Unauthorised absences wtf are we supposed to do!

[dreamingbohemian]

Surely everyone knows that it's nearly impossible to get GP appointments these days. And surely everyone understands that sometimes your DC are too unwell to go to school but not unwell enough to get an emergency appointment.

But my DC's school are now saying any absence that doesn't have medical evidence will be unauthorised. They will only accept things you can get from a GP, like an appointment card or prescription.

So what are we meant to do??? We are finishing the year being this close to persistent absence, which doesn't seem fair. We can't help it if DC was ill a lot this year, but with routine bugs that a GP would never see him for or prescribe anything (including norovirus -- are we meant to send him in and spread it then?)

AIBU to think this makes no sense?

(not school bashing here, they say they are just following policy)

Oh dear.

They do have reasonable grounds to challenge the authenticity. And they aren’t routinely asking. They are in this case because absent is persistent.

They aren’t breaching the guidance.

And i think they had evidence of the issues in year 11, i was very hot on giving them the letters we were receiving from consultants, psychologists etc mainly so allowances within the school could be made

Parents of children with chronic conditions are absolutely not being fined. That’s completely untrue. Fines relate to unauthorised absence. Kids with unauthorised absences do not have chronic conditions. You’re making stuff up. And people here are not actually saying that. There isn’t a single person who’s given an example of a child with a chronic condition who’s been penalised, asked for evidence etc. attendance officers do not work with those families. Those families get access to services like ESMA.

Well, actually we had to provide medical evidence. It wasn’t for each absence just for the medical condition itself. On one occasion the consultant also had to write a letter explaining how anxiety & anorexia can lead to unpredictable school absences.

We were also fined by the school, but won in court because they were absent for their chronic health conditions even though the school disagreed because from view “other kids” with the same conditions had much better attendance. Completely not understanding that most chronic health conditions vary from mild to severe. The attendance officer was involved in this as well.

Did you have good attendance yourself? Because honestly your reading skills are shocking

I've said multiple times that the school are demanding medical evidence from everyone, not just below a certain threshold. That violates the guidance.

”Autism isn’t a reason not to go to school”. Well neither is being in a wheelchair, but if the school has no ramps or lifts and barrow doorways then that child can’t. Same with autism.

my autistic daughter hasn’t been to school since April. Despite numerous adjustments she is in autistic burnout due to the school environment. It is a sensory overload for her and the pressure of SATs was the tipping point. We are waiting for an assessment hoping we can get specialist provision for her.

She is disabled by the school environment and prevented from attending. If schools had the money to invest in more TAs, smaller class sizes etc then maybe she might be able to attend.

My dc are ‘persistent absentees’ with levels around 50-60%

We did get hassle but then got letters from the gp, camhs and other consultants and spoke with the LA and now we don’t get any issues at all it’s just accepted this is the best my dc can achieve and it’s out of our control

So you need to go to the council

@AP5Diva That is so insane you had to go to court. I can't imagine how stressful it must have been, it's just wrong.

I am a school receptionist and I probably am a 'jobsworth'. You know what? It's probably one of the few jobs where being a 'jobsworth' is imperative, because safeguarding is my ABSOLUTE number one priority. Really rude comments about school receptionists. Am I a jobsworth because I don't let little jonny go home with Tim when i haven't heard from his parents? Am I a jobsworth because I don't give a child medication his parents haven't signed consent for? Am I a jobsworth because I don't let someone's stepdad who has a court order against them pick them up from school? Am I a jobsworth if I don't ask for the play therapist's DBS certificate? If so, to all the above, I am more than happy to be a jobsworth. Some people have no respect for my underpaid, undervalued role.

And as to the snarky 'gatekeeper' rule. Yes. I am one. In person. For the safeguarding of the children at my school.

I know I have gone off topic but I feel I need to get the point across that the whole point is what's best for the children. I agree that sometimes it seems like schools go overboard, but yes we do have families that just don't care about education and say their kids are ill all the time. And again, I accept that this is not the case for the OP

@Catsanfan I'm sorry you're feeling bashed. I think we all agree it's not the fault of frontline staff, the problem is government policy on attendance and how school leadership decide to implement it.

