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School attendance and illness.

1 reply

Usernumber36373647323 · 09/02/2026 07:09

Dd 10, year 6 this year has 80 percent attended so far. Background, she has SEN and severe anxiety so that doesn’t help matters but she’s been really unlucky this year, first week back in September, she got some nasty virus which made her really poorly, off for over a week, a few days here and there since then due to stomach aches and headaches - I do think that this could have been the anxiety, we’ve dealt with a lot of school refusal, she got shingles just before Christmas, January was pretty good but 2 days off last week with a lost voice and last night she vomited so will be off again - this wasn’t a surprise as quite a few children have been vomiting in her class.

the school are hot on attendance and send letters home to all parents every week, all her absences are authorised but I’m worried sick someone will turn up at my door or I will get in trouble. Obviously if she’s sick, she’s sick and can’t go in.

she’s been to the doctors a couple times, tried multivitamins, she eats pretty well too but we seem to be just unlucky this year!

in previous years her attendance has been pretty good. My eldest child has near on full attendance this year.

I am hoping better weather might help in a couple months 🤞

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
FluentTealGuide · 09/02/2026 10:54

I hate that schools are so big on attendance like this. We get an attendance update for every report (once per term before parent-teacher meetings) and it really bugs me (as well as the stupid little red to green smiley face chart about good outcomes for children with 95% attendance). At least half my son's days off are because of the school's 48-hour post-sickness policy (which I understand but feel is silly that it affects attendance), so I just ignore it and hope the school never bring it up to him because that's the type of rubbish that makes someone too afraid to stay home from work and then wipe out the entire office.

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