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)

This is tricky and thorny. Some parents will happily keep their kids off to join them for treat shopping days

This rule doesn't stop that though. The parent can say "sorry, my GP doesn't see children with stomach bugs".

I would physically be unable to provide proof of this. If I somehow managed to convince the GP receptionist that I needed to speak to a dr about, say, D&V (which would be ridiculous, no one needs a GP for a standard stomach bug), the appointment would be a telephone consultation not actually booked anywhere I could use to prove it, and nothing the surgery could give me as proof either.

I’m a nurse and when I was a student I had a placement in a gp stuff like this did not go down well with the gp’s who are already overstretched! Along with schools requesting medications with a prescription sticker on of things that you can buy cheap over the counter such as calpol, travel sickness tablets etc for school trips!

Schools are struggling with lots of absences they are just trying to find a way to reduce it.some parents actually report kids as ill then take them away. Hopefully your dc will be OK next year.

Well you don't need a GP appointment or medication for d and v and you must stay away for 48 hours.

So it's shocking some schools still try and pull this crap from parents.

When ds school tried it (and he had 99% attendance) I just replied "he didn't need medical assistance for x illness. However I'm happy to chat to a GP and get a sick note for this absence - they charge £30. Cheque payable to Miss weird and I can arrange this for your records once I've received payment"

They ignored me. 🤣🤣

Oh and the important thing for any phones in a sense is to email too

"Dear X school.

Further to my phone call at 8am on X date Jonny is absent from school with Xxxxxx

Thank you for marking him absent with the illness"

It's a very good idea. Children in abusive homes are often kept there under a fictitious long term illness.

Then the safeguarding lead refers to the correct agency. There are already systems in place for concerning absense and it isn't to ask parents to waste GP time with private sick notes that take 3 weeks to get.

My dd has same attendance this year op. I was a bit surprised to see it on her report. Then I remembered the chest infection, bad flu type thing plus a 4 day holiday (my doing yes). Plus she had other illness. School have not even mentioned it to me. Just shows the difference over the country.

It’s not. They don’t need proof for children with disability or long term chronic conditions. They will have it as part of IEP. Proof is asked when children are having excessive absences without cause.

Exactly.

Not all children have IEPs.

you can have long term health conditions and get absolutely zero support from a school.

But apparently you’re supposed to pretend that schools genuinely know what is and is not a ‘genuine absence’.

Should have said IHP. And if they have an ongoing condition they will. Children with disabilities or medical conditions are not being asked for proof of illness relating to that condition. Proof is asked when kids are persistently absent without real reason. It’s to do with multiple episodes of random sickness.

Not all long term conditions require support and that’s nothing to do with the post. These kids don’t have a condition.

@JenWillsiam It would be nice if it worked like that. My son has asd and adhd which lead to EBSA… school is completely unwilling to recognise this.

Not the same thing. EBSA is not the same as a physical illness and ASD and ADHD are not long term chronic health conditions. They’re neuro disabilities. With the right support those children should be able to attend school. For medical conditions the same is not true. Let’s not compare apples and oranges and also remember that none of this is relevant to the original post.

@JenWillsiam they both produce ongoing physical symptoms- my son is on long term medication for a condition linked to autism. They don’t know why the link is there, but it is. The vomit is definitely physically real, as is the pain. There are also insomnia, panic attacks, chronic fatigue, propensity to infection etc etc. These are also physical.

and? Autism still isn’t a long term medical condition. You’re entirely missing the point.

lupus, arthritis, diabetes, asthma, childhood illnesses that cause poor health and needed time off for that. Schools don’t ask for evidence. They ask for evidence when the child has persistent absence with no real explanation.

they don’t ask when there is an explanation.

and again, there’s no condition of any type involved so your child’s condition is irrelevant.

@dreamingbohemian If the school want evidence maybe send them photos of the illness like snotty tissues, vomit or diarrhoea! If everyone does that school will soon want to change their policy.

A snotty tissue isn’t a reason to miss school and if a child has enough time off to hit persistent absence with vomiting bugs they do need to see a doctor.

you do realise that persistent absence is the equivalent of 1/10 days off? it’s a month of education a year. That’s an issue on multiple levels.

Our school tried this on back in the 70s. It failed because our local GPs refused to give medical certificates for anyone under 18 telling the school the parent's word was good enough. I'd tell them to forget it.

Honestly, I’d ignore it.

It essentially means nothing unless your school has attendance awards.

These policies are utterly ridiculous and it worries me how compliant people are to such controlling nonsense over their children.

Curious - what would the cut off be for you with attendance? When do you think the school should step in?

I’m not saying schools should never get involved. I’m saying the panic to Do As You’re Told and rush to get a medical certificate is unnecessary bullying from schools.

You didn’t answer my question, this parent on the OP has persistent absence which is what has triggered the request. Is the school supposed to do nothing?

No - like I’ve said already, they shouldn’t do nothing but they SHOULD act reasonably and have reasonable expectations of parents. And to get a GP certificate when appointments are impossible for the sake of tick boxing is ludicrous. Because that’s what it comes down to!