Oh dear, indeed.

Your replies are coming across as very badly . You either can’t understand the complexity of the situation or are being deliberately obtuse.

They are going against the guidelines by asking for routine evidence unless they are doubting the veracity of the OP’s word.

It does not say that persistent absence is a reason for asking for evidence - you’ve put that interpretation on it.

Other posters have said that they have raised this point with their schools and have been told their word isn’t being doubted… but please provide evidence and basically don’t be off sick.

Our school does the same - it is in their published absence policy that they can’t use the I code in the register without evidence, (for anyone, no matter what the level of absence is). This is not in line with the guidelines.

Thank you for your respectful post and I do hope you can get this problem sorted. Perhaps a meeting with your head teacher would help them see where you arr coming from?

You’re expecting me to believe that a child with 100% rings in with a vomiting bug and the school asks for a letter? Because I don’t believe you.

They are doubting the OP. That’s the point. That’s why they’ve asked.

If you want to provide evidence of a school being so weak they’ve published an absence policy that breaches guidance I would love to see it.

Glad you arrived and called that out. Was a horrible comment.

Which is why I’ve made the point repeatedly about being supported in school. But this is irrelevant.

Yes, that is exactly what is happening.

Do you understand?

Some schools are taking this blanket approach to any absence and are saying they will not authorise anyone having a day of illness without evidence.

That is why parents are getting so stressed and angry.

And the other side of the problem is that children who are repeatedly off (I’ll explain again) either through a chronic/ongoing condition or bad luck catching multiple bugs, are being hassled and pushed to complain because they cannot and should not have to provide this level of evidence if the school has no other concerns about the child.

Er no, I’m not publishing my school’s policy on here 😂

The OP has told you that her school isn’t doubting her word - they are asking everyone to provide evidence for any illness.

I am not talking about receptionists simply doing their job. Of course safeguarding is imperative, no one is disputing that. Most receptionists of all public (and private) sectors are often holding the front line on this. But there are jobsworths in the real sense of the word, not the ones simply holding firm on safeguarding.

My son once vomited during the night, he woke up coughing and suddenly everything he’d eaten was everywhere. I wasn’t wholly sure if the coughing had triggered the vomiting or simply a precursor to further illness, however he was exhausted and feeling rotten despite no more sickness. I rang the school to say all this and the receptionist said ‘well he hasn’t vomited since, I’m sure he can come in and if he’s sick again we’ll just send him home’. No thought at all for a child who’d already been ill during the night. Even less thought for his heavily pregnant teacher at the time who’d have to be around a sick child possibly vomiting everywhere. That’s a jobsworth who's taking the rules too far. Not someone not letting Mr Random walk off with a kid for goodness sake.

1. that is not what’s happened in the OP. He’s a persistent absentee.
2. I don’t believe schools are doing that.
3. I don’t agree that parents of persistent absentees shouldn’t be pursued. Children missing school is a huge issue.

Not as horrible as some of your comments my dear. Taking something out of context isn’t even on the same level as some
of the things you’ve come out with.

Of course you aren’t. How about a screenshot of the page itself with school name blanked out? Can’t imagine why you would refuse to do that.

I don’t believe the OP and how would they know?

I’ve said nothing that’s a problem unless you’re a parent who’s being defensive and twisting the words.

Do you actually know what ‘a genuine and reasonable doubt about the authenticity of the illness’ actually means?

Authenticity and persistent are different things entirely.

You could persistently have 20% attendance for completely ‘authentic’ health reasons.

Or you could have one day off in a decade and it still not be authentic when you say it’s because you were sick.

Considering the level of twisting or simply deliberate glossing over of so many posts here you’ve done, I don’t think you’re in any position anymore to suggest anyone else is being ‘defensive’. You’ve said plenty that’s a problem, just because you yourself do not see your words as such. Which of course is your prerogative, just as it is mine to say some people are jobworths (which they can be, no matter what sector they work in).