School Punishing My Son For Not Doing P.e

[MadMen]

Right. This is quite a long one, I'm afraid.
My son was complaining of a bad headache last week, and was off school on the Monday because of this. On previous occasions this had been due to him not wearing glasses, or needing the strength of the lens changed, so I made him an appointment for the opticians, which is this week.
I sent him back to school on the Tuesday, but wrote him a note further on in the week asking for him to be excused from the P.E lesson as he was feeling unwell and I was awaiting a doctors and opticians appointment.
He came home from school on Friday (the day of P.E) saying he had handed the note in, but he was told he was still going to be punished, and would miss his lunchtime break on Monday.
I called the school yesterday morning at 9am, and asked about the note. i explained the situation and she said she would look into it and have a word with the teacher, who would "probably overturn the decision as she may not have been aware of the note". She said she's get her to call me back.
Still no phone call at 11.45 so I called back and said I appreciated she was probably busy, but I just wanted to know what the situation was, as lunch break was fast approaching. She said she still hadn't spoken to her, but as she finished teaching in 15 minutes, so would make sure she phoned. Fair enough.
Another 45 minutes passed, with the pupils now being halfway through lunchtime, and still no call.
I called once again (third time) and was told by the person covering the phone, she would pass on the message and get her to call. Aghhhhh!
So, I finally received a call from my son's teacher, and she explained that she had never received the note and was only aware of it now. Turns out they had a supply teacher that day, and another teacher for P.E and this is who my son handed the note to. He was then told to sit on the sidelines whilst the rest of the class did P.E.

So anyway, I explained all this to her, and said my son shouldn't be punished for a decision that I had made. He had not "forgotten his P.E kit", but I had requested him being excused due to medical reasons. She said again that she had not seen this note, but as I pointed out to her, surely that is the fault of the supply teacher that day, and the P.E teacher? She said no, it was my son's fault.
She then went on to say that "even if I had seen the note, he would have been made to do the class anyway". I asked her why if a child is, potentially, unwell they should be made to do it. She said, and I quote, "that child would be made to participate in the P.E lesson until they felt too ill to continue".
Sorry, it may just be me, but I find that remark astonishing! When is a child "too ill"? When he/she collapses??
Sure, it may just be a headache, but who knows. I would rather wait until a professional has seen him, than let his teacher decide if he suddenly becomes "too ill" to continue.

Do I have grounds to make an official complaint? He's already been punished, so it's not as if she can give him back his missed lunch break. I just want to voice my annoyance and frustration, and also my concern over the comments regarding a child being made to do P.E until they were "too ill to continue". I also have issues with the "punishments" she dishes out, which seem to depend on whether or not she got out of the wrong side of bed that morning!

I'm looking for answers from parents, specifically.

Thanks.

[MadMen]

Right. Quick update on the situation:
After reading BM's post, I've had a look through all the policy documents on the school's website. They cover everything from absences, to having mobile phones in school. There isn't anything regarding P.E, and sickness notes, but I didn't think there would be... so... I rang the Education Welfare Officer for this school and had a lengthy chat with him.

Conclusion of the conversation with him is that I SHOULD make a complaint and I SHOULD go to the meeting next week.
I (briefly) explained the situation to him and he said that the complaint should be regarding the clear lack of communication between the school and myself.
He also said that the teacher has no "right" to overturn the decision of the teacher, and that I should seek clarification as to why this was allowed.
He was extremely helpful and said if I don't feel the situation has been resolved after the meeting, I should look to make a complaint to the governing body, and then to them. I said something along the lines of "You probably think I'm being really petty", and he responded with "no, I don't think that at all. I think you have every right to be angry" - not what I was expecting at all!

In response to the poster who questioned why he was even at school with bad headaches. It wasn't so bad as to having to keep him home, but I felt that excusing him from both P.E and ICT would be a good idea.

[ladyalex]

That is very reassuring news, MadMen.
Good luck with your meeting and keep us updated.

[MadMen]

Cheers LadyA. Yes, I thought that too. Makes me fully confident that I am doing the right thing now.

