to not give a damn what they write in their register

[Ithinkitsjustme]

My DD1 was admitted to hospital 10 days ago and was diagnosed with diabetes type 1. My DS2 is suffering from severe headaches and as I type I am waiting for a phonecall from the childrens hospital for an emergency appointment at Neurology. I have phoned the school and explained the situation, but am IBU to not want to have to phone every morning to repeat the message as to why my kids aren't in school. If I forget I get an irate phonecall asking why I haven't rung in as they need "to write something in the register". AIBU to not give a damn if they write anything they like as long as my kids are ok?

YABU

If your children walked to school on their own like many kids do, you'd be very grateful for a phone call telling you they hadn't arrived.

Hope your kids feel better soon.

YANBU. It is not beyond the wit of mortal man to work out that, if your children weren't in school yesterday, because of recently diagnosed diabetes or severe headaches requiring hospital attention, and they aren't in school today, it is probably for the same reason.

YANBU, can you email the school secretary or head teacher so you've put it in writing once and then leave it up to them. If there are any truancy queries later you can brandish the email and say "I told you in writing..".

I hope your kids are ok, it must be very stressful.

What SDT said.

Sorry to hear about your dc- must be a very stressful time for you.

But I would go along with the school and make those wretched phone calls- the last thing you want is visits from the Education Welfare Officer and letters threatening court cases to add to the stress.

(To be fair to the school, it won't be their decision: they'll have an attedance officer breathing down their necks and demanding to see the paperwork.)

I've been doing the same for the best part of 7 months and while it does seem like a miserable routine, I know from experience that leaving the paperwork in order will help enormously when I need to access help.

Tell them they are off for the foreseeable due to the reasons outlined and you will let them know when returning.

Hope your children are better soon.

You should be able to say - xx and yy won't be in until ..... insert date.

My DS had to have a few weeks off last year, after an emergency op. I rang in the first day - and just said that he definitely won't be in for the rest of this week - and I will let you know next week.

Write to them either (email) so that it is one job less for you to have to do.

p.s. Hope your DC are soon recovered.

Thanks for the well wishes, I've told them that they will be off until I tell them otherwise. They've had it in writing from the gp and most days I remember to phone, I just get a bit arsey when I'm waiting for phonecalls from hospital/ nurses etc and they ring in a strop because it's slipped my mind. It surely shouldn't be difficult for them to just write that I will get back to them when the kids go back.

Yabu. The school don't know if today is the day your dcs are back to school and delayed, or in an accident or still continuing current period of absence. Perhaps if you say 'they will both be off until at least x date, and I will ring again the day before their return to let you know that they will be back", then you won't need to ring every morning. Hope they're both feeling better soon.

Is this new? As a teacher I kind of assumed that if they were off with a cold yesterday, and they're not here again today then the same applies. Does the office not have better things to do than sift through phone calls for the same absence? And parents of poorly children better things to do than repeatedly make them?

X posts

I think you are really stressed no wonder, but schools do need to keep a check on where children are our school phones if children are not in by 9 15 , I hope your son gets his appointment today,

Molehill No it's not new and yes they do have better things to do which is why parents should ring in.

Most schools around here have something called 'Group call'...where a text is automatically sent to the Parent's phone, telling them their child is no at school and asking them to ring in.

YANBU!

OUr school asks that they are informed on the first day of abscence and then that's it.

Obviously if a parent didn't update once a week maybe then they'd have reason to moan.

Oh and I hope your DS is fine asap. Must be very worrying.

In primary we had to ring every day. When dd had to be off for a while (couple of weeks) I put it in writing and included in the letter that I would contact them when I knew the date of her return. They were fine with that, but otherwise it would have been the same situation as you (even though I, too, had given them a letter from doctor).

YANBU.easy.Cant be doing with jobsworths.
Concentrate on your family.Hope everyone gets better soon.

YANBU

It's not at all unreasonable to expect that ringing once with an explanation and informing that dc's are not likely to be school for x-days should suffice. If they're going to be off for longer than anticipated then you phone again.

I've just processed this in my addled brain and worked out that without daily calls the school could be left wondering whether the child is still ill or lost on the way to school. Have noted for future reference! Dd has conveniently saved school absence style illness for the holidays so haven't come across it yet!

When my ds is off school with illness and I know he will be off for at least a few days I will ring on the first day and tell them he will be off for xx days and that I will phone on the last day to update them on whether he is coming back or not. The school are always fine with that.

My son had left the school and we still got a call every morning and afternoon for three months. I had to send them a fake solicitor's letter in the end and threaten legal action to get them to back off. It was utterly beyond ridiculous

With me thinking bout letting my child walk to school on their own Id expect a phone call to say my child wasnt at school. Which means that when my child is off sick it is my responsibility to phone and let them know.

If u phone and say ur child wont be in the rest of the week and they still phone then thats unreasonable.