To find it increasingly annoying, that parents send clearly ill children into school

[Howarewealldoing]

As the title states really, why do parents continue to send clearly ill children into school . When they should
A. Be at home resting and recovering
B. Stop spreading their illness on to everyone else
It’s not fair on the child and everyone else , and I find it incredibly selfish

My daughter had 2 days off for a sprained ankle (visited a&e it was that bad) and one day for a migraine.
Ive had 3 letters and an email about her absence. She has had to be spoken to by the attendance officer to "support her with her attendance at school"
This attendance officer now speaks to her on a weekly basis.
She has also had one day off for her grans funeral.

She has 92% attendance this term and has been banned from the end of term treats/non uniform day.
The only way to stop her from being singled out and not punished in the future for having time off, is to send her in ill and they can send her back home to me after shes received her attendance mark.

They've already been warned if attendance isnt over 95% they are not allowed to attend prom.

What is your issue with kids being taken on Holiday in term time?? This is a whole separate thing than you originally posted about??? And quite Frankly it isn’t your business if people do this.

You posted about kids being sent into school when ill but keep making snarky comments about people who take their kids on holiday, makes me wonder what your actual point is

It's the school's job to provide childcare, pure and simple. Adults have work to be doing.

I haven’t read the whole thread, but the following is an example of why some parents feel pushed into sending children in when they’re unwell.

My DS was off school for 3 days last week with a very sore throat. I wasn’t planning to take him to the GP as it seemed viral, and pharmacists can now assess and prescribe antibiotics for sore throats if needed, so a GP appointment often isn’t necessary.

I then received an email from school: "We are sorry to see that DS has been off school for 3 days with illness and sincerely hope they are starting to feel a little better. We wanted to give advance notice that should the absence hit 5 days we would require medical evidence to authorise the absence. This is in line with the school's attendance policy. We wanted to provide advanced notice to ensure you have enough time to organise contact with your GP. Evidence could take the form of notification of a phone appointment, or details of an in-person visit."

So the next day I sent him into school with ibuprofen and an over-the-counter throat spray. I was then called by the school to say he could only take prescribed medication, administered by staff.

It really does feel like you can’t win - you’re discouraged from using the GP unnecessarily, quite rightly, but also pressured by schools to provide them with medical evidence, which then results in children being sent in when they’re not fully well. Make it make sense!

Between having to take leave to help my parents and having to take leave because one of the kids is ill I'm out of annual leave. I ran out of leave by about August. I'm lucky because i work in a non critical role, my manager is very understanding and im allowed to take unpaid leave but im sure for a lot of people it's not that easy to take time off all the time.

One of my neighbours, who is a SAHM, regularly sends her boys in when they’re sick, have had a fever overnight, or S&D… it infuriates me because I work full time and move heaven and earth to take a day off to keep mine home when they’re sick… and I’m sorry to say this, but it’s usually because she has a nail appointment or just “can’t cope.” It’s really not on.

As someone who is currently up with a puking DD I 100% agree with you!
My DD was sat next to a girl at school on Monday who was sick in the school toilets and came back to class anyway!!!… she then told my DD she’d been sick at home Sunday!!!!…..
my DD amongst several others in school is vulnerable, what is just unpleasant for your child, can be lethal to mine… stomach bugs is one of the biggest reasons type 1 children are hospitalised, and can be fatal!…
I get that parents have to work… BUT if that’s the case why send your child to school to spread it about to loads of other kids making their parents and families affected and have to take time off?!… it is totally selfish of these parents and people should be fined for sending their kids in sick!
Sending your kid in with a stomach bug could literally see my child in hospital or worse!…. Imagine if I sent my child in to school with peanut butter sandwiches knowing there were kids on site with nut allergies!! People will say it’s not the same thing but your kids stomach bug could kill my daughter!! Or land her in hospital on glucose drips because she can’t have insulin without food… and without insulin she’ll die!
I’m actually shocked and concerned at how many people on here think OP is unreasonable for saying these families are wrong!

