keeping my son off school

[samalexholly]

My DS is 4 years old and at preschool.
He has 15 hours of free sessions (government funded)
The problem is he is always ill with either a cold or a virus or something else.
The teacher once told me a few months back that he was having a lot more time off compared to the other children, also that he seemed a bit of a mummy's boy (which i felt quite offended by)
But what she doesn't seem to understand is that he really is poorly, he has always caught everything going from the day he was born.
One day i sent him to school with a cold because i felt that maybe i WAS mothering him too much, but the next day there was a notice on the door saying to all parents "DO NOT BRING YOUR CHILD IN IF THEY ARE ILL, HAVE SOME CONSIDERATION FOR OTHER PARENTS!" it filled an A4 size paper written in red ink.
Now i don't know what i'm suppose to do.
What to you suggest?

SofiaAmes, your situation sounds very similar to mine.

Lots of DV bugs on the go at the moment.

I don't think I'd be sending my child back to that preschool because the teacher sounds very unsympathetic and the note was very heavy handed. It doesn't sound like the people who run it are kind, caring people who have the best interests of children at heart - i'm a teacher and I'm always amazed how many unkind people work in childcare and education.

Also, don't worry about keeping your child off if he's I'll. For one thing, he's only little anyway and you are under no obligation to send him at that age. For another thing, some children are more ill than others, and it is best to keep him off and let him recover. I once taught a Year 1 class and in about February all the staff were commenting how much time 'David' had had off so far, wondering whether everything was alright at home, exclaiming how he would never catch up, etc. I, as his class teacher, wasn't worried about his attainment or attendance because he was very small and pale and I knew he was just catching every little thing that was going around. As the weather got better he got a but stronger and didn't miss any school in the summer term, and caught up quite a bit with his reading, etc. Another child I knew had diabetes and was quite ill with it as the doctors were trying to get dosages of insulin right etc. The teacher had meetings with the mum to talk about how important it was to send her in, etc. The child was in nursery! If she was mine she wouldn't be attending at all at least until she started reception.

I think preschools have to account for their attendance figures in the same way as schools do now, which means they have a different attitude to, say, a private nursery. It's a shame because it means pressurising parents of young children in a way that is unnecessary - and has nothing to do with the best interests of the child.

It is totally up to you what you do when your child has a cold. I tend to send my DD in if she seems happy, but that is because I work. If she wanted to stay home, then I would keep her home. I tend to pick her up early if she is off-colour anyway.

Agree with sims2fan. They don't even have to go at all at this age!