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School attendance

L

linzijmitchell

Member
A friends child has diabetes and goes for check ups every 3 months. The school record this as a medical appointment and the time is taken off of her attendance so she never gets any attendance awards. This also happened in primary school.
How can this be right when the child needs to attend these appointments otherwise she could be off for longer.
 
linzijmitchell said:
Thank you for your reply. I did say this to my friend but the school just said it has to go down as a medical appointment and she loses a day of attendance.
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its just a rule that doesn't quite fit the circumstances! The school wants to encourage attendance as this has a direct correlation to academic performance which is why they get measured on their attendance stats.
On the other hand, if you attend a diabetic clinic you may feel that you don't get a lot of choice about appointment times though I suppose if your friend wants to avoid the loss of half a day of school she could try and shift those 3 monthly appointments to holiday times by asking the receptionist rather than waiting for a letter in the post.
Also the child may be moved to 6 monthly appointments as she settles into her diagnosis and those appointments become much more routine i.e. can be delayed.
 
linzijmitchell said:
Thank you for your reply. I did say this to my friend but the school just said it has to go down as a medical appointment and she loses a day of attendance.
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Well couldn't the school be a little more flexible and sensible here. Yes officially she loses a day's attendance when it comes to reporting figures to the LEA or whoever they have to report to, but the child still gets a certificate as the absence was necessary to avoid future prolonged absences? Seems obvious to me, just common sense, but then I am not a teacher.
 
Chriztopher said:
Might be worth asking the other way and asking for the medical appointment out of school hours to prevent it impact education?
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Ok yes I'll say that too my friend. In my own experience with one of my children its difficult to change an appointment as you have to wait a few months before you can get another one.
 
I agree. I wonder if all children with medical conditions who need monitoring all get treated like this across the UK?
 
linzijmitchell said:
I agree. I wonder if all children with medical conditions who need monitoring all get treated like this across the UK?
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Long time since I walked out the school gates for the "last time."

Morning appointment, went in in the afternoon. Afternoon appointment cut loose at lunch time..

Now at work, same sort of principle applies. Though, I do make the time up. Most gaffers however have no wish to see the letter nor worry to much about making up the time. Though they apreciate the good faith gesture..
Out of hours appointments are easier said than done.

I've been doing this for 44 years, lol, the times they haven't changed much.
Appointments have to be grabbed with both hands. Now, I did go through a period where I dropped off "the list" & put work first. (Though my actuall illness attendance at work I'm proud of.) yah won't get any "gold stars" anywhere for letting your health go..
 
My son was treated the same at his school when he needed to attend an appointment which is unfair . Yet some people keep there children at home for non reason nothing gets said I think they should not penalise a diabetic child that needs to attend hospital appointments
 
I had a similar issue with my son. He struggles with his ears. He was having 3 monthly hearing tests and then hospital appointments. His attendance for that year was below 95% so I had to have a meeting with the head to explain his absences. Even though every time I’d provided the letter of appointments .
Unfortunately as someone else said it’s the school jumping through hoops as for ofsted they have to document a robust system for attendance/absences.
 

Totally ridiculous no matter what the school 'rules' are. They are prepared for a child to be treated less favourably because they have a 'disability'? If I was your friend I would be setting it out in writing for the school (so it's on record) and mentioning (numerous times) that it comes under the Disability Act and is actually against all regulations. If anything the child should be getting more awards for her attendance at school given she has a lifelong, difficult to manage condition. It's not about someone with a history of colds or constant headaches or similar that may come and go, it's something a person has and CANNOT get rid of. x
 

Hi, it seems unfair to me but that's what happens.
My daughter, who is not diabetic, was diagnosed with a borderline thyroid ( she was often tired and underwent blood tests at the hospital) when she was just 7 years old, her report for that year in infant school was not great, even though the other reports were good.
Also when she was 11, her dad was in hospital for nearly 5 months, he died when she was 11 and she took her 11+ amongst all of this and went in for an exam on the morning of his funeral which was later that day, the head and the teachers were understanding and supportive, but her grades were down with no compensation or compassion for what she was going through.
 
So sorry to hear this. Thank you for sharing your story.
 
I've just had a quick Google and pre authorised medical appointments for known disabilities should be counter as authorised abscence. Schools should be making 'reasonable adjustments' to ensure disabled kids aren't discriminated against by authorised abscences.

That was in a website for children with hearing difficulties but I'm sure your friend will find the same advice if she gets on the mighty internet or contacts one of the diabetic charities
 

Exactly! The same as any adult in the workplace. x
 
Robinredbreast said:
I wonder what happens if a child has a form of cancer, with ongoing treatment ?
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Yes good point I'm guessing its an issue for most children with an illness that need monitoring often and thats why I think may be diabetes UK could do something about it to highlight to the government this is an issue.
 
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