Leaflet 'stems sick note culture'

Kingston says the leaflets have already reduced pupils' sick days

Advice leaflets telling parents whether their children are well enough to attend school are being issued in a bid to tackle rising absenteeism rates.

Those with coughs and colds are fine in school, it says, but those with unexplained rashes should stay at home.

Kingston education authority, in south-west London, says its scheme is already helping its schools buck trends of increasing pupil sickness.

An estimated 55,000 children skip school in England every day.

School absences due to sickness have increased year on year since 2003, according to recent research.

Family holidays are being replaced by pupil sickness as a major cause for concern Ming Zhang Kingston Education Welfare Officer

Ministers recently ordered a crackdown on truancy and absence in primary schools after figures showed a rise in the number of children failing to attend.

Ofsted inspectors say the absence rate for primary schools in England rose from 5.13% to 5.21% in the year to autumn 2005.

Although pupil sickness does not automatically count as unauthorised absence, if a head teacher spots a recurrent pattern and is suspicious, he or she might label it unauthorised.

Kingston's Education Welfare Officer Ming Zhang said: "Absenteeism through illness has become a significant issue.

"Family holidays are being replaced by pupil sickness as a major cause for concern."

'Unexplained rash'

He said there was a "grey area" around what constituted a valid medical reason for staying away from school and that this confused both parents and head teachers.

It was hoped the medical information leaflet would help clarify matters for those on either side of the school fence.

He said some parents kept a child with a slight headache off school while others would send them in even if they were very sick.

The medical advice leaflet, issued to parents in the London Borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames, says a child with a raised temperature, an unexplained rash, who has diarrhoea or has been vomiting should not be in school.

THE LEAFLET IN FULL Is your child well enough for school? (96K) Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Download the reader here

But those with a minor cough, cold, headache or sore throat are deemed well enough to come to school.

The leaflet was piloted in a handful of Kingston's schools last September and then introduced across the borough's 40 primary schools and 10 secondary schools in the spring.

Education officers say it has helped the borough maintain higher rates of attendance while nationally absenteeism through sickness has increased.

Kingston's truancy rate reduced 0.1% to 0.4% in 2005-06 and its overall absence rate stayed at 6% over the two years - amongst the lowest in the country.

Patrick Leeson, director of learning and children services in Kingston, said the authority had identified sickness absence as a potential problem at an early stage.

The development of the leaflet, with local health providers, was an early intervention to tackle the issue before it became a problem.

He added: "Our experience is that improved attendance at primary school has had a positive knock-on for attendance at secondary level."