Have been summoned to see headteacher about dd2's attendance.What can I expect?

[cutekids]

She's had 83% attendance between September and December through no fault of her own...ear-infections (has now been referred to a specialist for this ) and colds etc.She's also asthmatic.Having three kids,i'm terrible for keeping a record of why/hows and whens.What am I likely to have to know/hear etc.?????

I know i'm definitely not the only one whose kids have been off with all these bugs that have been going around.Anyone know what I'm gonna be facing when I get in there?

school are basically covering their arses going to want to go through reasons for the absence - ofsted/lea are keen on getting attendance rates up - anything in writing to prove the health issues will be helpful - e.g. copy gp/hospital correspondence, any medicine boxes/bottles you might have left if prescribed by GP.

Its probably just an automatic thing because her rate has fallen below a certain level. I'm sure once you point out its due to illness which you are seeking help with then there won't be a problem.

Infact I'd be tempted to write back saying that you won't be attending the appt as it will be of no benefit as you can't stop her being ill. Depends if you have to take time off work to go or if its easy for you to get tehre I guess.

Difficult to say without knowing the school or headteacher.

It might be that they favour a come-down-hard-and-stamp-it-out approach or they might genuinely want a chat about DD2s health and how they can keep her on top of schoolwork.

I suggest that if they start getting arsey say that you've been to the doctor (and when you have), she has a specialist referral and you'll start to keep a record of her attendance and draw up a set of criteria based on when you will send her in and let them decide and when you'll keep her off. You may also want to talk about proactively keeping her up to date with schoolwork when she isn't well enough to be in school.

83% is a lot though - it boils down to about 2 days a fortnight. Was it that regular or was it in large blocks?

I wouldn't recommend not going though! Willing and proactive engagement will be regarded as a positive thing by the school if DD continues to have a lot of time off.

I didn't make a note of the dates unfortunately.Neither have I kept medicine bottle/prescriptions etc.
They do know that she's asthmatic though and that she's had hearing problems recently.
I don't know how often I took her to the Dr.s over this time period though....although,I did have to keep taking her back about a month ago due to the fact that I didn't feel the docs were listening to me.Maybe I could get some dates from the doctors practice.At least then there'll be some sort of prrof that she hasn't been kept off for the sake of it.
Thing is,what can I do anyway if she's ill???

just rang:OCT 9TH
OCT 21ST

10TH NOV
30TH NOV

1ST DEC
11TH DEC
15TH DEC
Didn't ask receptionist to give details but surely that's proof enough that I had cause for concern and to keep her off?

School will have a note of the dates, don't worry about that. Last term there were about 15 weeks, so 83% attendance amounts to 13 days of absence.

That sort of level of absence can have a significant impact on her education.

But it's not loads "to explain" if she's had a couple of serious bugs, where she's been off for a full week or so each time.

They will just be looking for the reasons for it, and looking for any patterns - checking she's not off, say, every Thursday because she doesn't like doing PE, or whatever.

Those were the dates of her Doc's appointments.
Thing is,when we spoke to her teacher-on parents'evening-she actually said herself that everything was fine and that she had "no cause for concern" as she was one of the "higher level" pupils.(unless of course she's had a sudden downturn which I've not been aware of).

i don't think she's had one day a week off.....i think it's been in blocks.

how old is she ?

I've run the whole gamut of experiences here, from head bullying disabled child to a whole school bending over backwards to support a child who is actually more or less school refusing. And dd hasn't reached 83% attendance in the last 5 years for medical reasons.

Of course it is bad that she has an average of x no of days off per week. But if that is the unavoidable reality, then just hand-wringing isn't going to help: the important thing is how you and the school deal with the situation.

(Dd's school is now setting up a scheme for ensuring that the work gets done and that time off due to her chronic condition does not count as ordinary non-attendance.)

So do try to go in with the assumption that this is what the school wants to help you with. They can prove you wrong in their own good time but if you're on the defensive from the start, they may jump to the wrong conclusions (remembering that they also see parents of the other kind).

