to be furious with the school?

[Mimstar]

DD was absolutely fine when she went in this morning, ate her breakfast okay etc. When I went to pick her up, her teacher said 'Did you get my voicemail? She's been a bit sick.'

Panicked, I check my phone having had it with me all day. No missed calls. I check the contact sheet in the classroom and they had called my old number, despite having been given my new number twice. When I looked at the contact sheet, I noticed that DH and my mum's numbers weren't on it. I asked why that was, as I'd filled in a contact sheet with those on.

'Oh, they are on the sheet in the main office.'

'Why didn't you go to the office, then?'

'Well she seemed to perk up a bit after she had been sick.'

I clap eyes on DD, and she is absolutely NOT fine. She was white as a sheet, with a temperature.

'Oh, well she has been a bit quiet for the last part of the afternoon.'

DD had been sick on her jumper, and was just in her t-shirt. It is bloody freezing in that school, and she had been throwing up. They didn't even give her a spare bloody jumper. I then say that she won't be in tomorrow, given she has been sick, and there is a 48 hour policy.

'I'm sure she'll be fine to come in tomorrow.' This is what the teacher said. It is their policy. I then went to the office, carrying DD who was exhausted and hot, and I checked the main contact sheet. There, sure enough, is my correct phone number, plus DH's number and my mum's.

They didn't even fucking bother. They left my girl cold and ill, and do you know why? Because they are insane when it comes to attendance, because they were slammed by ofsted about attendance amongst other things. I have drawn this opinion, because this is not the first time I've heard of this. This is not the first child who has been allowed in/not sent home when they have been obviously poorly and I am fed up of it.

Also, she is in nursery - not even reception. The foundation stage.

DD has been poorly all evening, and will not be going in tomorrow. It broke my heart when we got home and she said 'You said if I be poorly you will come and pick me up Mummy, I did think you would pick me up.'

Official complaint, I think.

No wonder their attendance is so poor if they're encouraging sick children to come to school. Your poor DD may well have passed the bug onto others in her class and her teachers, through absolutly no fault of her own or yours.

Surely the school are breaking health and safety guidelines by not enforcing a 24/48 hour rule. Ofsted might be interested in that....

fucking fuckers - not only did they not care for your child but they lied to you and let your child think you did not care enough to come and get her - I would be fuming and looking at writing some seriously snotty letters and taking her out permanently. so young!!

thebody is right- nursery and reception data is not collected and used as part of a school's attendance figures (although I believe there is a proposal to include reception figures).

"If all adults dealing with children actually stopped thinking about rules and regs and simply acted like sensible bloody parents would then this sort if issue wouldn't arise."

Especially as it is not just a good idea to act like a sensible parent, but a legal requirement. Teachers are required to act in loco parentis - I would be asking how the teacher's actions on this occasion constituted that of a reasonably prudent parent, as per their legal responsibility.

yes, throw in a few phrases like that, and 'duty of care' and they will be pooing their pants.

I don't like to complain at school because i can see how difficult it is.

But i would complain about this - it needs sorting. Their procedures are not working. Somebody hasn't updated the records. And that needs pointing out before somebody else suffers.

sorry the body I missed that

Oh my goodness that is unacceptable. When reading your op I thought it was about a much older child, she is only a baby. Complain to te head.

Your daughter is too young to be included in the attendance returns.
Regardless of that, it appears you need to make an official complaint. So go into school, ask for a copy of the complaints policy and their policy relating to pupils illness - then follow the complaints policy to try to make sure this doesn't happen again to another child.

YANBU. Your poor daughter,is she feeling any better?

Maybe the school didn't realise how ill she was? Or there's been a history of parents being arsey about being called and their child not being "that ill". Is a bit odd,schools,particularly nursery/infants/primary,take ill children so seriously. Very odd.

That is really negligent of the school. You could complain to your Local Education Authority. Or at least Head Teacher and Governor. Ask for a meeting with the Head Teacher and ask what the school's policy is for dealing with children who are unwell. If the head is very strict on attendance it doesn't sound as if the teacher is completely to blame for not sending your child home. They have failed in their duty of care.

Blimey op, total support and agreement in mumsnet!!

Hope your dd feels better soon and it's sorted xx

Sounds like inefficiency to me rather than focus on attendance figures.
My sick child had to stay at school all day as they called an out of date mobile number. Like OP I had updated it but the info had only been entered onto her sister's records by the school. When I asked why they didn't ring her dad they said she had told them he was in Birmingham that day so they thought there was no point. He wasn't but even if he had been-so what? Wherever he was he wold have known how to contact me and our small child would not have had to stay at school, feeling unwell.

I am interested by the responses as I had a similar experience... my dd was a few months into school and when I picked her up the teacher said "Oh she's been a bit tired so I let her sleep on the mat." She had a raging temperature and was v sick, spent the next week in hospital. I never said anything to the school, I somehow felt it was just the way sickness was dealt with in schools, but I felt so terrible for my dd lying there so ill and no one helping her.