I’m guessing because people take their kid out for holidays but refuse to take them out of school when they’re actually sick

Sorry but t if this true then you need to write a write a formal complaint highlighting that all absense has been authorised and that it is unfair and cruel to punish children for being sick!
I’ve kicked up in the past about these letters and frankly if my daughter isn’t included in the attendance treat or trip I’ll be pulling her out that day and telling them why!…
As for prom I’d be booking a hall with the other the other parents of kids who were bein punished for being poorly …
a dad did that last year and advertised it well… all the parents paid a portion towards it and the school was kicking off because no one wanted to attend the school one! The dad that booked the prom for the kids banned from the school one for attendance is awesome in my eyes !!

My DD got an attendance letter.. I responded stating discrimination because she has a medical condition and quoted disability laws .. they disinterested respond but I’ve not had another letter!

I always keep my child off when sick but I’m afraid schools do have an issue. My son has had 3 days off since Sept and I was emailed to tell me his attendance is below par and needs to improve (secondary school). 2 of those 3 days were for d and v and the other was a bad cold.

For me, it’s about teaching them some resilience. If I let them stay home the minute they say they’re unwell, they’re going to do me over more often than not, and also not learn that sometimes you have to get on with it even if you’re feeling unwell.

As PP have said, if they’re being sick or visibly so poorly they can’t move/have lights on etc, they stay home. If they’re not being sick and have a bit of a winter cold then put your big boy/girl boots on and get on with it like the rest of us have to!

I never understand parents who keep their children home for the slightest thing.

Gosh you sound annoying. And very ‘I was born yesterday’.

people have to work. Places fire people for all sorts of reasons, and schools are hot on attendance.

let me guess all 3 kids go to one village school with 100!kids and you work round the corner 😅

My sons secondary would not send children home if they puked in the toilet they had to have "evidence of sickness" before they would even consider it and they took their phones off them so they couldn't contact anyone for help most of the time they sent them back to class anyway

This.

Sadly some people are just entitled arseholes .

It boils my piss.

😡🤬

Ps.. and I hope your DD feels better soon 🩷

I don't think you're unreasonable but this is the workplace culture that we've created.
The DfE set guidance, as do Local Authorities and the schools are obliged to follow that, regardless of whether they agree. This covers things like school absence, religious worship, and what subjects taught must cover.
Workplaces in general have become more demanding, with the expectation that all tasks are completed immediately, if not sooner and the notion of working as many hours as possible to show commitment and dedication.
No wonder people are ill and burned out.

We need to review all of this.
If you're sick and contagious, you should stay home. If you're able to work from home and are well enough, then problem solved.
If you're unable to work from home, but are sick and contagious, then you should be able to stay home to get well.

It’s disgusting totally agree with you. My daughter isn’t diabetic but she has a metabolic condition which causes hypos, requires glucose tube feeds etc. She’s barely been at school since October half term as she catches something then ends up in hospital on iv glucose! Sick of hearing parents say they’re poorly but not sick enough to be at home, just because one child gets something lightly a vulnerable child can be in hospital fighting it.

Well my nephew developed small 15 second fits that started manifesting themselves first AT SCHOOL. My DSIS took him to the GP then A&E and the school told her he needed to be in the Next day for his Mock exams. The next week he developed full epileptic seizures, at that point she told the school that wouldn’t be at school for a week (he’d had 3 big seizures in one day (2 whilst in the hospital). The school nurse and admissions team are at odds. There is much pressure to be a 99% attendee but at what cost to the children?

Well for high school maybe because they are obsessed with attendance and reward it so much. My son’s friend wasn’t able to go on the Christmas treat day out as he had been off for week and a half with severe tonsillitis. Even thought he’s an excellent student who never gets in trouble … it’s madness. My son was ill week 2 in year 7 and he was worried another keeping him off as honestly they go on another attendance CONSTANTLY!