The school may ask parents to ask the doctors to complete medicals, write letters or even issue a sick note for an absence.
We as a practice in Norfolk have a special agreement in place called the “Norfolk Joint School Protocol” which needs to be followed when any of the above information is requested.
Please read below for more guidance.
Where there are cases of non-attendance schools should make contact with the parents/guardians if there is a concern that the missed schooling is not justified, or to understand if further support is required. Schools should not be asking parents to seek medical information to support their child’s absence unless, in Norfolk, this is in line with the Joint Protocol below.
There are times where frequent or long term absence is occurring and medical information from the GP will be helpful to support the child in returning to school. Where this occurs there is a clear process within the Norfolk Joint School Protocol that should be followed and is funded under collaborative arrangements.
The school should be making contact with the GP practice only and not asking parents to make these request.
As part of the Joint Protocol the parents/child should be informed and consent to their GP being contacted.
Sick Notes
GP practices should not be asked to certify ad-hoc absences, especially where the patient would not ordinarily have required an appointment. Parents should be certifying their child’s absence where it is under 7 days.
It is the LMC view that GPs should not be making recommendations that a child is unable to attend school. It isn’t NHS work and we don’t feel that the GP is the correct person, nor do they have access to the information required, to be making this decision. Decisions around school attendance and how to ensure that mitigations are put in place to ensure a child receives the education that they have a right to expect, should be made by the school services including SENCO and School nursing services. They may require factual information from the GP in-line with the joint protocol, or paediatric specialist relating to the child’s medical condition when making these considerations. We would suggest that parents/guardians can make use of the NHS App (with proxy access) to share any relevant letters or information with schools. If the child is also under the care of a consultant they are likely have letters/correspondence that could be shared.
Certificates for missing Exams
As above, GPs are not contractually obliged to provide sickness certification for students that miss an exam or believe their performance was affected due to illness.
Reasonable Adjustments and Special Consideration for Examinations
Special consideration is when the candidate would like retrospective adjustments made to their marks.
Reasonable adjustments are those made when the candidate is taking the examination e.g extra time or rest breaks, help reading or use of a computer. These are considered under access arrangements. The use of computers does not need to go through a formal process and should be decided within the centre of examination.
In the guidance released by the Joint Council of Qualifications, who review these applications, then a detailed specialist view is required by the SENCO, not a GP view, this is for both physical and mental health problems for reasonable adjustments.
Norfolk Schools requesting GP letters to authorise pupil toilet passes
This is not a request practices need to comply with and should decline such requests.
The LMC have raised this with Norfolk County Council and they have contacted the schools identified to us to ask that these requests cease. Some pupils may have genuine medical conditions which require a toilet pass, but it’s the council’s understanding that these young people would ordinarily be involved with specialist health services, or be pregnant, for example.