A SCHOOL has told parents they must send sick kids to class in order for them to develop a “be tough” attitude.

Fairways Primary School, in Leigh, has sent out a letter to parents saying it will administer medicine at school, and that children should persevere if they are only suffering minor illnesses.

The school has defended its policy, which was announced last month, before the swine flu epidemic swept across the country and forced five schools to close.

Last month, Fairways headteacher, Lee Pinchback, warned absence because of illness would no longer automatically be authorised and medical evidence could be requested if a child’s attendance dropped below 90 per cent.

In another letter to parents, Mr Pinchback wrote: “Unlike a lot of schools, staff at Fairways administer Calpol, antibiotics and other medication if brought to the office. We find a child will often be able to get through the day if dosed up.

“Children need to develop a ‘be tough’ attitude and be prepared to persevere if they only have minor ailments.”

The letter to parents says the strict policy is to boost attendance, even though it has consistently been above the national average of 96.4 per cent. If the trend continued, it could have an impact on the Ofsted rating for the school, which missed an outstanding grade by 0.1 per cent at its last inspection.

But despite the threatened flu pandemic, there is no sign of the school backing down on the tough stance.

Rick Edwards, 49, of Woodside, Leigh, was called to attend a meeting with the school last week because his son Harrison had achieved only 77 per cent attendance.

He said: “They are putting a lot of pressure on parents because they seem more concerned about attendance than children’s safety.

“My son has suffered a lot of ill health since contracting meningitis when he was ten months old. He has just had one thing after another, but they warned me he has to go to school even if he has a high temperature.

Southend Council’s head of school improvement, Alan Stubbersfield, backed the school and said it was important for parents to use common sense.

He said: “We have been conducting a well-publicised and successful campaign against truancy, including attendance monitoring, and a “truancy sweep” to target children who were not in school when they should have been.

“As part of this work, letters did go out to parents in some cases instructing them that they should send their children to school if they had only slight ailments.

“These letters were composed and sent before the first reports of swine flu came through.

“It was always recognised that sometimes children are too ill to go to school, and parents have to make a sensible judgment in those cases.”