School won’t authorise absence for illness

[G172125]

Looking for some advice. My Daughter is off school with chicken pox and will probably be off for most of the week. The school are requesting medical evidence before they will authorise the absence. I have sent a photo of my child showing her spots but they said I needed to go to a chemist and get them to give me some calamine lotion with her name and a date on it. I’ve been to three chemists and they have all said they don’t provide proof and are fed up of schools sending parents to them. They said it would be going against nhs advice to put calamine lotion on chicken pox and they won’t print a label for me to stick on the bottle if I buy some. Her Gp won’t provide a sick note or appointment. Her attendance is at 97%. She was sent home in September and also just before half term with a sickness bug both were marked as unauthorised even though she was sent home from school vomiting. Who can I complain to about this? She is only on day two of chicken pox so will definitely be off most of the week and I want to avoid getting a fine that I can’t afford at the minute.

It is worth getting Chicken Pox documented on her medical records. I didnt bother taking dd to GP for CP because she caught it from her DB who had been to GP.
When she grew up she was going to US for Camp America who were very strict on immunisations and wanted proof of vaccine or having CP. I was ringing round London trying to get titre tests on a bank holiday weekend and it cost me £100!

Are you in the UK? If your school has an attendance officer, I would CC them on emails but you could contact their governing body or CEO depending on school set up (all details will be on the school’s website). I would also contact their governing body Education Welfare Offices from the local council.

If it was my daughter i would want to put her school uniform on and take her in usher her to the front excuse me infectious child coming through and try to loudly hand her in to the front office but she has a unique sense of humour and would take a bell to ring and shout unclean unclean with

I would go through the complaints procedure and the chair of governors in real life

(And yes my daughter genuinely would ring a bell and shout unclean)

Send the legal speak as above, then add they are welcome to come and check for themselves if they don’t believe you.

i have the emails from April when she was off with a sickness bug. I didn’t get any further replies from the attendance teacher after I sent her the nhs guidelines for sickness bugs and also the DFE guidelines around authorising absences. I followed it up 2 weeks later and I’m still awaiting a reply. That absence is still marked as unauthorised. I don’t think she will call or email me back but I’m not letting it go and risking a fine. If she does call I will suggest she does a home visit.

Make sure that you also put in your complaint, that the headteacher refused to speak to you about it.

I'd say no problem, I'll send her in so and ask the school to warn any pregnant members of staff.

What an absolute load of rubbish.
I would say that they either authorise her as being ill or accept her while she is contagious. They have absolutely no right to be giving out medical advice.

Make a formal complaint - look up the school’s complaint policy and follow it, HT cannot ignore that route and you have tried to resolve it otherwise so it’s not like you are going in all guns blazing. There are now two instances you can complain about!

It's unbelievably stressful going through this process. Time consuming building your case and costly if you get a solicitor

LA also have form for pulling out at the last minute because they know they won't win and therefore no possible way of getting court to award the parental costs

I'd put in a complaint to my MP about this. Ours is very proactive and would definitely take this up.

Calamine lotion is an old fashioned remedy for chickenpox, it is no longer recommended as although it eases the immediate itch, it is dries the skin excessively. Is the person at the school who advised calamine lotion, medically, nursing or pharmacy trained?
If not I would be going through them for a short-cut. This century's advice for the itchy rash with chickenpox would be a moisturising cream or one which contains crotamiton which is specifically for itch (Eurax- other brands are available).
If the child is otherwise well they certainly do not need to see anyone else to certify for the school. It sounds to me the school are being totally unreasonable, unprofessional and downright ridiculous.

It doesn't work like that any more. The early fines are equivalent to parking tickets. You wouldn't be in court for a first offence.
Your local council can give each parent a fine of £80, rising to £160 if you do not pay within 21 days. If you get a second fine in 3 years it will be £160. If you do not pay the fine in 28 days you may be taken to court for keeping your child out of school.
If your child is off school 3 or more times within the 3 years you will not be fined but may be taken to court.

Tell them you’re taking it up with the governors (and do).

Plus ask the school if they really want you to send your DD and her infectious spots into school to infect everyone else.

Please do not use calamine lotion. I still remember after decades how it made me itch so badly as it dried

Thank you so much for this: have just found the document (couldn't get your link to work, but found it anyway) and have copy/pasted the section you highlighted into an email to school. I am battling school on this: it drives me nuts. You must have evidence from the GP that says she cannot come into school. Excuse me? Every time I have mentioned this to a GP (my DD has an ongoing challenge) they just roll their eyes.

she is well in herself just has a slight cold and a bit tired. She is covered in spots head to toe which are very itchy. She has had an oat bath and has been using virasoothe. She has a lot of spots on her face and I think she will be very self conscious about them when it is time to go back. I’m hoping most will have cleared up by then.

The problem is to try and not itch them, I've have a couple of small scars as I scratched mine when I was 15 .....

@WhatAMarvelousTune i sent an email similar to this in April and im still awaiting a reply. That illness is still marked as unauthorised.

The problem is, who has time to write letters to umpteen people about something as frankly idiotic as suggesting a child should go to school with Chickenpox.

All the words in the safeguarding guidance about wellbeing and neglect and we're supposed to piss about writing letters instead of looking after our children when they're ill because of the stupid attendance rules which are inhumane. Probably whilst also trying to juggle working from home.

It's not in the child's best interest.

This is batshit. I'd say fuck them, take the fine and go to court, and the papers.

Hope your DD feels better soon and the spots clear quickly

What will the difference be if it’s authorised or not authorised to you and your child? You could easily appeal a fine with the evidence that you have. Particularly if you take her in, what will they do when presented with a child covered in chicken pox? Really think about how much it’s worth your time. It’s a piece of data at the end of the day, pretty meaningless in real terms.

I think at this stage I would stop pandering to the school. Email them detailing everything including their refusal to correctly record the previous absence. Inform them you are making a formal complaint and ask them to send a copy of their complaints procedure. Even if the head then calls, do not waiver. And submit the complaint anyway. If it’s an academy, chances are it’s part of an academy trust so you cam complain to the managing board as well.

Hi @G172125, old and haggard Chair of Governors here, can I suggest you call again and ask for a copy of the school complaints policy and follow it to the letter. At this point, your complaint is to the HT, about the "Attendance Teacher" and school reception because both parties have failed to respond in a manner to which you agreed, as what they are asking for is not DfE policy, which overides any local policy that they have made up.

You might also want to point out that the Clinical Commissioning Groups, who existed prior to the Integrated Care Boards have told GPs NOT to issue sickness notes for schools, but if the schools insist then the GP may charge them... it used to be £50 per letter, which soon stopped this ridiculous behaviour.

Unfortunately, schools are under pressure to improve attendance, but this is most definitely not the way to go about it. Our staff have a check list of symptoms and illnesses to check out with parents because some can be unsure whether or not their child can attend school, and chicken-pox comes under the list of communicable diseases, so no, it would be dangerous to send your child to school.

Why does the absence need to be authorised and what’s the consequences of it not being authorised?