received attendance letter from school and now been called in by head....

[Marmaduke3]

hi. my little one is in reception year at school. she is constantly picking things up.
she had a sickness bug in december and on another occasion, a terrible cough/temperature.
at home over the xmas holidays she was completely free of any bugs.
this year, after 3 days back at school, she was off with a hacking cough, temperature, and laid out in bed for 3 days as white as a sheet.
that was two weeks ago, and tonight she came home from school, and was in bed asleep at 4.30!!!!!! so doesnt look like she will go in tomorrow.

i received a letter saying her attendance was below 85%, and i have been asked by the head to come in for a meeting to discuss her attendance.

i take pride in being a great mummy, we have a clean home, she eats well, in fact she loves her food.
however, there are so many friends of mine who are taking theirs in ill.
and it doesnt seem fair because its always my child that picks it up. i now feel nervous everytime shes ill, because of the pressure from the school.

any ideas on what to say to the school at this meeting????

[awfulomission]

We've just had a similar letter. DS2's is at 92% (apparently 95 is 'acceptable') due to a mixture of a nasty bout of tonsillitis just before Xmas and hospital appointments for his various lifelong disabilities that all have to take place during the working day.

I took one look at it, shoved it in the recycling and gave it not a second thought.

[Marmaduke3]

one of the boys this week, has got tonsilitus, but is at school, i thought it might be contagious?
but like you, Awfulomission, i would have kept them off with it.
this particular boy had a temp of 40 last week too, but went to school.
this is my whole point, and i cant see it getting any better!!

[springalong]

If your DC is less than age 5 ie younger than compulsory school age just ignore any attempt to bully you on attendance.

Non attendance for a chid who has not reached CSA is recorded separately (special code)

[pieceofpurplesky]

OP I suggest you just go in and explain your child has struggled with catching everything going. There is no need to go in all guns blazing - once a child's attendance gets below 85% external agencies (education welfare) get involved. It is just a rule that is followed by schools based on numbers set by the government. 85% is quite low - school are not out to get you or fine you - generally they just want to know if they can help you! You sound like a great mum and school will know that - but and it's a big but - if they haven't done anything OFSTED will fail them ... Put them in special measures etc.
So don't listen to the negativity - go in be polite and listen, explain and you will find that they will be fine - explain it's just been a really bad run and that you are looking at vitamins etc.
schools are now like any business whether we like it or not - and ofsted are like auditors - everything must balance from money to attendance. They will be fine with you, just don't get angry - your DCS attendance is low and you need to speak to them.
Good luck.
PS assistant head at high school previously, and was in charge of attendance.

[gymboywalton]

is she 4? if so she has no legal necessity to even be in school so don't be intimidated

[Marmaduke3]

Hi Pieceofpurplesky, that was really helpful, thankyou!!

in our area, our primary school is rated the highest by ofsted, and 2 previously popular schools are becoming academies, so i think they are under pressure.

and i am going to look into vitamins too. xx

[Marmaduke3]

she is 5, just recently. xx

[pieceofpurplesky]

[lougle]

There's a mix of issues. Being actually ill (temperature above 37.5c, sickness, diarrhoea, any rash) is a reason to keep her off. However, being in bed asleep by 4.30pm for a cold in reception isn't a reason to be off the next day. School is hugely exhausting for reception children. If she needs sleep and gets it, it's worth trying school the next day.

Being off school affects friendships at this age.

[Karoleann]

I would not go in to discuss that, write back and state that you are not taking an ill 4/5 year old child into school under any circumstances and if other people stopped sending their ill children in yours would not get ill as much!

We got one of those silly letters when DS1 was in reception - though ours was from the LEA - so they got the snotty reply, rather than the school.

[Hakluyt]

Don't ignore the letter. Poor attendance is a real cause for concern in some children and can badly affect their achievement at school. Not all parents are as conscientious as you and the school is not psychic. They don't know until they talk to you whether you are the sort of parent who uses illness as an excuse because they can't be arsed to take their kids to school, or if you have real problems at home which makes it very difficult to get your child to school.....Go and talk to them. Explain. It'll be fine. And if you were in one of the groups I mentioned, the intervention might very well make a big difference to the child's future.

