Do you think I should complain to the school about this.

[petetong]

I sent my ds to school today, he has a cold, but other than a sore throat and cough on exertion he can cope with the day and felt well enough to go. I gave him a letter to excuse him from PE, but the PE teacher made him participate and said that he shouldn't be at school if he isn't well. I am very angry, but am not sure if I am over reacting.

I am wondering if DS had to go to school ill because there was no one to look after him at home?

hercules1 on Mon 02-Feb-09 05:48:38
"I am all for kids going to school but if he is as ill as you are claiming I wouldnt have sent him in the first place."

So how would you handle the kind of school that bullies pupils who are off sick more than the bare minimum? Not saying that Petetong is in this situation, but I certainly was.

And are you saying that you yourself would never go in to work if you are not fit enough to go to the gym or play in a football match? And if so, why not?

Schools 'bully' children who are off sick because they are under immense pressure to improve attendance. The school I teach at gets fantastic exam results - it's a genuine comprehensive and got the second best GCSE results in the county - and has had good, verging on excellent OFSTEDs, but our attendance is such that we could be put into special measures for it. And nearly all of our absences are authorised by parents - we're not talking a mass skiving epidemic. Is it fair that a school can go into special measures, its teachers scrutinised, its management taken in hand, because parents keep their children off school? Not really, but it can and does happen. It's not a surprise that schools are desperate to do everything they can to improve attendance.

It's different for an adult though, Cory. They make their own decisions. They don't have a parent and teacher dictating to them, and would likely be in a position to negotiate on their own behalf. If they knew their boss was going to insist on something, then they would anticipate that before going in/calling in sick.

my dh went to boarding school and they had what I think is a very good system - there you could potentially be "ill", "off games and in", "off games and out" or "well". Given they had games every day this allowed for a sensible staged convalescence without disrupting lessons. You were assessed by the matron.

I've sent my children to school with an "off games and in" or an "off games and out" type of note and never had any problem. It's not a regular occurrence and it never occurred to me it could cause difficulties. perhaps I've just been lucky.

TEACHER WAS WRONG! You have tried to keep your child going and not missing school, teacher could make your child end up getting worse and so missing school.

Best thing is to wrap him up safely in cotton wool and keep him at home all the time.