AIBU about medical appointments in school time

[LonginesPrime]

My teenage DC have a multitude of relatively minor medical issues (caused by a genetic condition), for which they are under specialists at GOSH and elsewhere.

None of their conditions are anywhere near life-threatening, just annoying and a bit time-consuming.

They have spent a great deal of time out of school over the years as a result of their many medical appointments (many of which being routine check-ups) which often result in their missing half a day of school, once travel time, testing time and waiting time is factored in. I'm obviously not complaining and am very thankful that they have the medical care they have.

However, they're now doing GCSEs and, looking at their school timetables and the appointments coming up over the next few weeks, I'm quite concerned with the number of GCSE lessons they'll be missing.

Obviously, there are some appointments that I wouldn't dream of postponing - DS has another bout of (minor) surgery on the horizon, so obviously appts to do with that are important (not least to get him in a positive state of mind about it all). But some of the things seem quite trivial compared to missing one of the 3 lessons a week in a hard GCSE subject.

WIBU to try to rearrange the less important appointments for the school holidays/after school where possible? How do others cope with lots of medical appointments and GCSEs?

Not at all reasonable. I actually tried to rearrange my DD's paediatric appt once but was told I couldn't have the latest appointment of the day as they usually tried to reserve those for children in their GCSE year

YWNBU to try to rearrange where possible. Even if it were non-GCSE schooling YWNBU, but especially with something which may help dictate the course of their life, trying to prioritize teaching time is wise.

I'm afraid I don't have any experience having to do that though, so can't offer any practical suggestions. I would imagine the time slots you want are more sought after generally, so good luck in your attempts. You could try asking the consultants how time critical some of the appointments are and see if they can be postponed or consults less intense over the next two/four years. If A levels are still the way they were when I was in school (quite a few years ago now!) there will be a bit more flexibility at that stage, though each lesson may be more important.