[jwpetal]

though the school can call into account a child that has missed a lot of school, no action can be taken on that child until they are at CSA, which is 5, as they are not at CSA. I know this as we had this issue and I looked into this with our LEA. The school then provided a letter stating that they were aware that our child was not yet at legal school age but would encourage us to ensure that our daughters were in school. This of course ignored the fact that they had been in hospital.

[Marmaduke3]

Hi Hakluyt.... We don't fall into any of those categories!!
There are no problems at home, and certainly not a mum that can't be bothered to take her in, because I have two other children at the same school, who go in every day because they are hardly ever ill, touch wood!

[Marmaduke3]

Hi karoleann, I totally agree!!!!!!
If so many others didn't take theirs in I'll, then my little one wouldn't keep catching all the bugs!
Xx

[Hakluyt]

"Hi Hakluyt.... We don't fall into any of those categories!!"

No of course you don't! But the school's not psychic- it doesn't know that until it's talked to you. So the letters go out to everyone. A minor inconvenience for families who are not having or being problems. A potential lifeline to the children of families who are.

[Violettatrump]

Legally they don't have to be in education till the term after their 5th birthday

I probably wouldn't say much in the meeting except to point out that your child's health and well being comes first and that you will not be sending a poorly child to school just so they can improve their attendance figures.

It's really normal for attendance to be lower in reception. They get every illness going and get utterly exhausted with the long days and demands. Low attendance in the reception year won't effect his achievement at GCSE level. Many countries don't even start formal education till 6 or 7 years.

[wingsandstrings]

The school could just be checking up that there are no under-lying issues resulting in poor attendance, e.g.: family illness (sick parent), bullying so the child doesn't want to attend school, chaotic lifestyle etc etc. It's not necessarily a telling off. I think it would be negligent to have a child with poor attendance and not probe a bit to see if there was something the school could do to support you as a family. I'm sure that if you explain she was genuinely ill they'll accept that. Reception is an awful time for illness, my DD was essentially ill with one thing after another that half term before Christmas, it was terrible. Hope it gets better for you and DD.

[ChocolateWombat]

I think that you go in and explain there has been genuine illness.
Having received the letter, you will consider each illness carefully now - that is not to say your child will never be off, but when there are colds which make the decision a bit marginal, you are more likely to send her in. So whilst there maybe nothing to answer for now (and that will be the case for many people who get such letters) it will make most people getting the letters improve their future attendance. From that point of view, the letters DO actually achieve something.
And I think it is good to tackle the issue in Reception. Once children and parents get into a habit (and I'm not saying the OP has) of taking time off for fairly minor illness, it is a hard habit to break.

So go to the meeting. Explain each incident of illness and you will see the ahead is satisfied and tick you off their list as 'reasonable explanation given'. You just don't want to be getting that letter again next term or next year. It doesn't mean your child must go in when they are horribly ill, but you need to keep a close eye on how much time they are having off and get them in whenever possible. Don't keep them off because they are a bit under the weather - err on the side of sending them in, rather than not.

[ChocolateWombat]

And tbh, I think the issue of whether the child is over 5 or in reception etc is a bit of a red herring.
Parents shouldn't (and I don't think the OP is) be thinking that reception and attendance at reception doesn't matter, or that as it's not compulsory school until 5, or whatever, that it is a bit of a free for all, and school when you fancy it. Either attendance is important or not.
Shouldn't we all be looking to get our children in for the maximum time, rather than to scrape by on the minimum that will avoid trouble? This kind of attitude reminds me of people in work who feel that 3 or 4 days off a year on the sick,is some kind of entitlement, and so they will have that time off regardless.

Again, I'm not saying genuinely sick children should be in school. Of course not.
However when absence is 15% (which of course is actually 1.5 days per fortnight) it is right for questions to be asked, and for both school and parents to consider if there are underlying health issues, or if the children can get in more often.

