Sickness I need reception

[Stephthegreat]

Ds I should normally a healthy little boy but since he started school he’s been unlucky.Had a sick bug which kept him of 2 days and then chickenpox closely followed by chest infection.

He has had 2 weeks off and school have been understanding but I’m worried knowing what other people tell me about authorities being strict about absences.Do schools accept that children in reception are more likely to be sick?Theres nothing else I could do but keep him off.

Ds IS normally a healthy boy(sorry for typo)

Children don't have to be in school legally until the term after their 5th birthday. But either way you couldn't have sent him in with any of those illnesses. I think schools generally accept the transition into reception can cause multiple bouts of illness at first don't worry.

thanks newcupcake,I stress about this stuff.Ds is November birthday so just turned 5.Its genuine illness,he loves school and missed his friends when he was ill.He was admitted to hospital with the chest infection and I don’t think I slept for a long time for worry and looking after him.

You don’t need to worry.

School will completely understand and they expect you to follow their guidelines about having children in when they are not well enough. No one wants germs spread around.

The absences will be marked as authorized absence - you have provided a reason for him not being there.

Just make sure you always notify them and inform them of what is going on ie when you were in hospital and it will be fine.

You cannot be fined for illness, although some schools can be over zealous in demanding proof that the child was genuinely sick. You cannot be fined while your son is under compulsory school age - he won't be of compulsory school age until the start of next term. You have nothing to worry about.

You've given them valid reasons for why he's been off (and they all tend to get a load of germs in Reception year anyway) so you've got no need to worry. Schools can get a bit pushy about demanding proof if the pressure's on them from Ofsted - but you've done nothing wrong and it generally is just a case of them having to be seen to send letters out to chase and nothing much more. I've not even had any letters about my child's attendance - and at the start of the year we did drop to something like 91% for the first month or similar (we can see on the schools app what percentage we've been running at for any given month) because of various medical appointments and therapy appointments where we'd hit the top of a lot of waiting lists all at once (it's been 100% since before anyone starts) and then we're going to drop again when we hit the top of a waiting list for surgery - and there's never been any issues with it at school at all (and Ofsted are due back so the heat is on).

Previous school we were at started trying to demand doctors notes for absences if you dropped below having a couple of days off. The parental response, and response from various GP surgeries in the local area was a politer version of a two word phrase ending in "off" and that one got very quietly scrapped rather quickly.

Your child was ill and you shouldn't be worried. It's very sad that so many parents worry about consequences if their children are ill and miss school. Parents shouldn't be made to feel guilty for keeping kids at home when they are ill. Telling parents to bring ill children to school is wrong.

Thanks everyone,I have been worrying a lot but feel less anxious about it now.I hope ds immunity get better over time,he’s just unlucky with catching so many things.Other parents haven’t actually said anything nasty but Ive got the feeling they think that no one could be so unlucky to get so many illnesses(like I’m exaggerating or making it up).

Really OP? That's crazy, seriously! Majority of reception kids are 4 years old, they DO get ill a lot. Its perfectly normal.
Please don't feel bad or guilty. If you were living anywhere else in the world, your child wouldn't have to go to school at age of 4.
4-5 years olds are still in preschool in other countries and when they start reception parents aren't pressured to send ill kids to school like they do that here.