This is a bit of an opus but hope someone may have a positive steer!
I have a daughter in secondary education. She is prone to throat problems and in the last year has been absent with tonsillitis, ear infections and suspected glandular fever.
She is a high performing student, loves school and. When her absence has been more than a couple of days we have collected work from the school which she has completed and returned.
The school implements the absence policy in a very draconian way. We receive both threatening and patronising letters about her "unacceptable" absence or how well we are doing by sending her to school. She was recently told to leave an academic lesson to go to an Attendance Class where "you play games and get encouraged to come to school". She politely refused explaining that she would rather sit her academic lessons.
Even more recently she was pulled out of class to be told she was not allowed to be absent again this term and we received a letter informing us that medical evidence must be given for any future absence. Once when after two days of illness I took her to the doctor and was given antibiotics. When I let the school know she would be off for a few more days I was asked why it had taken me two days to get her to the GP.
On another occasion she was so worried about getting into trouble she insisted on attending school. Ninety mins later I had to collect her, whilst another child was sent back to class because his absence record was so poor they would not send him home. He got even worse and a parent had to collect him. A friend had her daughter in tears recently because she was too sick to go to school and knew she would be in trouble upon her return.
We have written to the school, spoken to them, even had the matter raised at a governors meeting. I know schools are targeted on attendance but it is thoroughly unacceptable that they treat genuine illness in this way. Have even spoken to local authority and they just tell me to take it up with the school.
Help!