Does your primary school do this? Home visit on Day 3 of illness

[Moonshinebaby]

So my son (4 years) is off with chicken pox at the moment. This is his 3rd day of illness.

Since he's started reception in September, he's only had 2 previous sick days due to vomiting.

It's in the school's policy that they will visit a child on the 3rd day of sickness.

I thought they are bluffing, but they actually have just been around.

The lady said that it has nothing to do with my parenting, but that they need to do spot checks.

I asked and they said there are a few cases of chickenpox at the school at the moment.

Does your primary school do this?

How do you feel about it, OP? I know you have posted it on here, and I get the impression you feel it was a bit intrusive? And I do kind of see that - I wouldn't love having people turn up to check up on me - if I am coping with a sick child at home I am likely in my pyjamas with the washing up not done etc.....

HOWEVER, I guess as others have said, in order to safeguard children, welfare checks like this can serve as a good early warning system?

So I am torn really.

Kind of depends how it was done. If she just satisfied herself your son was alive and safe, fair enough. If she poked around your home judgementally, sniffing at the fact you had the TV on and some dirty dishes on the kitchen table, less fair....

Anyway, I wish your son a swift recovery! Chicken pox is a surprisingly nasty business..... X

I don't know - she was very polite and she even said it's not a criticism of my parenting.

I however didn't like when she said "we have to do some spot checking" - does that mean they won't visit every child that's been ill for 3 days?

She also asked before she left "Does that mean we won't see him before Christmas?"

It sounded like a genuine question, but it should be obvious that you can't send in a child with chickenpox all over his body.

I said " He'll be back in school in January ", but in hindsight I should have asked if they wanted me to send him back in tomorrow.

Yes, but the post I was replying to didn't seem to be concerned abut safeguarding.

So waht about the attendance level of children who don't start till they're a bit older?

How can you tell which parents are doing nothing wrong, though, without visiting them?

I am also surprised they have the resources, but at least it may be a consistent policy for all families and not just the ones who they (rightly or wrongly) are concerned about.

How do these visits mean the school can tell who's doing something wrong? Parents can refuse entry and can lie.

But you quoted me. I wouldn’t have responded otherwise.

As in they started a year late do you mean? Or are you just being a bit pedantic? Attendance is a huge issues in schools and it needs attention. Op's school might be a bit over zealous but at least they are trying to do something.

DD is at secondary school, very rarely off when she was at Primary and had no real contact for them.

Someone came around in 2021 when she was in yr 7, day 2 of a vomiting bug, however she had had 16 days off due to 2x bouts of COVID so although that was her only other absence her attendance was low.

Now her school will ring everyday to see how they are and if there is anything they can do to help if they are off-sick. I imagine for absences below a certain percentage they do house visits too.

There are plenty of parents who let their child stay at home for all kinds of reasons that are nothing to do with being very poorly. Schools are stepping up the pressure on parents to make people think twice about taking the day off for their birthday or for a trip out or for a long weekend or whatever the reason.

Nothing to do with nursery being compulsory. It’s a welfare check. To make sure that the family is okay and no signs of abuse. Obviously, in the majority of cases, that isn’t the case but all these times you see in the news a child being abuse and everyone says “how did no one know”, these welfare checks are a step in the right direction to combat that

OK, fair enough!

Yes, children who start at the compulsory school age.

I'm happy for schools to be paying attention to attendance, just not happy for that attention to be creeping into age groups who don't actually have to attend.

Why shouldn't a child be taken out of school for these reasons if school is not compulsory? Which it isn't for four year olds.

What exactly are you implying?! That OP's child doesn't have chicken pox?!

I'm not sure it works like this - if you do decide to send your child to reception at 4, you can't just take random days off.

It's not nursery, where you can choose not to send your child in for all sorts of trivial reasons.

so is it about attendance or welfare? It sounds as if this was a welfare check, as the attendance record of a non-CSA child is irrelevant to the school (different code for absence that doesn’t count against the overall attendance figures).

No! DD's record was 11 consecutive school days off school. After day 3 of calling in the class teacher told me to stop and let me know the day she was going to be back in school.

They don't have time to visit everyone, that's insane. DS is at secondary and says half his class never turn up, as far as he knows, no consequences.

What would they do if at the time of the spot check you were out at the doctor or collecting another child? Assume you were on holiday?

If you choose to send your kid to school aged 4 you need to send them every day. School isn't childcare for the days when you don't have anything interesting on.

I can sort of see why because safeguarding is such a worry.

But I’d hate it if they did in reality because I’d be trying to work and also wouldn’t have tidied up!

Also, often if DC are ill (esp the primary school aged DC) I am ill too!

My mum used to work for a school, she went and did a welfare check on a little girl who hadn't come to school on the Monday, her dad was a single parent and had died of an epileptic fit at the weekend and that little girl had been alone with him all that time. No landline as he used a mobile which presumably had died or she didn't know how to use it.

You don't have to open the door to them though. So pointless as the people who trying to hide something won't

So because the school has no way of having oversight in the holidays you think they should shrug and move on in tern time too? It’s not that they’ll be ‘perfectly fine’ it’s that the school has no jurisdiction in term time. Bonkers, like I said.

They aren’t. It’s just it’s possible to notice an absence and check in term time. Or do you think schools should just ignore absence? Not worry about anyone’s well being?