To want to tell the EWO to fuck off with his shitty letter?

[ASorcererIsAWizardSquared]

There is 3 weeks left of term.

I had a letter about DD's attendance earlier in the year as it had dropped to 92% after a couple of nasty stomach bug/vomiting episodes.

The school itself has a strict 48hr exclusion from the last incident of vomiting/diarrhea btw.

just to give you a run down..
she had 1 day off in november (flu)
1 day at the beginning of feb (high temp)
3 days in the middle of feb (tummy bug + 48hr exclusion)
3 days in march (tummy bug + 48hr exclusion)
2 days off this month (tummy bug + 48hr exclusion)

So she's had a total of 9 days, just under 2 whole weeks of term. 5 of which were down to the schools own strict 48hr exclusion policy.

Yesterday i got another shitty letter pointing out her attendence is at 94.2% and shows 'no significant improvement (so 92 - 94% isn't an improvement) and that if she's off again unless i provide medical evidence from the dr, it will go down as unauthorised absence.

And then a shitty little "may i remind you of the law" section where they bold "the parent of every child of statutory school age is compelled by law to ensure such a child attends school unless there is a reasonable excuse for non-attendance"

Erm.. scuse me? Her attendance has improved, and more than half of it is because of the schools own fucking policy!

I really want to write back and tell him to go fuck himself.

[pieceofpurplesky]

And hissy you prove my point as you don't seem to have understood anything I said.
Your sarcastic and patronising "sooooo educated ' is both childish and disrespectful ... You also clearly know nothing about schools either / it is very rare that a teacher writes and sends out a letter these days (more so in primary) and the one in case actually had NOTHING to do with teachers - who teach, not chase attendance and send out letters.

[pieceofpurplesky]

And woo it was actually hissy that brought up the lack of education not me. I was pointing out that her disrespectful "sooooo educated" comment about teachers was ridiculous as teachers are educated, it's not me that appears to have a hang up but hissy. I don't have an issue with what job any of my parents do (except the one who is now in prison).

[Kissesgingers]

And on the flip side, I asked school to write in support of a request for tonsillectomy (48 school days missed due to tonsillitis since September 14) and got told they weren't bothered about her absence. Go figure

[Mistigri]

Are you defending this type of letter then purplesky? I don't mean the fact of sending a letter, but sending a letter that comes over as aggressive and condescending and that is likely to sour relationships between the school and ordinary law-abiding parents who just happen to have children who have been sick?

I agree that is is often non-teaching staff, but it would help if teachers stood with parents on this one. My DS was recently off sick and my OH had to go into school for some reason - got such an earful from a non-teaching member of staff that he has said he will never go back there. And he is a volunteer on on various PTA type things. A close friend who is a teacher in another school was outraged and very insistent that my OH put a complaint in writing (I don't think he will bother, though I think he should - I think he will just disengage, which is the school's loss as round here committed parents don't grow on trees).

[PeruvianFoodLover]

I agree that is is often non-teaching staff, but it would help if teachers stood with parents on this one.

Again, the actions of a few mean all parents are affected - how many times are teachers undermined by parents? Not all parents, but the few who tell little Johnny that their detention was unfair, or that they don't have to do as teacher says If they think it's unfair. Teachers are understandably reluctant to "support" parents against the actions of their own colleagues, when next week, the same parent could be undermining their teaching in the classroom.

It's true that the relationship between home and school has changed significantly over the last few years - but that is not just due to a change in attitude on the part of the school.

[merrymouse]

I don't know how much increased school attendance/monitoring protects children from abuse and neglect. However, the general impression given is that schools are giving out attendance awards and sending out letters because they have government set attendance targets to meet (because of the effect of truancy on academic performance), not because of child protection issues.

If the accepted opinion is that attendance letters can just be ignored because they are just a bit of pointless bureaucracy that doesn' really mean anything, then that opinion can be shared by abusive and neglectful parents as much as anyone else.

I think sending out too many inappropriate letters undermines the message.

[pieceofpurplesky]

No I not defending the letter - I had one for my own son. I am defending the everyday bog standard teachers who have nothing to do with these letters and se to get the blame - as
With everything school related. Teachers did not make the rules about not having holidays, they do not send out attendance letters etc etc it we get the blame for it and hissy's scathing comments about educated teachers is so far off the mark .,.. Blame the government not the teachers!

[BarbarianMum]

Ds1 had 11 days off (through illness) in reception, 7 in Y1, 4 in Y2, 1 in Y3 and 1 now in Y4. They do build up immunity but no child of mine will be going in when they need to be home in bed.

Our school dropped the 48 hour ruls for a while - then a particularly vile stomach bug hit and spread like wildfire (12 kids out of 26 off in ds1's class at one point). 48 hour rule promptly reinstated.

[hackmum]

That letter would really piss me off.

I also don't see why letters need to be automatically generated so that everyone gets them regardless of circumstance. If the school knows the child has been off sick, and if it has a policy that children must stay off school for 48 hours after a D&V bug, what is the point of sending the letters out? What about exercising a bit of judgement?

