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

As a primary school teacher, I hate it. I literally pick up every last bug going -it's a myth that exposure to lots of infections makes one more resilient.

I know that attendance policy stipulates that we pressurise parents to send sick children in, but when their eyes are glazed, they're coughing and sneezing all over me, there are hot flushed cheeks, sticky tissues and crusty noses everywhere, and I wake up in pain every morning knowing I can't just have a quiet day, putting my head down and working at an office screen with a lemsip, but instead have to deliver a full-on, all-singing, all-dancing high-engagement 7-hour routine, then I hate this insistence on presenteeism in our schools.

Worked in a secondary school even if a child had vomited in the morning AT school we weren't allowed to send them home or call parents until they had got their afternoon attendance mark. Just ridiculous, once had 10+children sat in a corridor all had vomited all waiting to be allowed home.

So out of interest if you think it’s better for your DC health to be a home because DC is genuinely ill . Now you’ve been sent a letter from school you would put that letter above your child’s health and send him into school ?
I’ve never received a letter from school because of illness. And I find it strange everyone seems to assume. my children had/ have loads of time off school. which she doesn’t just because I keep her off when genuinely ill .

You're very fortunate.

So do you grasp that you are both fortunate to be able to do that and that it's so far from the norm?

Many Parents seny their kids to school with clear and obvious COVID symptoms when isolation was necessary. Of course they will continue to do is if they have the flu COVID or whatever because "living with it" is policy

Since then usforthem and similar emphasised that every school day matters. You will recall the government took London schools to court to keep them open for just 1 extra day.

The emphasis is to get kids in to school at whatever cost because the drop in attendance is due to avoidance rather than genuinely higher levels of illness. We were told kids need to catch everything going to develop their hybrid immunity so now you do have vomiting kids not allowed to go home until the afternoon mark and similar.

Bit rubbish if you catch COVID or flu just before Christmas but this is literally government policy.

How is it seemingly so impossible to understand that you are in a fortunate position and your husband is in a fortunate position and that that might have something to do with your smug self-righteousness?

Imagine one or both of your employers continually pushing back on you, creating a hostile environment, not allowing you to WFH, withholding shifts and your ability to make money - it wouldn't be so sweet and rosy then would it? Do you really think parents don't WANT to leave their children sleeping in the morning if they're a bit sniffly? Do you really think the difference is that you're just a superior human being?

Far from the norm that a parent can occasionally take time off work to look after their sick child no .
And that it’s unfair to send a sick child into school

not only is it not fair on the child . But unfair to the teacher and other children in the class . And it’s the parents responsibility
no I don’t think that’s out the norm

The first sentence of your response doesn't make sense, but I'll have a guess at the general gist.

I do keep my DC off when ill. But irrespective of what I personally think is the right thing to do, schools have rigid attendance policies. DC's school will make unannounced house-calls, insist on TEAMS meetings to see the child if absent for more than two consecutive days, and refer families to education welfare and Early Help, if they believe parents are not cooperating with raising attendance. DC2 is a grade A student across the board -a few days off with a chest infection won't knock her back- yet we have been on the receiving end of lots of communication from school concerning her 'persistent absence'. I'm a teacher, so not too fazed by the bluster, but I imagine it can feel quite intimidating if you're not used to it.

So you agree , regardless of a school letter you would keep your child at home . If you considered him too ill to attend . And why would a house visit be an issue as your child would clearly be at home if ill . Nothing to hide

My DS had a cold (which tested positive for covid) the week before Xmas the year before last. I kept him home because a) it was a pretty horrible cold and b) no one would want him spreading it especially in the run up to christmas when people are going away/seeing elderly relatives etc. I filled in the attendance form and said he was off with covid and got quite a pass-agg reply that they would be expecting him to return to school ASAP.

I happen to dislike germ spreading too as my middle DS was so vulnerable to chest infection when he was younger and someone else's little cold could become a hospital admission for him. However, workplaces in my experience are really cracking down on absence. Disciplinary procedures start on the third occasion in a rolling 12 months at my workplace. With yourself and say 2 kids to cover its easy to see how things could escalate quickly.

Firstly, you're wrong. Secondly, other parents know it's unfair. Its also unfair on them when they have to go to work unwell. And thirdly - you're wrong.

I'm lucky to have an employer that is flexible and also the schools in Scotland don't freak out as much about absence. But I know from working in retail in my teenage years and then as a temp for a long time that it was an absolute nightmare for parents. The managers were often petty dickheads, piss them off even slightly and you would be on the rota down to your minimum, or you would have your days off at either end of two weeks so you were working the maximum without a rest day. They never believed anyone when they were off and there was a real culture of despondency. If you were an agency worker you could forget it, it was absolutely a black mark against you. One of the places I temped before being in my current job, which was in payroll, the attitude towards the temp agency warehouse workers was horrendous and is one of the reasons I left there as soon as I could. Having schools on your case on top of insecure and unstable employment must be intolerable.

I don't understand why people need to be busy patting themselves on the back instead of having some empathy and compassion for people who are in those situations. The run up to Christmas is the only time some people can even GET work.

No, nothing to hide. But I'm starting to agree with PPs who are questioning your capacity of putting yourself outside of your own experience.

It really doesn't matter if I have 'anything to hide': the DfE are doubling down on attendance and schools, who are judged harshly on failure to meet attendance targets, are throwing the book at parents. It is disconcerting to be under scrutiny and be brought to the attention of external agencies whose job it is to 'support' your parenting.

How old are your DC, OP? You sound like the parent of a fairly young child, or perhaps someone who doesn't mix with other parents much -you appear strangely determined to stick to your perceived idea of how schools manage attendance.

It's mostly work. If you had 3 kids for example and especially if one of them is nursery age and picks up everything you could be taking multiple days off work throughout the year. I'm not condoning it (I'm a primary school teacher) but I myself would feel the pressure to come into work if my kids were sick (I'm lucky my husband works from home).

I was a teacher and was horrified that the headteacher of my young DC’s school had decided to keep DC in school when clearly unwell “because a teacher shouldn’t be asked to leave school”. Yes, I should have - so my DC could be looked after at home, by me.

I keep my kids off if they’re sick, but I work from home and the school doesn’t have attendance targets. If my circumstances were different I may well have had to send them in if they were able to get through the day.

Also, I have got it wrong on occasion when I was convinced they were faking and then they’re sent home.

I can quite see why many people end up sending sick kids into school.

I don’t agree with 100% attendance certificates for students or school staff. I think it sends the wrong message.

Not determined to stick to my idea on how schools manage attendance . But I don’t actually care and find it strange some people seem to care more about the school policy . Then the well being of their own child

Quite often my children can be looking sorry for themselves, snotty and red-eyed and looking wiped out so kept home then bouncing off the walls by 11. A lot of colds are worse in the morning and pushing through those first couple of hours and going in is the right thing.

Nobody cares more about a school policy than their child. But if you are on your final warning from work or desperate for that month’s pay cheque and you’ve also got a school attendance officer on your heals strongly encouraging your child in…you’ve got a lot stacked against you for keeping your child at home if they aren’t bed-bound poorly.

The OP doesn't care but I absolutely guarantee there will be a rude awakening some day, in some way.

Out of interest OP, have you EVER read a single one of the threads on here about the pressure from school, local authorities and employers about attendance and sickness? Ever read a single, solitary one of them, and thought shit, that sounds like a really tough position?

This. Education is really, really important. The minor bugs healthy kids get are very rarely serious enough to justify missing school, hence why schools say only do it for d&v.