I've sent DD into school poorly; as apparently I can't tell if she is ill enough to be off or not

[KatyMac]

It does frustrate me

She generally gets sent home quite quickly, but still...if I took her to the doctor I could keep her off. But as an unstable asthmatic whenever she gets a cold she goes downhill quickly; & most of the time increased preventers & rest plus a stable room temperature sort it out.

But it does frustrate me

not quite sure what you are asking/saying? but my dd is similar to yours by the sound of it. she has brittle asthma and frequently has time off school because it has flared up due to cold, sore throat, allergies. school really hassles but she is luckily an A student and always catches up. trust your instincts, if she's ill keep her off

Are you saying they send her home too easily?

Tell me about it. I hate the way schools see themselves as having a remit to make these decisions on our behalf.

I wonder what would happen if we asked them to get a medical certificate if they wished to send our children home?

I lost confidence with this at primary. I'd think they were well enough, and they'd be sent home. Especially my son who would tell them he had a tummy ache and be genuinely quite miserable, and it would turn out at home that he was just very hungry.

I keep mine off if in doubt as school has often refused to send ds1 home when he is genuinely ill. They just say 'see how you are later'. And there is nothing I can do.

We have regular meeting with the attendance office because she is sick so often

They send her home whenever she asks - she is a good girl and only asks to come home when it's really bad (cos she will miss dance if she is off school)

Is she taking her preventer inhaler twice a day? Ds used to go downhill rapidly in the Autumn - he'd often have a few days off due to asthma.
We went back to the g.p. who prescribed Seretide. Since he's been on that, he's had no absences and more importantly he's reduced the number of times he's had to use his blue inhaler considerably.

Yes & we doubled up the minute the cough started

The GP said no a-bs yet but if it gets worse phone & they will prescribe over the phone