After I phoned the school to discuss DD being off ill - they sent me a letter telling me off & the day after that, do you know what they did then?

[Katymac]

They sent me a second letter on red paper - just in case I didn't take the first letter seriously enough!!!

& they still won't meet with me to discuss it face-to-face

What did you say to them on the phone?

And what did their letter say?

It sounds most odd.

Blimey, are children not allowed to be ill at that school?

Katymac - they are a bit clueless aren't they? Stick it in the bin and continue with your to do list.

I rang to say she has been off ill a lot, I was concerned about it, I felt sure it was moving to high school meant she was exposed to germs she hadn't met before combined with being very stressed about her father (as he is quite ill)

So I got a standard letter about the fact that her absence was now 'persistent' & that they wouldn't let her have any further time off without medical evidence

They then phoned and arranged my parents evening & I asked to talk to someone while at the school

Then I got a red letter dated the day after the first letter, but before the second conversation

I don't get it. do children not get ill at this school?

Respond to the letter, also on red paper.

I have the last years of Dr's appointments (that would be 14, 15 if you include this weeks) & last years absences (84% attendance not very good but she will keep on wilfully getting ill) to take in to the school next week when (during working hours) I can pop in to Student Services and someone is sure to have time to talk to me (but if they don't I can probably pop in another day until someone has time for me)

Can you tell I am cross

Photocopy every single one of those doctors' appointments and bring them in in a neat envelope (but keep the originals- you may want those).

If I were you I would also ring up the Education Welfare Officer, explain the situation and ask for their advice. If you can get the EWO on your side it will make things easier.

It may also help if you can get your GP to write a letter in support (he may charge).

The really sad thing imo is that DD is not really ill - she just catches a lot of bugs (rather like I did as a child)

Nothing is really majorly wrong, just several little things that build up, you know a virus that takes ages to clean, a D&V bug (48 hrs off for that one), followed immediately by tonsillitis - none of which are serious but one after another lead me to expect another bug just beyond the horizon

eyetunes I thought Purple or maybe a nice shade of green

Schools now have to prove to OFSTED/ESTYN that they have a strong absence policy and that any persistent absenteeism is clamped down on so the fact you are getting these letters is probably not personal but almost churned out by the school automatically to prove that it takes good attendance seriously and can prove this to inspectors. HOWEVER there is something to be said for a slightly more personal approach. I would insist on a face to face with the school and make it clear that while you understand that good attendance is important that sometimes life is not that simple and you will make every effort to get your child to school when she is well enough to learn whilst she is there! Schools also like it if your child makes sure that work missed is caught up with promptly. If you can try and help your daughter with this I'm sure the school will back off. P.S Hope she feels better soon

'they wouldn't let her have any further time off without medical evidence'

What are they going to do - come round in a van and drag her out of bed?

Ds started secondary school in September and has been ill practically every week. Every germ floating through the school seems to land on him. I rang Matron and explained and she was very sympathetic and said that Year 7s often spend the first term going down with every bug going.

On the other hand dd, who is 6, has had two colds. And I got THE LETTER from the Head telling me dd's attendance was already not good enough and the school was "observing the situation".

I just might consider having to raise the question of what the Head was doing standing in the returns queue in M&S in the MIDDLE of the school day... (I wouldn't dare!)

Sounds very officious but I guess it's just an admin person going through the protocol to satisfy the higher authorities who monitor school attendance records.

My dd had a series of bugs in yr6 - very tedious. Fortunately nothing serious therefore only one visit to the doc so I would have been hard pressed to show evidence of genuine sickness if challenged.

I'm sure the school are very experienced and understand that some children have a run of bugs. You are showing yourself responsible in keeping the lines of communication going and if she's keeping up with her work there should be no problem.

Unfortunately, the personal touch is sometimes lacking in big secondary schools - staff don't have the time to spend on issues like this .

Hope your dd enjoys much better health in the future.

I thought that most send out letters automatically if attendance drops below 85%, so personally I wouldn't take a lot of notice. Just keep a log of why she's ill. If she's ill she's ill.

We had a chat - I turned up at school & insisted on one

I suggested DD needed support rather than letters & hassle but that didn't go down well - so I pointed out she might need a CAF & all of a sudden everything changed & they are going out of their way to 'support us as a family' - funny that

What's a CAF ?

It's a Common Assessment Framework - basically a form where by families can get support for several agencies in order to provide 'better outcomes' for children.

Specifically when they have asked for help & support & it isn't being provided in a holistic and streamlined way (at least I think that is what it is.....it's been a while since the course)

DD needs support from at least 3 agencies but if the school co-operates voluntarily we don't really need one