Sick kids in school. How really important is attendance?

[FishCanFly]

Plenty been said in holiday threads of how terrible it is to take even one day of school. Also that "sniffles" or a headache isn't a good enough reason to miss school.
But then when kids get full attendance awards there is a bunfight that it's selfish and unfair to send sick kids to school to spread germs - others get I'll and then their attendance is hurt.
SO LET'S DISCUSS

My school call quite frequently asking me to pick my dcs up. When they had chicken pox and I called the school to inform them they asked me if I had taken them to the drs to check if it was

If my children are unwell, they stay off school. Dd unfortunately gets everything going. It makes me really cross that other parents don't seem to give a shit if their children are unwell and still send them to school. Myself and Dh both work, but we are parents first and foremost so one of us will stay off with them.

A few days off in primary isn't anything to worry about. Secondary way more of an issue.

Attendance awards are just weird, I think. Like, lets reward the kids who've been lucky enough not to pick up anything nasty or lose a family member!! Whooooop!!

I agree - welldone for not getting a sick bug this year

We teach our kids things in everything we do. If we allow kids to have days off sick for trivial reasons, or for fun reasons, then that teaches them something. It really depends what lessons you want to teach your kids.

If DS had sickness/diarrhoea then we would keep him off.

Bit of a sniffle then he goes to school - he has just finished reception.

Thankfully, he is a very healthy child and this year, apart from a bit of a funny nose once (which didn't require calpol or anything) he hasn't had any illness.

Actually, he had an ear infection back in Oct but weirdly, he had zero symptoms - literally, no fever or anything only realised when I could see discharge GP was as perplexed as me re lack of other symptoms! So, DS went to school as normal and teacher said they would ring if any problems (there weren't -he never mentioned it!).

Everyone knows their child best but sometimes, kids are kept off for very minor things.

Primary teacher here.
Attendance awards are awful.
I feel terrible for ill children in school; it really isn't a nice place to be when you feel poorly. But I feel bad for parents who still have to go to work and really can't risk / afford to take time out to care for their poorly children. I probably tuck one pupil per week up with cushions and blankets in the book corner when their parents aren't able to collect them.
I always say to parents who are able to care for their unwell child at home not to bring them back in until they're properly better. I dread picking up bugs in school.

Mone have both gone whole terms without being ill (6yo had 2 days off the whole of the last school year)

Mine tend to get ill in the holidays. Particularly Easter.

They both had chicken pox in summer holiday 2016.

I’m a teacher and if one of my students is genuinely ill then I say they should go home. They won’t learn anything when they feel poorly anyway and they can always get any class notes from another student if it’s not a regular occurrence

I think it’s about balance, letting them stay off every time for a slight sniffle or light headache might set a bad precedent which follows them to their working life, but equally if you go too far the other way they might become the martyr who drags them self into work even with full on flu and infects every other unsuspecting colleague!

Depends on the child
1 child is very rarely ill but she always picks up sick bugs once or twice a year then she has to have the extra 48 hours off
2nd child is 18 months but he’s been hospitalised twice with asthma and he seems to pick up a lot of tonsillitis/chest infections which kick off the asthma. He’s ill in general more frequently than my first too.

Plus I do take mine out one a year for holidays but I’m honest, put the holiday form in and pay the fine.
I wouldn’t go to work with tonsillitis or a chest infection so I wouldn’t expect the kids to go to school.

DM was a SAHM and always let us stay home if we said we weren't feeling well. Her reasoning was that it better to have a day off and rest rather than struggle in when run down and then end up off for a week with a chest infection etc.
DBro and I both liked school so didn't try it on.

I work but I'm lucky I can do the same with DS at nursery, if he's under the weather my DM will take him for me.

If I think our son is well enough to attend school with a cold, i send him. Invariably school call us late morning to bring him home again because he's lethargic / yawning / dozing on a play mat / griping a little. I wouldn't mind but it's an SEN school, he has SLD, he's not missing vital learning so why not just let him doze if he wants to! When it comes to taking him out of school for a holiday, I figure it works both ways - if they didn't consider him missing school for mere colds would have a major impact on his education, then missing school to explore new locations and experience new sensations isn't going to impact his chances of ever taking exams - but it will create fantastic memories for his simple life.

Ok so DD has got 100% attendance 3 years in a row. This is obviously mostly luck (and that she got chicken pox/ scarlet fever etc over with before she started school) but the part that isn't luck is her attitude. First off she wants to be in school, but when she has a cold she carries on- might ask for calpol before going in but doesn't want to have a sick day cos she'd rather carry on. I think that side of her is admirable compared to some of her friends who would take a day off for whatever, but I'd never force her into school if I thought she wasn't well enough, so my answer is that I think lots of kids and adults could learn about health resilience from DD but I don't agree with attendance awards nonetheless. Clear as mud? Yes, probs

I'm definitely in the 'unless your leg is falling off, you go to school' category. I have always followed that rule at work and think it will instil these values in my DC when they go out into the wider world.

