School want gp note every time dc off??

[Ohtheyresickagain]

Dc appears to have caught every one of the bugs going round since October. It’s been an absolute nightmare on so many levels (them suffering, missing family activities, impact on our work etc etc) that it’s honestly brought me to my knees.

We were presented with an attendance warning letter on their last day of school before Xmas. Lovely way to start the holidays. I know I’m sensitive because of how hard it’s been but it actually made me cry- mostly with frustration. The wording (I’m assuming a standard template?) was incredibly cold and basically said they are ill too often (you don’t chuffing say!) and therefore any time they’re off this year they’ll require a gp note.

Thing is, they’ve only been off for the time they have because of following school policy, which is usual I think - not allowed in with a temperature, or for 48 hours after vomiting. We’ve abided by this and are now being ‘told off’. In the weekly school newsletter they commented on how badly the country has been hit by illnesses this winter as it’s first proper winter free of restrictions since covid etc but some parents have been sending kids in ill and please don’t do that. Gahhhh

anyway. I have no intention of phoning the gp for a sick note for my child every time they have a temp or have vomited. Insane use of the nhs imo. I’m not being unreasonable with this surely?

I know of someone who refused to send her daughter back to school when they reopened after covid. She was taken to court and it was decided that she would no longer be able to judge whether the kid was for for school or not, so any absence had to be backed up by a GP note or the school would send the nurse round. And she got a nice big fine too.
Your case sounds different though. As long as you aren’t keeping them off for minor sniffles/colds etc, and the illnesses are genuine, sounds bit exaggerated.

My friend got a similar letter and spoke to the teachers and essentially it was just an automated letter after a trigger percentage. Weirdly I have a lower threshold for keeping my kids off and I've never got one. I would not just ignore it though I would be having a conversation about it, that's a completely unreasonable request.

It's bad enough that some parents put their kids in when they are clearly unwell (2 times in last term kids vomited in playground on way in to school and parents shocked that they couldn't come in).

10 days is a lot though op in one term? How old is your DC

Were all of those vom bugs/ major illness? Or have you kept DC off with cough/cold where they could have gone in?

I don't think it's even the school staff. Schools are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

We had 10% of our cohort off the week before Christmas due to illness, mostly Strep A, Covid and flu. The Head sent emails reminding parents not to send their DC in if they were displaying any symptoms with a list of said symptoms - all eminently sensible. However, government monitoring does not like yo-yoing attendance figures. The school is then out under pressure to "actively manage" those whose attendance is poor. As a secondary form tutor, I have had the attendance officer's messages. But she is only doing this because she is being leaned on. For some kids, there were genuine issues - I have one off due to complex surgery and who will be on a phased return. Her attendance was really poor due to a chronic condition which hopefully this surgery will rectify. The numbers look dire, but there are good reasons for the absence. In my opinion, requiring a GP's note is to "encourage" those like @MilkyYay 's friend to send the DC in when they could and should be in school.

I keep a lot of other people's rubbish out of my life simple by saying "no".

If more people did that, a lot of rubbish would disappear. Unfortunately, a lot of people are easily cowed and run around figuring out how to mindlessly comply with all and any baseless edicts that come their way. Pathetic really.

It's automated. The school know who are pulling a fast one, honestly, but a blanket rule is set so it's seen to be fair, if that's the right word
They know they can't insist on a GP note , EWOs are like gold dust so I can't see them contacting you. It is a good tool to use for safeguarding though so not completely without merit
.Hope your DC has better health this year

@MilkyYay read the op again, all in there apart from their age which is irrelevant 👍

@Mariposista erm yes slightly different example there 🤣

Thank you @StubbleAndSqueak me too!!

The GP won't issue a note everytime they are off sick unless it's over 7 days. My boss tried that one - GP said absolutely not, they are far to busy to be issuing sick notes to every school child and adult when they are off sick for a few days.
If the school offered to pay for the private sick note then fine but the GP will not even see the child to make sure they are actually sick anyway so its a complete waste of time.

The school is acting outside of DFE guidance which states:

”The new DfE guidance (page 58):

“220. In the majority of cases a parent’s notification that their child is ill can be accepted without question or concern. Schools should not routinely request that parents provide medical evidence to support illness. Schools are advised not to request medical evidence unnecessarily as it places additional pressure on health professionals, their staff and their appointments system particularly if the illness is one that does not require treatment by a health professional. Only where the school has a genuine and reasonable doubt about the authenticity of the illness should medical evidence be requested to support the absence.”

More info on the Not Fine In School website with advice and links for you to send the school a copy of their summary re the DFE guidance and contact the DFE for more info/support.