A lot of parents want to have a good relationship with their child's school. Sending out letters like this is just going to antagonise them. Why would a school want to antagonise the people who should be on its side?

[KERALA1]

Totally agree hack mum. And it's the poor teachers that will suffer they don't send the letters but bet they are first port of call for peed off parents....

[ovenchips]

That letter would make me mad when I read it. You have done nothing to be reproached for and have actually follwed all of the 'rules'.

But however personal it seems - it isn't. The EWO works for the local authority (LA) so it isn't even the school that is responsible for you receiving it.

The LA is under pressure from Michael Gove's policy changes which are still in effect even though he is no longer Education Minister.

The letter is really nothing about you and everything about an EWO now having to do their job in an aggressive way.

I think it's completely wrong, but that's where the fault lies, not with the teachers, the head or even really the EWO.

Slightly off topic but if your DD is prone to tummy bugs I massively recommend giving her probiotics. Capsules are best (you want the highest count and mix of bacteria if you can) such as Bio Kult, Culturelle etc. any will do. Or if that wpuldn't work a good second choice would be the 'friendly' bacteria drinks such as Yakult, Actimel etc. A month's use would really boost her good bacteria, improve her immune system and make her less prone to tummy bugs. Just a thought!

Anyway, I hope you can put this ridiculous letter behind you - it really isn't worth wasting your time on.

[Fauxlivia]

OP, you do have to reply to this letter - ignoring it allows the EWO to speak to you like shit and personally I wouldn't tolerate it. Computer generated is not an excuse - if a letter was going out in my name I would bloody well make sure it wasn't offensive. Your letter was too wordy. stella phrased it perfectly upthread.

Keep it brief and to the point. This conveys your lack of tolerance for their unnecessary rudeness.

[redskybynight]

The trouble is though that lots of parents claim their DC are sick and then take them on holiday/out for the day. So how is the school meant to distinguish between the genuine tummy bug and the "fancied a long weekend away" type of tummy bug?

[TurnItIn]

I received one of these letters in a very similar tone. My son had a week in hospital during the winter and this tipped him over into a lower % attendance. I called the school as I was really concerned and they kindly told me that this is just automatically triggered and nothing for me to worry about. At this point I said thanks, put the phone down and got on with my life.

I work in a large school and can tell you that sifting out the letters generated into "good parents" and "dodgy parents" is nigh on impossible - and would actually take away the time I spend actually doing important tasks that keep the school operating well!

[KERALA1]

Sorry but I am not a turn the other cheek on this one. I know its easier to "get on with your life" but as a law abiding diligent parent trying to do my best I will not be got at for following the rules. I would make a fuss. If enough people did they may be prompted into rethinking their policies.

Its not hard to word the standard form letter better FGS!

[ASorcererIsAWizardSquared]

Just a quick update.

The EWO wrote back to me and has apologised for the tone of the letter and said that i don't have to provide evidence for D&V.

Small victory!

[Preminstreltension]

Who is joining the dots here? Has the Secretary of State for Health told the Secretary of State for Education that there is no capacity in the NHS to provide a short-notice GP appointment for every minor childhood illness and that they should scrap this policy forthwith?

At my GP's surgery the wait time for an appointment is around a month. And we are constantly being told to stop wasting NHS resources. Someone needs to join the dots.

[PeruvianFoodLover]

minstrel I think the parents who need to "join the dots" are the ones who lie about their DCs school absence, so making it harder for everyone else.

But, I know I'm in the MN minority - as "pull a sicky" seems to be the most commonly given advice when anyone posts about authorised/unauthorised absences.

[chewymeringue]

It's just beyond a joke now isn't it?! That the LA would actually have the time and resources to look into a child with 94% attendance or 92% or whatever! It's just ridiculous.

I'm a teacher myself and I know that the vast majority of parents keep their kids off when they are ill and perhaps take one day a year for a long weekend away or similar. That really is no problem and has no impact on their learning. Then there are the few who are all over the place and their kids are often late, frequently absent on Mondays and Fridays and just seem to come in when their parents feel like it. They were like that before these punitive measures came into place and they're like it now! Those are the parents we need to be working with!

[PeruvianFoodLover]

That the LA would actually have the time and resources to look into a child with 94% attendance or 92% or whatever! It's just ridiculous.

They do in my area; I'm aware of a number of parents who have been given community service as a result of poor attendance/lateness - their refusal to engage with the system resulted in prosecution.
All pupils with an absence below a certain threshold are flagged to EWO and in turn, SocServ.

Schools pay to buy into the LAs EWO service, or a private company equivalent, and all the letters etc are sent by that Dept which is self funded through the fees.

[ProudAS]

OP - send her in the day after she's been sick. It may seem irresponsible but if other parents are doing it one more infectious kid won't make much difference and it might just stop the nasty letters.

[Preminstreltension]

I meant the policy makers need to join the dots. One govt department is telling us to do something another govt department is trying to discourage.