I have a friend who lets her DC stay off at the slightest sniffle and don't get me started on the time she let her DC have a day off school so she could go shopping with her and rung school to say she was sick. I do worry about what kind of employees children who are allowed to stay off like this will be.

I have a job that deals with sickness absence and I am sure I can spot those children a mile off!

Ofsted want 95% so pressure is on schools to get 95%. I think attendance awards are a blunt tool and probably don't do much good.
When I worked in a school in deprived area we had an attendance officer that we shared with another school . What she was targeting had very little to do with illness eg:
Shopping days
Parents who didn't get up so didn't bother sending children in
Keeping children off for company
Very very little of our persistent non attendance was illness and holidays even less.

I don’t agree with attendance awards. They’re crap.
I don’t agree with those people that send their kids in regardless, because we have to work!! It’s well known bugs go round school like wild fire, but as long as you get to work, it’s no biggy!!

The old time either of mine have had off is when DD had a accident at school which was (fairly I think) called diarrhoea and she had to have time off after. It was actually due to constipation and it was frustrating to have a well child at home

My kids aren’t too bothered by colds so I have never really had to think hard about sending them in as they have never complained or asked so I give them ibuprofen and send them off. DS has the most annoying constant cough for about a week in the Spring and I did feel sorry for the teacher but by the time the cough was at its worst he was otherwise well.

I think it is when colds/infections are complicated by ear or throat infections that kids are really knocked off and unfit for school.

When my kids get a cold, dd is usually able to soldier through with a spoonful of Calpol and some enthusiasm, ds however ends up with a raging temperature and jelly legs. You've got to use common sense.

Attendance awards are crap though, aren't they? Aren't they just teaching kids that no matter how unwell they are, they should feel bad for not attending. What about self care? Surely we should be teaching kids to look after themselves and the rest will follow? I'm going to go against the grain here and say I feel it's more important for my kids to learn to value themselves over work ethic.

Depends on child and their personal health I think.

My ds will not even make a fuss if he has a cold. Rarely he'll ask for paracetamol but wouldn't ask to stay off.

But he also has muscular issues and migraines and I won't send him in if he's had a rough night as there's a huge chance he'll collapse causing everyone an issue. School are fine with this.

These awards drive me mad! And for those of you saying your child has 100% attendance for years, you're saying they haven't had a sickness bug in all those years?!? Hard to believe primary children haven't tbh. If they really haven't, you've been incredibly lucky, it's not down to any "work ethic'.

Attendance awards are down to luck of not being ill AND going in when feeling a bit low AND not going on holiday, AND behaving nicely in the morning so not being late.

Just like making the football team is down to luck of being sporty AND behaving at practice AND trying hard

And getting the maths/English/spelling cup is down to luck at being good at maths/English/spelling AND trying hard and focussing

An attendance award such as a certificate is fine. It is when it comes to award trips etc it gets iffy.

The only award my DD2 got in primary was attendance. Without that she'd have got nothing.

As a policy it makes everyone share the germs more. I work with people who come from a variety of countries. They are all shocked how many colds we suffer from in the uk. My Portuguese relative says that children with a runny nose are not allowed in school at all. Impossible to imagine here!

I think part of the germs spreading problem is also partly how overheated our schools and work buildings are.

If anyone is interested, I have had great results using probiotics to support my immune system.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say I feel it's more important for my kids to learn to value themselves over work ethic.

I couldn’t agree more - I’d much rather my kids know when enough is enough, that it’s ok to take time when you need it for physical or mental health. I don’t want them to think it’s ok to just not work but balance breeds resilience, I don’t want my kids to think they need to do what an arbitrary body decides (eg 95% attendance) over what they need for their own wellbeing. I’m growing little humans not bloody worker bees.

Despise attendance awards and did indeed send one back to school with a curt explanation to the head teacher as to why when one of my children got one. They are discriminatory and go against the DFE guidance for supporting children in school with medical conditions. In this it clearly states that "it is poor practise to penalise a children for absence due to ongoing medical conditions." In addition they also go against the equality act of 2012 with regards to disability. A disabled child is classed as any child in school who is at a significant disadvantage compared to their peers. Asthma, SEN, ASD, anxiety all count and all could and do affect the attendance of children in school.

If my children are ill they are ill. I decide whether they are well enough for school. There is considerable wasted time in school and children do not come to harm from missing school due to illness.