Safe on Education' and the gov 'Illness and your Child's Education' so you are fully aware of the expectations of schools and parents. They need to work with you, not bully you.

Absolutely this. I too am routinely “that parent” because otherwise my child becomes “that child”.

I know the law. They can not refuse reasonable time off for a dependant and yes that can be unpaid. And I guess you would prefer the school to not follow safeguarding process then? It is not wonder we have learned no lessons from Baby P and the likes

So the doctors providing medical evidence are in collusion too?

The financial impact of missing yet more work after already having multiple bouts of unpaid leave looking after a sick child and attending medical appointments?!

It's not safeguarding law. Literally the opposite to the gov statutory guidance.

School will follow whatever the safeguarding guidance is. Which if it is a face to face, then that is what it is.

Yep.

I'm also ''that parent'' when I have to be but thankfully, my son's school is largely wonderful and ''that parent'' doesn't have to come out very often. They certainly don't act like OP's child's school and my son's attendance is worse than her child's.

i literally quoted and linked to the guidance. Currently they're directly contravening it by refusing to work with her. She isn't refusing to meet with them, she's asking them to do it via a video call/video meeting because of her work commitments.

Surely you would want to speak to the school face to face. In any case, I don’t care. School will take next steps if she refuses and frankly, I wouldn’t blame them

Two parents working its not much of a wonder that their employers dont want them to have even more time off

It's hardly a fucking conspiracy

In OP’s shoes I would go in for the face to face meeting just in order to keep things from escalating. I would make it clear that as I had already been off work due to my child’s illness it had been very difficult and I would have preferred an online meeting. Having said that some schools are starting to treat parents like children and question their judgement. If a child who generally does well in school and appears well cared for is off with an illness like tonsillitis I think they should trust the parents judgement about whether to keep the child at home and not ask questions unless the child is absent for an excessively long period. Even then they should be respectful and enquire after the child rather than interrogate the parent. I saw one thread where the attendance officer had visited and commented on the father who was ill himself being in pyjamas. Not their business and overstepping their remit. Obviously losing time from school has a negative impact but dragging unwell children in to boost the school’s figures doesn’t benefit children.

My son had tonsillitis eleven out of twelve months one year needing antibiotics every single time which usually upset his stomach for the first day his temperature was far too high he literally couldn't not be in school my school was fine sympathetic and supportive because you cant help children getting ill

Ok, I’ll dissent… it’s simply about putting pressure on you not to be off as schools are under such pressure about attendance. There’s new dfe tracking and it’s part of the behaviour and attendance part of the new Ofsted framework. Judgements from Ofsted are no longer best fit, you cannot move up a grade in a category unless you meet all the criteria for that category. So a school with the best behaviour in the world would be getting a low judgement for behaviour and attendance if attendance is below national average. Regardless of why.
They end up stressed and push this pressure onto parents. Someone will have decided face to face is more impactful.
politely decline and offer either video or after hours to meet.

This is bad advice. Local papers are shadows of what they once were. Even if they were powerful, a school isn't going to say 'Oh there's a nasty piece of coverage about us in the local paper so we'll change our policy.' What does happen is that the whole school community suffers because it has been tarred by the 'bad school' brush.

I think there is value in contacting your MP, but framing the communication to be sympathetic to schools, parents and GPs ie please bring pressure to bear on Bridget Phillipson to look again at the guidance on managing pupil attendance. In its current form it is onerous for schools, parents, and GPs, respectively stretched by pressure on results and declining standards of pupil behaviour, dealing with the cost of living crisis, and GP shortages and hig patient demand etc etc. Then you can cc to the school and GP and be seen as a force for change rather than a blocker and foot stamper.

However, such a letter would be better drafted after the meeting has happened. OP by her own admission doesn't really know what the aim of the meeting is. Going will hive you the understanding currently missing.

Ask the school what are they doing to help prevent constant reinfection. Are they following gov guidance on ventilation, using CO2 monitors and HEPA filters. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ventilation-and-air-quality-in-education-and-childcare-settings/ventilation-and-air-quality-in-education-and-childcare-settings

OP, I am a school Attendance Officer.
is this the first year that your daughter has had such low attendance?
she is considered persistently absent, so inviting you in is standard.
you will have also received Termly Letters of Concerns as such as she dropped below 90% attendance.
i am surprised her teacher did not mention any concerns during parents evening as the school I work at does.
i

The guidance literally tells the school they're only meant to ask for medical evidence if there is genuine doubt on the reason for absence, and to consider the burden on medical services, especially when its an illness that wouldn't require any medical intervention.

The onus here is on the school to follow the guidance. Which they aren't

If you are doing pick up each day, then you are already at the school, and not at work. Do you go back to work after pick up? What happens to DD then?

You are very privileged if you can afford to take time off unpaid for a school’s internal policies that do not benefit yourself or your child.

There is no safeguarding issue here. OP’s child has just been unlucky with illness. School need to either back off or agree to OP’s reasonable compromise.