a poor attendance at school...

hi, I'm new here... Last 3 months my son has a poor attendance at his school because of bad asthma, I really nervous about his progress and about school reaction . Should I ask his teacher about some materials and try to teach him at home? what do you think?

[angievere]

Hi Lilly, Welcome to the forum. How old is your son? My 14yr old son has had a lot of time off school over the years with bad asthma and it has been a problem. A lot depends on the school and teachers, we managed ok in primary school but the secondary school hasnt been very helpful.

Regarding helping your son at home - it is a good idea to ask teachers for material, but bear in mind he may not feel much like working if he's poorly.

[Hidden]

Hi! My 17 year old has had dreadful attendance at school over the years. One year we hit 70%! I have always made an effort to ask for work to be sent home if the absence is likely to be more than a couple of days. Sometimes the response is better than others - depends on the teacher and the enthusiasm of his pupil support teacher in contacting other staff. At least then when it comes to parents night they can't say he didn't try to catch up.

Thankfully he seems to be able to pull himself back again but sometimes has missed out on vital information. I think it's more important as they get older, but he always likes to try to keep up to date as it makes his recovery faster if he's not stressed out about returning to school and being behind. Hope this helps...

[Hidden]

thank you for your reply my son is 8 year old - year 3 at school... he is really good student and I am afraid about progress. I'll try to contact with his teacher and we'll see...

[Hidden]

thank you for your reply my son is 8 year old - year 3 at school... he is really good student and I am afraid about progress. I'll try to contact with his teacher and we'll see...

[Hidden]

Lilly, As a year 3 teacher myself I would like to think that any parents would feel that they could come to me and feel accomodated. At the same time my main thoughts with regards to a child that is genuinely unwell and catch up school work? Well, health always comes first. There are of course things that, as a teacher, I would say could be done at home but only if they really are well enough. Hope he is back with his friends and enjoying school soon xxx

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i was hardly ever at school due to my lung disease and asthma, my attendance was about 20% and i went to hospital school and had a tutor that my school organised to come to my house. But before all this my mum phoned and got work for me which was very helpfull and when i went back to school i was ahead of my peers!!!!!!!! so it deffo worth doing! - ( i got 1a 6b's and 3c's in my GCSE's despite not being at school) xxxxxx hope this helps you a little!!

[angievere]

Hi Lilly, If your son is 8 it is not quite so worrying as when they are older (ie doing GCSEs etc). By all means ask his teacher what is being covered in class, I used to collect worksheets from my son's teachers in primary school and go through them with him. My son has always been a big reader (still is at 14) and that has helped his academic progress a lot. Encourage your son to read as much as possible, and read to him yourself. My son liked me reading to him until he was about 12, he found it soothing when he was ill. I also got him a lot of audio CDs from the library which he enjoyed listening to.

If your son is an able pupil you will probably find he does well at school despite his absences (as Chloe has). Chloe mentioned she had home tuition and I enquired about that for my son, but the consultant felt he wasnt ill enough (despite only 66% attendance one year!). When he started falling behind in maths 2 years ago I found a private maths tutor who taught him on an irregular basis for just over a year. That was really helpful, but I dont think you would have to go down that road just yet (it's expensive too!!).

[Hidden]

Hi Lily. When my RB is having to take time of school because of hi asthma I ask his teacher to put some work together for me. I ask her in the morning and come home-tim on the same day when I pick RB's sister up from school his teacher has got the work together and given to his sister to bring home. Thankfully for though my hubby is a trained TA so he does the work with son. Thankfully for me his head-teacher is very understanding and with his health geting worse with no conditions being added to his list of medical condtions she is even more supportive. We have told heer that if we feel he is able to attend school but not walk to school or run about at shool then we will ring them at 8:30 to inform them of his health and that we are getting a taxi to school and once in school that is were he stays with no out-door play or inner as we need to keep him as relaxed and away from physical exercise as possible. More times than not they say leave him at home for thi morning and see how he is for the afternnon session and we will have work ready for you for hometime if need be. I wish there was more head-teachers like this that way we will feel confident in allow our children to be left in there care. But I must say it has only happened since I did an asthma awareness day at the school and then after it went crazy at my son's teacher and the head-teahcer for not informing and refusing to allow me to treat my son when I was around with his asthma

[Hidden]

Hi Lilly

try not to worry my daughter attendance is really really bad some years she only attends 20% of the time, last year she managed 50-60%. I find if she is ill I go into school and get some of the work that her class is doing to try and keep her up to date with everyone else but on the same hand when your ill its not always possible to sit and do school work. If your child is in hospital at lot they do have school's in the hospital and they can help keep your child up with school work. Although my daughter is not where she should be with her education the things she is lacking in are not a massive problem, things like her hand writting is not good and little stuff that I can't help her with (I am left handed she is right handed). Also when my daughter is unwell for long periods of time we have an arrangement with school that she only does half day's and this way she still gets her education but also gets to rest more as she needs it. Good luck and speak with the school you might find they are more then willing to help support you with your son's education. Oh yes and when my daughter has been ill they also do extra classes for her, like when everyone else is in assembly she will be getting 1-1 to catch up.

[Hidden]

Hi Lilly, It's good that you are thinking ahead about his progress etc, my 15 yr old son has had quite a low attendance over the years and his primary school were very good at sending work home for him. I just assumed it would be the same in secondary school, however, the first few times he was off, I got no work at all for him, then when I did get work, it was a pile of worksheets, unsuitable for his age, several of which had already been completed by other students and it stunk of cigarette smoke! I threw it straight in the bin and complained to the school. The next time he was off we got a visit from the attendance officer. With hindsight, I really wish I had approached the school beforehand to discuss these things before it had got to this stage. my advice would be to not worry about it during the time your son is ill, concentrate on him and what he needs but have a word with people at potential secondary schools and make them aware of the situation beforehand. Good luck xx