How is this supposed to work exactly?

[doggydance79]

This may sound a bit dumb, but...Dc in yr11, is supposed to get a doctors note for absences due to illness. Not just those of 3 days or over. Even 1 day. Bearing in mind you rarely get an appt on the same day, what exactly are you supposed to do? Drag them off (while ill) to whichever doc you can get in to see? Take time off until you can get an appointment and they aren't feeling bad, so that you're not spreading the bugs around when you go in? In my experience, if the doc can't physically see something/test for it they'll not put their name to anything. And a test would be another few days at least?

I know a lot of ppl may say that if they are ill enough to be off school, it should be obvious, and the doc should agree, but it seems less than sensible to take an ill kid out into a doctors surgery (for both their health and the others in the waiting room). They don't even want you there with just a cold, so how are you supposed to get a doc note when ill?

I'm genuinely stumped as to how this is actually supposed to work in practice without extra days off being wasted (and am keeping fingers crossed for no illnesses whatsoever this year, but how likely is that?). It also seems a massive waste of docs time.

Really? That sounds like a ridiculous rule. I thought you only needed a doctor's note if it was more than a week (like at work). It's insane to request a note for one day's sickness.

That's insane and it's no wonder GPs are overworked if every parent has to get a note for every child that misses school with a sniffle or vomiting bug.

That seems really odd. For even 1 day? Are you sure? My daughter is yr8 and I have only had to put a note on the school app saying why she is absent both days (she was off with a bad cold virus for 2 days). Maybe you can ring school to clarify what is needed? I wonder if they mean they need a note from mum/dad/carer.

The school are unreasonable. No GP will issue that letter, you'll have to pay them for it. Utter nonsense. Challenge the policy.

This seems to be a standard response from schools when attendance drops below a certain point. Our Doctor does not issue notes in these circumstances and has it clearly displayed on the door of the surgery and on the website. I would find out the policy of your Dr and then go back to the school. If it’s not something offered by the GP I’m not sure what they can do. We had a similar demand from school after a period where they constantly send DS home when he wasn’t unwell. Fortunately it then stopped so we didn’t get to the point of finding out what would happen without a letter from GP.

Alternatively can you do an econsult or telephone appointment on these occasions? It is unlikely a GP would want to see a child for a minor illness and could issue proof that have consulted a Dr.

it isnt "supposed to work"

Ignore it

Dont waste your time or the GPs, that would be ridiculous

The staff at school dont want you to bother with this - none of the sensible ones, maybe some who have their performance related pay linked to attendance

The rule is simply there because when Ofsted come in, they want to see such rules are in place, and there is evidence that they are being chased up

Its just a performance for Ofsted, nothing more

I've just checked through the procedures booklet they were given, and it says that " if a student is ill and cannot attend on the day of the task or the day a task is due, extension/illness/late/missed/misadventure application form should be completed with the appropriate "Independent Evidence of Illness" (medical certificate) with the day and the date of the task included." Obv when this was discussed with them at school the short version was get a doctors note for even 1 day off....Even if this only applies for assessment days (whether handing in or completing at school, and they have a lot of ongoing assessments), it's still asking for a doc note for 1 day, so the problem still stands.

A video consult would be an option, but you'd think they would be even less likely to provide documentation as it would be likely difficult to judge on screen....crazy.

(It's not to do with poor attendance, both kids have always had very high attendance.)

@Nimbostratus100 we don't have Ofsted here, but I do take on board that it may just be a paper trail exercise. Wouldn't want to test any consequences if it can be avoided though!

You need to check out the policy at your GP practice. They only have to issue medical certificates after 7 days of illness. As PP mentioned they can refuse or charge for anything else as it's not covered by nhs.
I would check with the practice and then feed back to school. Hopefully your DC will never need it but if they do you may have to do it privately, just like if you needed medical certificate to claim on travel insurance, etc

Private GP. Most GPs don’t do this sort of work and many inform the local schools that they won’t be doing it. Also, pretty sure that if it’s the school requesting the note then it should be the school paying for it.

Just ignore. School are not the boss of you. Baffles me the amount of nonsense some posters put up with from schools over stepping their powers.

@Binfluencer hmm. Over here if you don't get a grade for your assessments because you weren't legitimately absent, you can get an N award it the subject. 2 N awards and you may not get your certificate in that subject. It could be a big deal. Hopefully not, but who knows.

So, I may have to pay for it, I guess a video consult is the thing to try, and hope they'll give a note via email....such a dumb rule.

If it's for exams / assessments, that's totally different. Yes, Drs note when you've missed an exam or assignment date is very normal because they need to prove to the exam board that it was a legitimate absence in order to get you an extension or resit.

Requiring a Drs note for a normal sick day for classes is not the same.

@RedCarsGoFaster the way it was presented to my dc was as they norm, whether for assessments or not (and assessments are not the same as exams, they are longer term pieces of work often completed over a series of lessons). The question is still the same practically though, regarding how to actually get a note out of a doctor if the dc is sick on the day - drag them in? What if you can't get a same day appt? What if they dont't authorise sick notes over video?

It would be good to be prepared just in case, I wondered how anyone had done this in practice.

Trouble is even a telephone appointment takes up time and how can I tell a child is ill if I don't see them. You could by lying (not saying you are of course but just thinking the scenario through to a logical conclusion) i usually tell the parent to get the school to write to me if the want a report (with your permission) and tell them there will be a fee.
I've yet to write that letter.

If the school have issues with attendance due to illness there are other channels they can go through