My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Join the discussion on our Education forum.

Education

100% Attendance Policies!

55 replies

MummyMadness03 · 11/01/2017 18:37

Hey all!

I am looking to gain your experiences of how your children's school manage and incentivise attendance.

My DD has a chronic health issue which sadly means numerous trips to hospital during school hours (which can't be avoided, despite trying!). Due to this, she doesn't meet the 100% attendance set by the school and misses out of the end of term treats.

I am looking to gain a picture of other stories similar to mine across the Country before battling the issue further....

OP posts:
Report
user789653241 · 11/01/2017 21:29

My ds has chronic illness and have regular appointments at hospital.
He never gets 100% attendance award, but he isn't bothered about it.

Report
RhinestoneCowgirl · 11/01/2017 21:34

My children have come home a couple of times with a 100% attendance certificate. They are a bit mystified by them tbh, as they know that all it proves is that they managed not to get the latest D&v bug that term.

I don't know why schools still do them, seems unfair to children with ongoing health issues.

Report
Ehlana · 11/01/2017 21:43

DD once missed an afternoon registration due to hospital appointment. Only "absence", didn't receive the certificate as a result., she, and we, stopped caring about it thereafter.

Report
Brollsdolls · 11/01/2017 21:49

We had the same thing Ehlana - ds missed 2 hours one afternoon for a music exam and ended up losing out on his 100% attendance certificate Confused Since then, I have also stopped caring about them and trying to maintain 100% (although we do have good attendance - just not perfect!)

Report
JustWantToBeDorisAgain · 11/01/2017 22:21

I have discussed this with Dd's school last year, she had 100% of the attendance she could achieve minus hospital apps for long term health condition.

They did give her a 100% certificate but it wasn't in assembly, fortunately they don't have treats so no harm done.....no chance this year she was ill in the first couple of weeks

Report
Bambooboo · 11/01/2017 22:33

I don't agree with them at all - they're basically a reward for not being unwell. How can that be helped?
My son's friend (now 6) was a 30 week preemie, and still has health issues associated with that which require regular hospital appointments. Which means he never gets an attendance certificate. It seems incredibly unfair.

Report
NotCitrus · 11/01/2017 22:38

Dcs' school do prizes for the class with best average each half term, but because they do it themselves, they can use their own definition of who should be counted as late/avoidably absent. So actual hospital appts, D&v, illness where parent has notified the school and there's no reason to suspect porkies, don't count against you. Late where eg. sibling threw up on the way, ditto. Late because your mum says you refused to do as asked in the morning, even if not late enough for the register to be closed, will count against you.
Tbh they seem to make it all up as they go along, to motivate as needed while not having a class pick on anyone bringing the average down. Actually their house points are awarded with gay abandon and make Hogwarts look consistent, but as long as it makes children feel appreciated for trying hard or being kind, and aren't applied in ways that demotivate, it's probably best that way.

Report
MilkRunningOutAgain · 11/01/2017 22:41

I have a DS who has been ill perhaps 2 days since starting school, he is now in yr 9. He gets loads of certificates for 100% attendance. I also have a DD whose attendance is poor, she simply goes down with everything and usually gets it badly. Though no diagnosed health condition. EWO has been involved several times. She has never got an attendance certificate. They are very unfair, DS used to boast about his when he was younger. I dislike them intensely.

Report
user789653241 · 11/01/2017 23:13

I have a bit different view from others.
To achieve 100% attendance is hard. Having chronically ill child made me think it's a kind of gift.
Some children get awards for academics, sports, art, music etc, which may be a results from hard work, or just being lucky to have talent/gift.
So, why not celebrate being healthy as well?
(Hope I don't get flamed for saying this.)

Report
TeenAndTween · 12/01/2017 11:26

My DD2 used to get 100% certificates at primary.
Yes she was lucky to be healthy.

But also she went in sometimes feeling a bit off colour with the reasoning I could pick her up if she got worse. Sometimes I had to collect her, but often she then stayed in all day.
Also she didn't muck about in the morning making us late.

She wasn't good a sport / music / drama / academics so rarely got prizes for them. She wasn't poorly behaved or a paragon of virtue, so didn't get behaviour/effort certificates either.

But at least she was rewarded for and felt good about going into school.

On the other hand missing out cos you are ill sucks.
I think attendance prizes should be low key like certificates not an outing/disco. Also maybe people should get them for improved attendance. Or children with chronic conditions could have lower targets.

Report
llhj · 12/01/2017 11:50

Some children (frequently disadvantaged) have consistently appalling attendance and need to be motivated to attend school as there are already deep barriers to their leaning embedded into their lives.

These rewards are about those children not yours. Stop fixating on what your child hasn't received and realise that not everyone can have everything and not everything is for everyone. Your child has health challenges, other children face other challenges. All require support. Stop griping.