Thanks all :-)

[scruffbag]

I am a parent and work in a school.
How old is your son?
On the surface, I can see both sides. I do feel communication has broken down in the school, but as a parent you are over reacting to the situation.
I would not make too much of a big thing with this, because in the future YOU might have to really complain about something.
Schools do run at a fast pace, and you are always pushing to get things done in a tight time scale. I don't think this teacher meant any harm! Give her the benefit of the doubt. I hope that helps. x

[society]

Hello Maddy :)

The first time you called the school about the note, the person whom you had spoken to should have relayed the note-information to the rightful person / teacher. That person you spoke to did not do their job correctly.

[MadMen]

Scruffbag, I'm not going to just brush this under the carpet, in case I have something bigger to complain about in the future!
The fact of the matter is, a note from a parent should be respected and upheld. If there is a problem with it, then communication should be made to the parents. There is clearly a major lack of communication here, and I will be pointing out this in the meeting next week.
I will also be asking them what their policy is on attendance of PE lessons (thanks for the suggestion BM) and will be suggesting that they have one put in place. Maybe something like a child can be excused from a PE lesson with a note from the parents and a note from the doctor/other medical professional.

Hey Soc :-)
Exactly. Lack of communication lead to my child being 'punished', and that is what I'm annoyed at. That and her saying she'd make a child continue to do P.E until they were too ill to continue!

Thanks again for all the responses. I don't require any more input, and have just finished writing up my watered-down version of my complaint letter, which I will be taking with me next week.

Much appreciated :-)

[MadMen]

Lol. Definitely the best answer!

I am calm now. Deep breaths and all that.... :)

[joko]

while i do agree you are being overly emotional, i agree you should make a complaint.
she should not be forcing kids to exert thmselves until they are too ill to carry on!
what if they have a serious illness? she is no doctor and should not be making those sorts of decisions... there are some cases of kids dropping dead in P E

keep your complaint factual and formal and be wary of emotive dramatic language and excessive punctuation and capitals

she should be told her behaviur is unnacceptable

[MadMen]

"be wary of emotive dramatic language and excessive punctuation and capitals "

Lol. Thanks Joko. I do tend to keep my excessive punctuation and capitals just for The AnswerBank :))

[numnum]

I would complain. You could have had any sort of personal information in the note and where did it end up.

They cant go forcing kids if there not well. I know what I'm like when I have a headache and the thought of having to run around doing PE wouldn't make me very happy. Theres always going to be kids who are at it and trying to get out of PE but if he had been off school already with this and it was you who was wanting him to take it easy till you got him checked out.

There was a local girl a while ago now who had a sore hip and had to sit out of PE for a month, the teacher was very understanding and suggested to the parents since it had been so long and nothing had changed and the girl was still missing PE that they should see the doctors again. Thankfully they took the teachers advice and the girl had a lump on her hip and was caught and delt with quick. The teacher was very helpful before her diagnosis and didn't force the girl to do anything

[Khandro]

I'm with New Judge; 'headaches', 'excusing PE', 'punishments', Good grief! stand back and let him start the difficult business of growing up.

[MadMen]

Meeting was supposed to be yesterday after school. I got a call at lunchtime to say the head had to leave early due to a family issue.
Check this out, the secretary said they could still hold the meeting at the same time, but it would be with the deputy head.... the person I am making the complaint about!

I politely declined and said I would happily wait for the head to return.

I'm not bothered about him losing his break now. What's the point, he can't get that time back.
My issue is with the teacher in particular who seems to think she has some legal authority to overturn the decision made by a parent, based on medical reasons. She doesn't have that right and if she had a problem with that, then a quick phone call to myself would have been the best option.

I cannot even begin to tell you how horrible this teacher is. They've had her for the last two years and I've not spoken to one parent yet that has a good word to say about her. In fact, there was even a petition going round last year about her teaching methods! My son and his friend had to sit in the library on the day he had this sickness note, and write their names out 1000 times. What is the point of that? It's like going back 40 years!

[dollie65]

just curious if your son was unwell and couldnt do p.e. why did you send him to school in the first place...

[FredPuli43]

What would have happened if your son had refused to write the 1,000 times, or any ?

[MadMen]

Dollie, I've already said this more than once...
He had already had a day off that week for the same problem. He was awaiting an optician and doctors appointment, so keeping him home for the next 4 school days wouldn't have really achieved anything.
As the education welfare officer said to me, surely it's better for a child to miss just one P.E lesson, than a whole day of learning.

Fred, Unfortunately, he wouldn't refuse. He's very quiet and doesn't have much confidence to speak out and stick up for himself. That's just his character, I can't change that - despite trying.