[springalong]

Sorry chocolate it isn't a red herring. Many of us don't agree that school starting age is now de facto 4 (not 5) and while we campaign for this to change, schools and local authorities carry on routinely threatening families of children who do NOT have to be in school.

[ChocolateWombat]

Surely whether children SHOULD be on the school roll at 4 is a different issue.
Are you saying that because you disagree, you show this by keeping them off school and saying they are sick? Will you stop doing this when they are 5?
And schools are not threatening people. They are following up on persistent absence. Often it has a good explanation of genuine illness, but we all know that sometimes it doesn't.
If you don't agree with children being in school, that is one thing. Surely then you write and campaign, not keep your child off school as your form of protest? Or would you go the meeting the OP has been called to and explain your child's absence as being due to your objection to them having to be in school?
And I dont believe for one moment, that even if lots of people feel as you do, that a significant amount of absence can be explained by this.

I wonder, do you also object to the letters requesting parents come in, for older children too? Are you someone who objects to the rules about not taking holiday in term time too?

[TheEnduringMoment]

I'm with Hakylut actually. There are loads of parents who are just a bit half-arsed about attendance - maybe not "bad parents", just crap at mornings or perhaps easily manipulated by a child who'd rather be at home. And of course there are struggling parents who find themselves unable to get the child into school for whatever reason. And there are genuinely bad parents who couldn't give a toss.

The school doesn't know you OP. They only know that your child has been absent a lot, so they need to check if there's a problem, and they need to do it now - not in a year's time when a child may have got used to random duvet days and missed half an alphabet's worth of phonics. Go in, explain as you have to us that she's been genuinely sick, that it upsets you and you'll perhaps have a chat to your GP about vitamin supplements. If the school are arsey about it after you've explained, then would be the time to go on the offensive. The school's not psychic, and there are children out there who are missing a day a week because Mum's too hangover to do the school run on Fridays, and those children need identifying and protecting.

[ChocolateWombat]

I do worry about the responses on here advising the OP to ignore the letter or send a snotty response.
Schools and the LEA are not the enemy, which is how some people seem to see them. They aren't following up absence for fun, but because there is a direct correlation between low attainment and significant absence - not surprisingly.
And they aren't out to 'get' and make trouble for parents or children who are for genuine reasons of ill health. However, as has been said several times, the school or LEA don't know each individual situation, hence the request to talk about it. No-one needs to be defensive about it or to see it as nosy, harassing or anything of the type. Education and schooling is all about a joint effort from school and home and you have to be prepared to engage positively in that relationship, for the sake of your child, rather than seeing teachers and the LEA as the enemy out to ruin your life.

If you refuse to attend or send snotty replies, of course you are more on their radar. The school or LEA are more likely to think there isn't a good reason for the absence. A simple explanation is all that is required from the OP, and hopefully her child will be better this term.

Clear,open and honest communication is always best. The OP has nothing to hide and the school will hear what she says and understand.

I'm not talking about the OP now, but I too agree that there is a lot of low level persistent absence in schools. Again, those who are genuinely ill should be at home for their own good and that of others. However, the odd days off here and there for a pretty minor cold do mount up. Children get to expect them and it is harder for parents to be firm then when illness is very minor. Once a habit is established, it is hard to break and doing so is easier in Reception or early on, than later. The child in Reception has only been there for a term, but if a child had been in school for a year or several years and was missing 1.5 days every for night, that would be a huge amount of learning lost - unavoidable for those with serious health problems, but probably not for those without ongoing health issues. Parents themselves can be unaware of how it is mounting up and such letters perhaps get them to consider if there are health issues that need a Doctor, or if they are keeping the children at home rather too leniently. I would dare to say that parents who really do want the best for their children, who don't have diagnosed health problems, don't tend to respond negatively to the receipt of such a letter (after perhaps an initial feeling of annoyance) but use it to consider if there are health issues (and act) or consider if they might be keeping their children off more than necessary (and act).