Child had 11 days off sick for mumps from school and now im being sent an education welfare officer to explain attendance???

[honestyismybond1]

Child is at a good primary school who I have had an excellent relationship with.My childs last year attendance was 90%.This year we aimed for 100% but sadly caught mumps and was very ill off sick for 11 days.Child saw GP on first day of absence who confirmed mumps and school was notified on day one by myself.I called the school many times updating them and requesting missed work to keep up.My child loged into school website everyday for 2hours to complete math work to keep up but sadly requested work from school did not come.When child went back to school I let teacher know how hard child worked at home even though very poorly and all seemed fine.Two weeks later got a school letter saying being moniterd by educational welfare officer for poor attendance and any future absences will be marked unauthorised unless I get a doctors note even if its a 24 hour bug or cold.So when my child was ill yet again a week later for a tummy bug just for a day I took my child to see GP to get a note and showed her the letter and the Dr went mental but to my shock not towards the school but to me.Gp requested I pay £20 for letter or go! When I said I could not pay £20 Gp said was putting on my record that I am always to pay £20 if I want any information to stop me wasting her time.I felt sick and very upset.I pointed out to her that we were both on the same side and that it was the council,education board,school demanding this and if we both complained in some way it would help.I then dared to ask if this was fair and was clearly told what she thought did not come into this and she will only take the course of action of asking for £20 to stop it happening.So the parent gets blamed from all angles and the child gets unauthorised mark on school record!When I calmed down I rang eductation board who was delighted with the action my school had taken and even said to me "we have vast matters in this area and if a child is ever ill more than once a year then this needs investigating" who the hell has a child who is sick only once a year? If you do please clone them because this is not the norm.I am worn out with this so can anyone please share what they think and what they would do? Thanl you

[LtEveDallas]

because all that information is recorded to be used against us in the future. it is scary actually

How?

[GobbolinoCat]

I have to admit when we were holidaying in Wales that summer, I did just double check my DDs were up to date on their MMR inoculations. The surgery nurse laughed at my worry, but agreed it wasn't worth the risk


No one at my surgery laughed when I was tracking down info, they all took it very seriously.

People talk to one nurse or doc and think thats the ultimate limit of knowledge on the subject. You should never take a gamble on what that persons knowledge is. If you speak to someone who is higher up and looks after immunisations they would be horrified that a nurse was laughing.

sorry to go off track here i speak from very personal experience.

[Snatchoo]

My twins both had mumps despite having had the MMR and the booster for it so it's not completely avoidable. OP hasn't said whether or not child was immunised so I think that's a bit unfair to heaping blame.

I think the school may well have sent a standard letter which was automatically generated, but as mumps is a notifiable illness there is plenty of documented evidence for it. The doc could have been a bit more understanding I supposed.

[GobbolinoCat]

Its very hard to know what to do as a parent.

You are told repeatedly to send them in sick then told we musn't send them in till well.
Told they can give out meds, send them in with meds, and how to dispense get a curt email about not their job
As a parent you can make a judgement on how ill they are usually but send them in thinking you are doing the right thing....you get slammed for sending them in.

I am glad you are taking this further op we musnt take this erosion of freedoms lying down.

[averywoomummy]

I actually think the doctor sounds very unprofessional. Her job is not to judge you for your child getting mumps (even if you didn't get the immunisation) or to have a go at you. Also common sense would have shown her that it was hardly your fault that the LEA were demanding a sick note. If she has an issue with this then she needs to refer it to the school.

I would speak to the practice manager about her if I were you.

With regards to the school tbh young children do get ill and if they are ill then the school has rules about when you can send them back. It is a catch 22 situation. If you turned up at school with a child who had a contagious disease or a bug you would get sent home straight away and yet if you keep them off you are investigated! My DC had a week off last year due to chicken pox but I couldn't send her back until the last spot had scabbed over so really nothing I could do!

Ultimately it is up to the LEA and the county GP surgeries to liaise effectively to agree a reasonable sick note policy what does not cost anything to parents. If they are unable to do this then you have been put in an impossible situation.

[NigellasLeftNostril]

how ltevedallas?
for social services, as will not having immunisations.
if you don't believe me, i hope you never find out for yourself.

[overthemill]

I really feel for you,OP, as in similar situation of having to get evidence for each absence. My GP surgery won't provide but EWO got me to sign a form and they contact GP direct. It's hard when absence is for something she doesn't need GP intervention for but I have to do it. My dd has between 50 and 85% attendance every year as she has chronic health problems. But don't worry, EWOs can be helpful

[NigellasLeftNostril]

actually that is true, our local head EWO is so helpful and kind, if he can help he will, and he knows that things are not easy for families.

[overthemill]

Our EWO got school off my back and helped get medical needs tutoring

[afussyphase]

I think that EVERYONE who is negatively affected by the crazy attendance regulation and enforcement should write to their MP, EVERY SINGLE TIME it happens. We should be writing all these letters to them, rather than just posting them on MN. The argument that "something needs to be done" (about truancy) and "this is something" does not imply that this particular something draconian, stupid, thoughtless, expensive ridiculousness in all its various forms needs to be done..

