School giving me hassle for doing the right thing!

[Target23]

So I had symptoms of COVID on Friday last week, booked a home test which came Tuesday and received the results on Thursday.

I had 2 calls from the school from 2 different receptionists saying that as soon as I receive my results my DC should come in. I received another call Thursday asking for the results before I received them and when I had received them I called them and let them know it was negative.

This was after lunch, I had a delivery booked for food which I struggled to get as I am on my own so I had nothing for packed lunches so I told them that DC will be in on Friday, they got really annoyed and said they should be coming in now. Again I explained the situation they told me that it would be an unauthorised absence and hung up the phone.

Their attendance is good but obviously with government guidelines I had no choice but to keep them off until my negative result.

I have just received a letter penalising me for keeping them off which threatened a penalty charge and a meeting with the head teacher.

They had Friday- Thursday off due to my symptoms and me being a single DM with no outside help and were back in Friday after I received my negative result after lunch on Thursday.

I still feel absolute awful and terribly sick so I would like advice from people not in this situation.

Should I send them an E-mail?

Or are they being fair?

They also phoned me to say they needed evidence of the COVID test and I forwarded the e-mail to them with the date I had it done and the result.

They are being totally unreasonable and I would make a complaint. They cannot insist you show them proof of your test either.

How good is their attendance? Sounds like school are concerned they are being kept off when they should be in school.
As soon as you knew it was negative then they should have gone in. It’s not the fault of the school you had booked a delivery. It’s your responsibility to ensure that your children miss as little school as possible.

They sound really heavy handed. I think next time there would be a hold up on when you get the result back. They could only possibly put the afternoon (one session) as unauthorised.

Seems crazy on their part to kick up a stink about one afternoon. I don't understand the packed lunch thing though as you mention getting the results after lunch so surely she could have eaten at home and then gone in?

That is ridiculous. I would make a complaint about them. They were telling you your child should be at school before you got your results back? I would definitely report that.

That is absolutely crazy! Our school have been the complete opposite, encouraging us to keep dc off with even cold symptoms and quite a few precautionary closures when there was a strong belief a test might be positive (actually all have turned out to be negative!)

I cannot believe you were treated like this for trying to do the right thing.

I would absolutely send them an email stating that you were following the government guidelines and isolating yourself and your child until you received a negative test. Your DC was brought into school as soon as feasibly possible following that negative result. I would also state that while you understand that schools concern with attendance, your first concern is the health and welfare of you and your child. You were being safe, following the stipulated government guidelines and you would think that the school would appreciate you following the rules rather than risking a covid exposure to the school staff and children which would surely negatively impact the attendance. You have ensured your child has had the minimum amount of time possible off school, as a concerned parent you of course don’t want your child missing out on any more learning than necessary, and resent the implication from school that this was not the case.

I would complain, what a bloody jobsworth. Maybe you should ask them to lend you their crystal ball so you would know exactly when the results would arrive. Honestly as a single parent how dare you want to eat and feed your children 🤦🏻‍♀️

Is it possible the school are concerned about the welfare of your DC? Have they previously raised any concerns or has their been any other involvement?

How many instances of absence have they had this academic year?

I think they have misunderstood something somewhere. I would go to the meeting, stay calm, and explain the timeline. Keep it really simple and repeat if needed but keep focused.

E.g.
Thursday 1.30pm, received negative result. Children were having lunch then doing reading practice.
Thursday 2-3pm, Grocery delivery due.
Therefore there was no way to get the children to school and back that afternoon.
Friday 8.45am, children returned to school.

This sounds very heavy handed and OTT and I would complain.

Thank you so much for replying.

No welfare concerns, they are doing really well at school and I haven't had any problems with them in the past. Their attendance is good, my youngest has had 2 days off since September for sickness and my eldest has just had this time off to isolate.

Thank you for the timeline suggestion I will definitely compose that as that will help me, I'm autistic so speaking in front of people terrifies me.

If it’s recorded as an X code on the register then I don’t think it counts towards attendance anyway. Did they set reasonable work? In theory they should have set work that matches up with what the others are doing in school to prevent them falling behind - so if I was to respond I would share the timeline that was suggested above and mention you have no concerns as they accessed the work/ you have a concern that school wanted them back due to the work set being poor quality and them falling behind

Hi @Target23 - there should be a complaint procedure on the school website. If you feel well enough take a quick look. If not I’d start with a letter to the head teacher. If you aren’t satisfied with the response then write to the chair of governors at your school.

Schools are not allowed to require test results - it’s private medical information. They can ask but shouldn’t ask in a way that makes it seem compulsory.

Hope you feel better soon ( also a single mum so understand how rubbish it is when I’ll and also trying to still get the kids to school etc)

So they are suggesting that children should come in for the last hour of the day thus disrupting all the other kids in the class? Ridiculous!

