Unauthorised absence for chickenpox

[Mrsmj12]

Hey!

My 2 primary aged chicken were off school the week before (May) half term.

I contacted the GP for an appointment as I suspected they had chickenpox on the Friday (DD1 had spots on Thursday, and DD2 Friday). GP booked a telephone appointment for both girls. ICT issues means both appointments got cancelled and were rescheduled for the following week.

On the following Monday I contacted the school and informed them of the chickenpox. They asked for photos of the girls spots (I sent it), proof of cancelled appointments (I sent it). I call each morning t confirm their absence.

The school are now threatening to not authorise their absence unless I have a discharge letter from urgent care! I never once said I took my children to urgent care, and who would for mild chickenpox?!
I did however tell them I could supply confirmation of diagnosis from the GP.

Where do I stand with this? Can the school ask for medical notes?

they did mention time off before or after school holidays raises suspicion, but I’ve proved everything that I possibly can to prove my girls had chickpox!

does anyone know what more I can do as I don’t want this to go to court, but will have to if there is no choice as I point blank refuse to pay a fine for sickness!

You won't have to pay a fine (unless you have taken loads of UA earlier in the year - in which case it will be the holiday you are fined for, not because the dc have had chicken pox.)

just ignore the school. Honestly, they don't care, and dont want to be hassling you. They have to show a paper trail for ofsted, but it doesn't mean anything

We did take some days off in December for a family emergency. I supplied them with hospital letters as per they request and they didn’t authorise it, resulting in a fine. Wasn’t best pleased, but accepted it.
however, my kids actually had chickenpox this week and I point blank refuse to pay a fine for sickness.

this control thing is getting a bit out of hand now

Unfortunately it is the parents lying about being off sick to take an extended half term break that leads schools to not believe other parents.

Have you got any evidence you were at home and not away? That might satisfy the?

Unfortunately, you will have been flagged on the system as a parent who takes their children away from school without a valid reason. You've had one unauthorized absence already, and at the moment, until you have provided proper proof in the form of a GP's letter, you've got another.

You need to get the confirmation from the GP confirming that the children did have chickenpox.

Try to look on it as safeguarding the children whose parents don't send them to school because they're too smacked up to leave the house rather than as a personal affront.

Chicken Pox is very infectious, I would be furious if my school allowed a child with Chicken Pox to attend.

Often the children are the downfall for parents taking their children out for a holiday by telling everyone about their holiday or in this case telling everyone about their spots, so hopefully the school will listen to them and use common sense. Also would have other children off, so rare to get only one family of cases and they would have had different days of starting being off, given one started before the other as you need to send the well one in, even when likely to also get.

Did they come out in spots on Thurs/Fri and then have the full next week off school before half term? If so that’s quite a long time away for mild chicken pox.

Chicken Pox is infectious until the spots have all crusted over - which is after about 5 or 6 days. You child must stay off school until that point regardless of if they have a dozen spots or hundreds.

Exactly. So I would have expected them to be back for the last couple of days before half term if they came out in spots 8 or 9 days before, if that’s what the OP is saying.

10 days is standard time off for chicken pox. Always has been. Even if there are only a few spots, it doesn’t lessen the potency of the virus. Dc can still be spreading it after 1 week.

The time off in December surely will not count? Normally it’s if you take more than 9 session off per term not per whole school year. I wouldn’t have thought you would even be near fine territory unless they’ve had more than 4 and a half days per term

Ok ignore me, it seems they had to have a bit of time off. It’s a bit extreme though when you have sent what proof you have

How ridiculous. I didn't even take DS to the doctors for chicken pox. They can't do anything and it's just unnecessary exposure for everyone there.

I'd tell the school that you've sent pictures (which I'd be uncomfortable about doing tbh) and if they're going to fine you for keeping your kids out of school with infectious diseases you'll just send them in from now on no matter what they've got, hope they like D&V (do you have to send a picture of their vomit for this?!).

Remember this next time they are sick and send them in to spread it around

Don’t do this. Other children and their families pay the price.

that is crazy, what is your childs attendance if you got a fine for a couple of days? What sort of family emergency?

It’s not, it’s until the spots have crusted over, and no new ones appearing. Usually 5 days, especially in what has been described as a mild case. This is according to NHS advice and Public Health England.

Usually 5 days

But it can be longer, even in mild cases.

Both mine (and me when I had it at 15) had spots coming for a period of about 7 days. The crusting over of the last few was about 10 days from first spot. Ds had it pretty mildly, but took that long. DD and I were covered in spots, and still felt pretty poorly - whole thing was two weeks for us.

DD was in a similar situation, spots started coming out on a Thursday. By Wednesday, they had nearly all crusted over but there were 3 that remained bright red. We kept her home for the rest of the week, but sent her in on the following Monday (10 days after the first spots appeared) even though those 3 remained red. Thankfully, nobody else in her year got it after her. We never found out if those 3 spots were indeed chickenpox or just looked like it.

5 days is too short. Dc can be very itchy (spots in ears and soles of feet for example) so many dc take 10 days. So one week plus a bit of the next week. Bad cases are 2 weeks. Dc can still be getting spots after 5 days! The child might feel ill for a couple of days before the spots appear and then can be infectious 6 days after the rash starts and spots can appear in waves. So 10 days for a fairly nasty illness (as it can be) isn’t unreasonable. 5 days is short and I’d worry about infecting others.

Also they should not see a doctor unless they are really ill. You know this in the first few days. Few dc are. Never go to a busy waiting room to see a GP.

I've worked in three primary schools, I've never know one ask for proof of childhood illnesses. There must be more to this.

Use a biro to circle any marks and tell dc to point them out.. When I had 4 x dc as a single dm my dc were off for a month after they caught chicken pox in pairs.. New to town had absolutely nobody to take the none spotty dc to school . School were absolutely fine...