That's not possible and they know it. Tell them so.

The only time our primary school queried DS being off, I took a picture of him asleep in bed and of the thermometer showing a temperature of 39.8, emailed them to the school and said I had no intention of waking him & hauling him out of bed when he needed to sleep.

They never hassled me again.

I think you need to be firm and clear - your child is poorly with X symptoms, there are no GP appointments available and you will keep them updated on child's progress.

I know schools have attendance targets but if kids are sick, then they're sick and no head teacher having a hissy fit is going to change that.

@Musicsoundsbetteronvinyl oh that’s interesting. Given that the illness periods coincide with school wide sickness bugs and on other occasions dcs illness was noticed by the teachers and I was called to get them I can’t see why they would have any ‘genuine and reasonable doubt’ as to the illnesses authenticity. Other child was in school at same time so they know we’re not on holiday etc etc

We will not do fit notes for anyone under 7 days without a hefty fee. It's private work.

@MilkyYay read the op again, all in there apart from their age which is irrelevant

Age is not irrelevant. A 4 year old can be really wiped out with a heavy cold or cough to the extent they can't manage school. They might for example fall asleep after lunch. They also dont manage their hygiene as well, so it can be a case of snot absolutely everywhere.

An older child can be given some paracetamol and a hanky and can manage!

I had a moan about this to a friend of mine who is attendance lead at her primary. She said as she knows the kids, she'll filter out the ones like yours and mine where she knows the kids are ill and it's not the parents taking the piss.

I know our school don't do this. But I just ignore them. My kids don't truant and I make sure they are in school, on time, every day. If they're ill, they're ill. And if school sends them home with a nosebleed and then marks them absent the whole day then that's their own lookout.

If it’s any consolation, we got a letter saying our child’s attendance was in the ‘red‘ and a lot of extreme language when our daughter had been in hospital for five months, most of it in ICU. It was an absolutely disgusting thing to read, and just goes to show that it’s automated. We made a complaint, headmistress was very sheepish indeed, and now they have a review of letters before they go out to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Don’t let it get you down, I hope your child feels better as the flu season abates!

It's a standard (shittily) worded letter, just ignore it. I don't think autonation should be an excuse their behaviour though. Can't believe they are expecting a GP letter though - from the same ones sending out text messages telling people to consider if they really need to contact them.

Unless GP contracts have changed they are not obliged to issue a free medical certificate for anyone of non working age, irrespective of the length of illness.
GPs have enough to do without being dragged into a Local Authority’s box ticking exercise.

If you ask your GP, they will not do it, they have been told not to do it by their Integrated Care Boards as this is a waste of their time at a time when NHS resources are scarce.

Next the numbers, 91% attendance in the Autumn term means your child missed approximately seven days, however this will diminish across the year... so if your child continued only attending at 91% they would miss 18 days. However, I think we are both aware that this is unlikely and probably there might be a few more days taking you up to 10 days in total... which would be around a 95/6% attendance figure over the academic year. Someone obviously is not looking at the bigger picture and is panicking and sending out a template letter which is neither helpful nor productive...

We get these letters all the time, our children have chronic health conditions. The letters are standard, the school have to issue them. I put them in the bin as soon as I get them.

I actually got a personal e-mail once from a school officer asking for my son's fit note when he'd been off with a cold. I sent back a very strongly worded reply.

Schools are not the police, and we are not breaking the law by keeping sick children at home. It's perfectly legitimate for parents to push back against these ridiculous demands.

I have had similar experiences as pp.
One thing that I have discovered when talking to an attendance officer t DS school is that the way the percentages are calculated.
It's the absences expressed as a percentage of the number of days of the school elapsed. (Not as a percentage of the total number of days in the entire school year. )
Eg if your DC goes sick on day 2 of the school year then you're already at 50% attendance.

We have the same issue for two of our dc. I’m at the point of de reg to home educate. One is even under csa and they are trying to get us to sign an attendance agreement.
both have underlying medical issues and SEN. Both catch every virus going and are off a lot we’ve been threatened with court !!! Even though they can’t due to illness but why even mention it to us

Sounds like a standard letter, my friend got a similar one yesterday. Her child was really unwell prior to Christmas and needed a week off. There is no way our GP surgery would give out medical notes for coughs/stifles/temps/D&V. Bin it and don't worry about it.

They must be REALLY worried about their attendance performance target

This. This is all it is, don't take it at all personally. Ignore the letter, if your child is sick you can't send them in and that's that, a GP letter is unenforceable.

Carry on as you are, you make the call if they're fit to be in school or not.