Report
user789653241 · 12/01/2017 19:41

llhj, I think it's a bit harsh.
I can totally understand where OP is coming from.
My ds is not bothered, so I feel relaxed about it, but not getting 100% award for chronically ill children is like your child is punished for suffering.

My stance is, that ds used to be in red zone for attendance in KS1, but now he isn't, although he never gets 100%. It's a great achievement and we celebrate it ourselves. And I can feel happy for others(one of his friend always get it.) who achieves 100% and rewarded for it, and we do talk about it in positive way with my ds, and he is equally happy for his friend.

Report
coragreta · 12/01/2017 19:52

Schools need to promote attendance as their attendance stats are published. Bad attendance stats are bad for the whole school. These stats do not take into account children with chronic health conditions so neither do the attendance prizes.

Report
QuackDuckQuack · 12/01/2017 20:12

I'd be pissed of if our school did more than the certificates, even though DD got a certificate last year. I assume the certificates are there to be seen to be doing something. But they clearly can't work. This year DD had two days of in September by adhering to the school's rules on illness, so there won't be a certificate this year. And if the certificate was meant to encourage attendance then it obviously stops working the first time a child is absent.

Report
Ditsyprint40 · 12/01/2017 20:17

Some children (frequently disadvantaged) have consistently appalling attendance and need to be motivated to attend school as there are already deep barriers to their leaning embedded into their lives.
This.

Termly is much better than yearly - the majority of the kids can do a term at 100%.

Report
Ankleswingers · 12/01/2017 20:20

It's essentially a good health certificate and I don't agree with it in the slightest.

It is contradictory as it just encourages parents to bring in their unwell child who then subsequently spread their germs. We have parents who bring in kids who are unwell and it is just beyond selfish.

Report
JugglingAct123 · 12/01/2017 20:20

I'm a teacher and didn't realise until a few years ago why 100% attendance was so widely celebrated. Researchers investigated all the factors that might contribute to a child's success at school (books at home, family circumstances, wealth etc etc) and found that the most influential factor for success was simply showing up every day. As llhj pointed out, for some disadvantaged students whose parents can offer them little in the way of help at home, intellectual conversations round the dinner table (or even a dinner table at all), just sending their child to school every day can actually make a huge difference. It would be irresponsible for schools not to celebrate those who make it to school every single day when they know that is is such a significant part of a pupil's chance for success. Schools are meant to do everything in their power to allow all students to reach their potential.... that's what they are there for and THAT'S why 100% attendance should be celebrated in the way the OP described.

Report
QuackDuckQuack · 12/01/2017 21:04

But for the 5 year old with a feckless parent, their opportunity to get 100% attendance flies out the door in the first week of term. How does this help them?

Report
whattheseithakasmean · 12/01/2017 21:12

JugglingAct123 I think you have interpreted that research arse about tit, to so speak. Of course kids with 100% attendance do better at school, because it means they are both healthy and come from non chaotic homes - massive factors for future success. It is the poor health or chaotic home life that are the influencing factors not the school attendance - that is a symptom, not a cause.

As attendance certificates fail to tackle the root cause they are a waste of time and just further reinforce a sense of failure in children who already have the odds stacked against them. They are vile and discriminatory.

Report
Ouriana · 12/01/2017 21:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

user1484226561 · 12/01/2017 21:16

The fact is ofsted can fail a school purely on their attendance records, and expect to see policies in place to record and reward good attendance, as well as punish poor attendance.

It may be nonsensical, but most of the rubbish ofsted foist onto schools is nonsensical, but schools can't do anything about it, they have to play along.

Report
Ankleswingers · 12/01/2017 21:27

I fucking hate them.

They are discrimatory.

Think of the child who doesnt get them? How are they meant to feel when they've been off unwell ( and the parents have actually kept them off) and their mate sitting next to them gets a certificate as he has been fortunate enough to have not been unwell.

It's so wrong.

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

BrassicaBabe · 12/01/2017 21:34

It's fine for the school to have attendance goals. It's not fine for them to pass Ghost of Gove bullshit into the kids.

In industry goals have to be realistic and under the control of the person being measured.

DC sick - how is that under their control
I decide to take DC out of school for xyz - again not under their control

Sodding ridiculous!!

Report
Ditsyprint40 · 12/01/2017 21:40

Not all children from chaotic homes have poor attendance. In fact plenty attend day in day out, because they crave the routine (and are possibly frankly glad to be out of the house). Some are motivated by incentives, despite their families not valuing education and not ensuring the attend.

Report
whattheseithakasmean · 13/01/2017 06:19

No, not all children from chaotic homes have poor attendance. But many do. They are growing up in far from ideal environments, what is gained by ramming that home to them? The same for children with chronic conditions, do you not think that is shit enough for them already?

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.