If this is just a run of bad luck, then it will blow over. If it's more on the lines of an ongoing problem, then you'll need to keep lines of communication open with the school (and keep records of everything going on, both at the doctor's and when you speak to school staff).

what does the head expect? Young children are going to get ill very often, especially when they are cooped up with 29 other children every day. They are also going to be absolutely exhausted and this will lower their immune system. Also your daughter is asthmatic - through no fault of her own. Children can get as many as 5 or 6 ear infections a year too. They probably just send out a routine letter (without knowing you or your daughter) and once the head knows the circumstances, she'll understand. It is only reception too - is she of compulsory age? The autumn term is a particularly long term too and children are ready to drop in the last three weeks. Better that your keep your child at home when she's ill as well.

I had one of these meetings last year when dd1 was in reception. They are just automatic, when the attendance falls below 85%. Which, imo for children taht young is ridiculous.

Dd1 had suffered what we thought was chicken pox and had a week off for that. Turns out it wasn't chicken pox, she had those at xmas. What it was we don't know. She then had a very bad bout of dirroreah, which lasted a week. Cue another 10 days absence. And voila she is below 85% during the first half of the year.

After that she had many, many appointments with specialists/doctors trying to get to the bottom of her bowel troubles. So her attendance stayed below 85%.

They will probably start sending someone for home visits once a week. I am not sure how/why they think that doing this will prevent children from becoming ill/needing to see a doctor. You will have to sign an agreement to say that their attendance will not drop again.

I don't know what happens if you break this agreement. By the time they had gotten rounbd to adressing dd1's 'problems' we ahd seen the specialist and had a diagnosis and treatment.

In my previous job I had to monitor the attendance of all the pupils at my school and a child whose attendance dropped below 85% would definitely be someone I?d be inviting in to have a chat with. It brilliant that you?ve been able to get a list of all your GP appointments; take those to the meeting, explain that your daughter has now been referred to the specialist, ask the Head to take a copy of your list of dates and give permission for him/her to contact the GP to confirm that if they feel they need to.

Sometimes having the school on-side can help speed up referrals as they can get the school nurse chase things or sometimes even a letter from the school to raise concerns about X?s ear/hearing etc. can help. It doesn?t always help though! If you were one of ?my? parents I would be looking to see if there?s anything we can do as a school to help you with your daughter?s attendance, that?s it but as she?s young and has been ill I?d record that you?d turned up to the meeting with a list of checkable dates and that I had no concerns about her non-attendance being anything other than due to unavoidable illness.

Her classteacher is unlikely to be monitoring attendance so I wouldn?t worry that she didn?t bring it up at parents? evening ? teachers don?t unless they are unfortunate enough to be lumbered with the responsibility for monitoring attendance (and then it?s really bad luck if you are in Y6 and have a talent for real skiving; you stand no chance!).

It?ll be fine.

My daughter had alot of time off for repeated urine infections she has been off 4 times since September this was as a result of a more serious illness she had earlier in the year (before she started school). The shortest time was 2 days the longest was a whole week. We took her to the doctors each time (so we had a record of it as a real illness if we needed to prove it!) and we also gave the school copies of letters about her hospital appointments etc.

If the school wanted to do anything like send someone around once a week then I would be upset and insulted I know they have to do their jobs in terms of encouraging attendance etc but surely if a young child is ill it is more worrying for a parent to actually force them into school than keep them home? If you have seen a doctor and had the illness confirmed this should override any attendance target in my opinion.

Having said that we have had nothing but support from her teachers (they make sure she drinks plenty during the day, help her get to the toilet quickly so that she doesnt get too full up etc).

I wouldnt worry too much at the moment, just see what they have to say and go from there. Dont think twice about keeping her home if she is ill again thoughm she is your child you know when she is too ill to go in!

I'd say see the positive in it - ie it's good that they're interested in a child missing school that much. You're a caring worried mum with genuine reasons for keeping her off, but sadly not all kids have that at home and they can't discriminate and insist on seeing some parents not others. Why not use it as an excuse to ask the head questions about the school - there must be things you're curious about. Unless the head's power crazy or insane, genuine illness isn't going to get you into trouble.