I would write a complaint to the head and cc in local authority/dept of education (whichever they come under). State the facts. You were harassed even though you had said you would let them know as soon as you got your results and you were following government guidelines.
The food delivery is irrelevant as you received your results after lunch time.

Absolutely complain (the process should be on their website) that they are harassing you and seem to be suggesting you should not follow the government guidance - I’d add in a timeline to demonstrate you were being perfectly reasonable.

And if it is difficult for you to speak face to face because of your autism I would tell them that and ask that anything they want to meet about is instead conducted entirely in writing/by email - it’s a perfectly reasonable adjustment.

I suspect they’ll back off and claim it was all a “misunderstanding”.

I'd call the head and ask for clarification on the school's position as the response from reception sounds very heavy handed and doesn't match with what I've seen is typical in schools.

Most schools mark Covid absences as an X on the register and it won't count for attendance precisely because parents and students who do the right thing shouldn't be penalised.

When I had one of my tests, the process took a long time and school contacted me because they were finding that staff and students could do tests at the same centre and have very different turn around times, so I could see why a school might contact to see if results have come in.

There's no need for their heavy handed push to attend on the Thuraday afternoon.

Attendance letters are usually generated automatically by the local authority once attendance drops below a certain %. They typically don't come from the school. The covid absence should not be counted for attendance and even if it was, I can't (off the top of my head) see how a couple of days off plus the covid absence would cause your DC's attendance to fall to a level where a fine would be mentioned. It might be worth checking their record of your children's attendance to check it's accurate.

If you didn't get the result until after lunch, then the children have already been marked as absent for the afternoon session.

I suspect the letter is a standard one because your youngest has had more than 10 sessions absent this term.

I'd send an email setting out timelines as well, but I'd not include the information about the food shop - that's irrelevant to the school. They just need to know you received the results after the start of afternoon session on Thursday and rang to confirm children would be attending on Friday. That you were following government guidelines in isolating the children until you had received a negative result.

I'd also ask if there is work the children need to catch up on ... our secondary school are only sending out work if a bubble has to isolate, individuals are expected to request it.

I'd also ask if there is work the children need to catch up on ... our secondary school are only sending out work if a bubble has to isolate, individuals are expected to request it.
That's interesting. We are putting every lesson of every day on so every child has access to the day's lessons regardless of their reason for being absent.
It's actually a lot easier than having to send work for individuals.

I'd send in a polite but crisp email to the head outlining that you were following government guidelines in order to keep everybody safe and well and that you found the school's process/handling of it distressing. Then state your preferred means of future communication and request the DCs absence be coded correctly.

When many schools are struggling to get people to follow the rules and not send in kids it seems ridiculous this one is being so precious about them attending when it would have been too late to give them a pm reg mark anyway.

Dear HT,

My children were absent from x date until x date as over the government guidance during the covid pandemic.

Everyone in the household must isolate for 14 days or until a negative test is received if a member of the household has symptoms.

This should be marked in the register as self isolating and must be authorised.

I informed you at crime in x date my result was negative and the children returned to school the following day.

I have received a letter on x date stating the absence was unauthorised and mentioned the possibility of a fine.

I'm sure this was an oversight and just one of the letters that automatically gets sent out when an absence exceeds 10 sessions.

Therefore please rectify in writing within 5 working days that this was indeed an mistake, that you aren't fining me for following the government guidelines and that the register has been correctly completed as self isolating.

Regards
Xxxxxx

Best way with things like this is to be humble and assume they've made a mistake and will out it right. Then they either have to do so or actually out in writing that they will be finding you for following government guidance. Then you can follow a formal complaint route.

@itsgettingweird

Dear HT,

My children were absent from x date until x date as over the government guidance during the covid pandemic.

Everyone in the household must isolate for 14 days or until a negative test is received if a member of the household has symptoms.

This should be marked in the register as self isolating and must be authorised.

I informed you at crime in x date my result was negative and the children returned to school the following day.

I have received a letter on x date stating the absence was unauthorised and mentioned the possibility of a fine.

I'm sure this was an oversight and just one of the letters that automatically gets sent out when an absence exceeds 10 sessions.

Therefore please rectify in writing within 5 working days that this was indeed an mistake, that you aren't fining me for following the government guidelines and that the register has been correctly completed as self isolating.

Regards
Xxxxxx

Best way with things like this is to be humble and assume they've made a mistake and will out it right. Then they either have to do so or actually out in writing that they will be finding you for following government guidance. Then you can follow a formal complaint route.

Thank you so much that's really helpful.

That is really strange and certainly against the usual covid-19 school procedures. I would send the email someone posted and see what they say. If the children were self isolating because you had symptoms they should be coded X. Ask for a copies of their attendance and make sure they've been coded correctly.