What happens if they miss school?

[Hustssleeping]

Kept my DD off reception class today with a miserable cold. But got me thinking about stories I've read here where parents have been really stressed about kids being off too much.. but what happens if they are? And what's too much?
She could have gone in but she's much happier after a day at home instead of a few miserable days recovering at school

Nothing should happen.
I always kept mine off when ill. When you’re feeling ill you just want to relax on the couch or in bed.

If your child is missing too many days of school for illness then the head teacher will likely get involved to check that you don’t need extra support etc. If a child is too ill to attend school full time, assistance can be given. If the child is well enough to attend but doesn’t want to, help can be given. If parents are just keeping their kids off school without good reason, they can be fined.

There is nothing wrong with keeping your child off school if they are genuinely unwell.

Nothing at all happens in reception because they don’t legally have to be in school at that age. After reception they’ll get involved if attendance dips below 90%. I think one of my DC’s had 89% one year because they had chicken pox for a week, a chest infection for a few days and a stomach bug so they had to follow the 48 hour rule. Nothing happened though, they were just a bit narky in their end of year report.

Did you tell the school she wouldn't be in? Otherwise they may escalate it due to not knowing where she is or what's wrong

My son started yr1 in sept, was in a week before he started throwing up. Kept off school for a week & I got a letter from the council as his attendance dropped below 90% purely by virtue of it being the start of term.

This is why parents worry.

I've had three messages chasing my reception age child today. None were remotely polite they were "Child was not at am registration call office to explain" no concern for his health or welfare. I was pretty mad as the secondary school are so much more civil about it, not that my children are regularly off. This has been the first non shutdown reason for this child ever.

It didn't help that I had already phoned and left messages, so I chose to ignore the text as an overlap. I am pretty mad about it to be honest. Though he is compulsory now I believe? Isn't it to do with the term after 5th birthday. So some are some aren't compulsory at this point of the school year. Either way, I'm not going to rush to explain myself to an organisation with such shitty manners and admin.