Worksop dad left fuming after school staff member '˜barges into family home' to check absent son isn't faking illness

A Worksop dad has been left fuming after a staff member from his son's school 'barged into their home' to check the absent teenager was not faking his throat infection.
Outwood Academy Portland.Outwood Academy Portland.
Outwood Academy Portland.

Andy Bartrop said he made sure he handed a sick note and prescription into Outwood Academy Portland after his 15-year-old son, Casey, became ill and was unable to attend school.

Leaving Casey at home under the care of his 18-year-old brother, Mr Bartrop said he was “shocked” when a staff member from Outwood later knocked on the door and demanded to see Casey and the medication he had been prescribed.

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He said: “Casey had his tonsils out last year and has had problems with his throat ever since.

“I can tell when he’s poorly, as he is usually bouncing off the walls and eating me out of house and home, a typical teenage lad.

“But when he stopped eating and looked like death, I knew he was sick and couldn’t go to school.

“I made sure the school had a doctor’s note and prescription as proof of his illness, as I have been threatened with fines when he been off sick with his throat in the past, and I didn’t want to be messing around with that again.

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“I am fuming that, even after that, someone turned up to my house and got my poorly son out of bed, and marched him over to the fridge where his antibiotics were being stored, so they could check them.

“I feel like I have been made out to be a liar.

“I have never heard of anything like this happening before and feel the school has a lot of questions to answer.

“If staff are going to start knocking on doors checking children are sick and demanding to see their medication, parents need to be made aware of it.”

Outwood Academy Portland is one of the highest performing schools in the country, but has come under fire from some parents for its discipline procedures.

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Earlier this year, a female pupil was excluded for dyeing her hair red.

Another female pupil was also excluded in early February after a teacher claimed she had been “caked in make-up”.

The Outwood Academies Grange Trust does not comment on specific cases involving its students due to data protection.

But a spokesman for the trust said this week: “The trust believes student attendance at school is important.

“Staff work hard, with parents, to support students in maximising their attendance at the academy.”

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