That said: MMR, people. Maybe the silver lining in all this will be that once people realise how awful these childhood illnesses actually are, they will re-think jumping to conclusions and risking their DC's health based on fraudulent media frenzies about terrible pseudo-science...

[fairisleknitter]

afussyphase I agree re raising this with MPs. It's not useful arguing with each separate school on this. It seems systemic in England from what I read on MN!

[columngollum]

I'd go into the school and tell the headmistress and the welfare officer to get knotted. Incidentally, a court upheld a customer's request that a cold calling company pay him £80 for each telephone call. Tell the school that you require £80 for each future welfare letter and will take court action immediately if the school does not pay. (And follow through.)

[GobbolinoCat]

afussyphase

WHOLEHEARTEDLY

agree with you. Ultimalty its GOV putting all this pressure on everyone people seem scared of their MP's for some bizarre reason, they are there to serve us.

Its a duty to tell them when things are not working. I have been forced to appeal to my MP twice and they have moved mountains for me and over ridden red tape that was obviously inadequate.

If you can get yours onside it is of enormous benefit. Trust me, when an MP gets involved, mountains usually get moved.

[afussyphase]

Exactly! We wrote to our MP over an issue about the home office and passports - problem solved within two weeks. It is very easy to write to them and they are responsive, in my experience. If we, the MN community, sent at least one letter each time we are moved enough to start a thread, we might be able to get these policies questioned. At the very least, perhaps we could get good data gathered. I suspect that these policies are based on weak evidence, probably for selected groups of at-risk DC, regarding absence and attainment. Attending with mumps doesn't help anyone and potentially could hurt many, for example, yet there are strong incentives in place for parents to send DC in while they are ill. But if we don't share these stories with policy-makers, how will they know?

[tallulah]

My DS2 had mumps and DS3 got rubella despite all of my DCs having MMR. Luckily they were at primary before all this palaver.

Actions of a few feckless parents in not sending their children to school regularly have resulted in ALL parents being tarred with the same brush. You can bet those causing the issue haven't changed their behaviour.

[GobbolinoCat]

I am with you Fussy its what I do. Sometimes an MP wont share your views, but usually when you can see its an impossible situation they can and do step in, often just a letter written by their staff from their office is enough.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

I had the mmr and I got mumps. And I caught German measles.

Don't assume vaccination means you don't get it.

[outtolunchagain]

My ds1 had the mumps despite having both doses of MMR as well

[Zra]

My Local authority fines £100 per parent for unauthorised absences and this includes primary school. It's annoying if your child is genuinely ill and the only way you can prove it is through seeing a GP. This places unnecessary pressure on the NHS where instead a child can be treated at home with a little common sense. Quite often I have to take in my DC knowing that they will not be prescribed any medication - waste of time for us all.

Another way to make the government take note could be through a petition on the epetitions.direct.gov.uk website but looking at the UK's poor educational performance internationally I wouldn't hold your breath as school attendance is linked to educational performance.

[kesstrel]

All the people saying their children got mumps even though they had MMR are right, of course. However, I would just like to make the general point (not directed at OP, who may be in the same boat) that MMR relies on herd immunity and a high take-up to be effective.

The reason MMR is currently less effective than it should be is because we now have a large pool of unvaccinated children. If all these children had had the MMR, these cases would not be occurring.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

kestral

That may be true but some of those children will have medical reasons as to why they can't have the vaccine.

[fairisleknitter]

Unauthorised here means off school but not ill, so away on a holiday for example. Parents say the child is ill and school accept this and it goes down as off due to illness.

Zra what do your GPs make of this system?

[columngollum]

The policy won't stop until an LEA is forced in court to pay a parent. Then it'll be the begining of the end of such madness.

[AnAdventureInCakeAndWine]

From what I understand from advice on other threads (so I may be completely misunderstanding) you don't have to pay the fixed penalty fine but can take a "OK, then, take me to court" attitude instead. It's like a fixed penalty driving offence -- you can accept that you did whatever-it-was and pay the fine or you can opt to have your day in court. If absences were all perfectly genuine illness then I'd be inclined to go for the declining-to-pay-the-fine option.

(again, I reiterate that that is the impression I have got from other threads. Check the facts before relying on this)

[duchesse]

FFS, this is insane. DD3's attendance record for her first half term was 80%. She picks up everything going.

On the one hand we're told that they are to be kept off school for x numbers of days to prevent contagion, on the other parents are being put under unbearable pressure to achieve 100% attendance including rewarding children with strong immune systems. It's Kafkaesque.

Frankly, OP I would simply stick to your guns re your child's health and refuse to engage in any way with this crazy system until they start treating you and your child with a degree of humanity. Let them take you to court- then you can stand up in court and tell exactly why your child was off sick. Your case will be laughed out of court.

Your GP is probably sick to the back teeth with parents who've been told by their school that they must get certification for minor ailments. She probably reacted in exasperation which she ought not to have done, but it is kind of understandable.

I think the education system (schools and LEAs) need to get a fucking grip over sickness absence. Children get sick, people get sick- that's life. By forcing people to take their children to the GP for relatively minor things they are endangering people who are far sicker.