AIBU to say i know my own sons health - school asking for sick note?!?

[givemebooks]

My son is 11 and in his first year of secondary school (he does have some additional needs and has and EHCP)

On friday afternoon school phoned, he had developed a raging temp and could we come get him no problem we were surprised as he never gets ill! Think the last time was over 5 years ago!

The temp developed into a sore throat and on sunday we saw an out of hour GP who said it was all a viral infection and to let it play out keep up with paracetamol and rest.

Over the past 2 days he has remained off school the temp comes back if meds are not given (we have taken to alternating calpol and ibuprofen so he has something every 2 hours ish ) over night he developed a hacking cough bringing up green phlegm he has been up with me most of the night as could not settle sat up but could not lay down, poor fella is very poorly and we got him booked i to the gp as soon as the surgery opened this morning

This morning i phoned the school to say he would be off again and the women was so rude said they would accept today but they want him in tomorrow no matter what as over 3 days is unacceptable!

I explained he was ill and shattered that his cough and chest sound awful she would not listen said it did not matter he had been ill since friday 5 days was long enough to get over anything and if needed the school will give medication, i stated i will be going on the doctors advice when we see them and she stated they would need a sick note then??!?

Like doctors have nothing better to do that do sick notes for kids? Like my decison as a parent is not good enough! I am fuming if i was as unwell as him i would not be going to work!

We have now been to the doctors and he has a massive chest infection issues both sides when listening so is now on antibiotics, the doctor just laughed when i said what the school had said was a joke.

I called the school after and said i wanted to talk to them about the situation as my son will bot be in tomorrow and possibly not friday, i am now waiting for the welfare officer of the school to ring me as they will "deal with me"

Doctors have given me the appointment letter for today and i have a copy of the prescription! The school are saying a sick note or letter (which will cost £25 from the GP!!)

What a drama out of nothing but i am bloody fuming!

Anyone know my rights or been in the same situation! How do i tackle the school?

Thank you

[givemebooks]

I am so sorry my paragraphs have vanished!!!

[Parker231]

The school is being ridiculous expecting medical evidence. Where we live, it’s a three week wait for a GP’s appointment unless it’s a urgent medical issue.

[Malbecfan]

Did you tell her you were medically trained? I'd definitely use it if it happens again.

I hope your DS is now improving. I'd probably suggest he stays off again tomorrow unless he is much better as they probably won't do much in school and it may help his recovery.

Sympathies about the receptionist/attendance woman. We have one like this at my school and nobody can stand her. She dishes out all sorts of nonsense but the minute you say anything disparaging about her, even if it's proved to be true, she goes whining to the Head's PA. I have a lad in my tutor group who has a medical condition so we have agreed he can come in slightly later. It's not ideal as I don't see him but it is working for him and his overall attendance is much improved. Misery-guts makes PA digs at his mum which upsets and demeans her. This just exacerbates the issue as if son is struggling, why should mum drag him in only to get the 3rd degree? The head of key stage got wind of it and put a stop immediately to the woman saying anything. Sometimes you just have to maintain your cool, but escalate the comment through the teaching staff who are no doubt just as fed up as you are.

[Acis]

It's slightly ridiculous having someone who's job it is apparently to spend time every day interrogating parents about why their child is off when they phone in. Why not just set up an automatic answering system to take messages, and phone back if there are any children who need to be checked up on?

[cantkeepawayforever]

It's slightly ridiculous having someone who's job it is apparently to spend time every day interrogating parents about why their child is off when they phone in.

The thing is, from a reasonable parent's point of view - those whose children are off for illnesses or reasons that anyone would agree are serious enough to miss school - it looks ridiculous.

From the point of view of someone INSIDE the school, knowing the type of things some children are kept home for, it is the reasons given by some parents that are ridiculous, not having someone to question them about it when they ring... and an instant response at 8.15 or whatever could mean that a child being kept off for the 4th time in a fortnight for no good reason is brought into school for registration, whereas ringing back after listening to many answer machine messages might happen much later and be less successful.

I KNOW schools can seem draconian. I KNOW how annoying it is for parents whose children are genuinely unwell ... but equally I know how many absences [at a whole school level] are wholly avoidable, and what that leads to in terms of educational progress.

[Quietlife333]

I hope your Son is well now O.P.
Our G.P. Quite rightly refuses to provide evidence for children. I told the school this when our ds last had days off for genuine illness at primary. They promptly reported us to the welfare attendance officer at the council. Who called me to say she was satisfied they were genuinely ill but that “next time we must provide proof.” It’s a completely ridiculous situation. It would be great if parents could make a stand against this nonsense by flat refusing to provide any proof as part of our own parenting policy. We know our children’s health best.

[HexagonalBattenburg]

Dd2 is going to be off for a week straight after the holidays which will obviously look like we're heading off to the sun. In reality is a scheduled operation and school have not batted an eyelid and just wished her well without even a request for the appointment letter. It's going to put her below the concerning attendance threshold but the school comment was "if anyone questions it we are quite happy to tell them why and where to go"

[CornishMaid1]

Glad the rude woman backed down today and glad your son is feeling a bit better.

If he is well enough to go to school tomorrow, cover him in fake tan and tell him to let everyone know he had a great time in the Bahamas

[cantkeepawayforever]

We know our children’s health best.

The thing is, though parents are in the best position to assess how a child is, different parents have extremely different thresholds for 'too ill to be in school'.

Some parents set the threshold of 'not hospitalised or actively vomiting at that moment'.

Others set the threshold of 'a bit tired'

and obviously everything in between!

That makes it difficult for schools, who basically want a fairly stable threshold of 'genuinely poorly and unable to take part in a school day' (or 'wildly infectious and likely to spread a horrible D+V bug to the whole community')'

[fleshmarketclose]

My dd is another one who was out of school for months and didn't even need to phone in every day. I phoned EWO myself when her attendance was down to 40% and they weren't interested either.

[fargo123]

Why not just set up an automatic answering system to take messages, and phone back if there are any children who need to be checked up on?

That's what my kids' secondary school has, and I believe the next nearest one uses this system too. I suspect it's quite common where I live. Thank god my kids don't go to school in the UK, with all the associated ridiculous nonsense I read about on here.