Can I refuse to let my sick child come home from school?

One mum's daughter has been sent home from school for the past three weeks in a row.

She explained that it often happens on the same day when their teacher isn't in. "Once my daughter is home they are absolutely fine and able to play and run around etc." Her daughter is 7 and attends an SEN school because of autism. The mum admitted that she has been struggling with her daughter being sent home sick because of the impact it has on her job. She said she is also worried her daughter will start building a reluctance of going to school if the teaching assistants keep sending them home. "I have had to push back a lot of important meetings because of this." The mum has told the school not to send them home unless they're "vomiting or high temperature etc". The mum asked, "If the school rings me this week and just complains that my daughter ‘isn’t like their usual self’ can I refuse to have them home?" She wondered, "What would happen if I say no?" She said if her daughter was genuinely ill then she'd have no issue with this. However, they appear fine once they come home. The mum believes her daughter has figured out "how to behave" in order to be sent home. She also thinks the teaching assistants aren't competent enough. "They tend to send them home on the days that the teacher isn’t in." What do you think? Does the mum have a point? Mumsnet users were pretty divided. One wrote, "If a child says they’re ill, then there’s not much a school can do. They can’t spare staff to sit with your child for school." Another added, "She's entitled to full-time education, if they're sending her home for crying for twenty minutes that is unlawful, and your well within your rights to refuse."