A rather angry rant!!! I make no apologies..........School attendance

[alcyone]

I received a letter today from our County council informing us that 'The County Strategic Attendance Team' will again be working at the school for 1 week.
Quote"The school day begins at 9oam Prompt"
The letter states the folowing..."I shall be GREETING children at the school gate periodically during the week"
It then goes on to tell me about parent's responsibilities and punctuality.

Last year i let it pass without comment.
Two smiling ladies standing in the playground while flustered mums checked their watches and pushed their children through the gate.

I wonder how this promotes attendance and punctuality?
Granted, some children have regular attendance issues, but quite often this is linked to other issues,not really resolved by Attendance assistants.
My dds are rarely late,BUT it is ALWAYS a mad rush in the mornings.
Children have always been late for school and regardless of the cc policy,will always be late.
What a waste of tax payers money and resources.
The letter is patronising, Isn't it hard enough being a parent without chucking more guilt in our direction?
What evidence is there, i wonder, to suggest that this kind of scheme actually produces LONG TERM results?
My children....my responsibility.
If i want help i'll ask for it.

[Tortington]

what happens if your late.

is it flamethrowers or sommat ?

[Twiglett]

don't see why you are taking umbrage at it

it is important that children arrive on time .. that all children arrive on time .. if it takes a letter and a head greeting to make parents aware of the importance then good

each school is targeted on attendance and if it drops below a certain percentage it reflects on their ofsted

[LilyLoo]

Surely these people sholud be out there knocking on the doors of persistant offenders to get them out of bed ? Don't undersatnd how meeting children who are already at school is going to help

[Tortington]

i wanna know what happens if your late - i bet they say " do you know your late?"

"quell suprise sherlock" would be my reply.

[alcyone]

at custardo

[hana]

being late has a knockon effect for the child teacher and class ( habitual lateness) one offs don't really matter
but you sound so mad, don't take it quite so personally

[alcyone]

Twiglet, i understand that punctuality is important, i just don't think that this is the way to promote it. Lilyloo makes a good point....the persistent offenders need more input, for those who 'bend over backward' to get theirkids to school on time it's just patronising.,

[Tinker]

Two smiling ladies greeting children - um, not sure what all the fuss is about.

[hana]

do you need some tips on getting out earlier in the morning? ( please don't take offence to this, am serious) not necessarily from me, there was a good thread a while back about this

[Twiglett]

it is reinforcing that punctuality is important

it is saying to those who are late that it will not go un-noticed

if you are always on time why should it upset you that you are made aware that the head will be specifically greeting

I am sure that persistent offenders also get the EWO following them up which you would not know about

[alcyone]

So why do i feel soooooo cross?
Dh is cross too!

[LilyLoo]

To be fair i know that EWO'S are very stretched and don't have resources to tackle every offender so wonder that having someone standing at the gates for 1 week is going to make little difference and should be put into the EWO'S budget. Agree with head meeting at the school gates, ours does constantly therefore not seen as intrusive but more of a personal; touch that parents like.

[Tortington]

i get you alcyone. i do - there are mums - who for whatever reason are occasionally late ( the socks were both there last night mi'lud) most ofthe time they are on time and alcyoneunderstands completely the importance of punctuality.

i think it is the distribution of resources. the twosmiling ladies - what a waste. go smile whilst knocking at some doors of those who cant be arsed regularly.

i think the argument is wasted resources/resources directed badly.


for me its another indicator that the education system is taking over your LIFE.

[Tortington]

you get your your kids there - its a waste - for what? a week? persistant ffenders wnt rightly give a shit anyway

[Saggarmakersbottomknocker]

This letter does, as I've said before, 'exactly what it says on the tin'. It's got you thinking about attendance and punctuality. Result!

Our EWO visits poor attenders and children who are consistently late. You often find that children who are late alot decline into poor attenders.

Alcyone - how would you promote punctuality. I'm really interested as I send out these letters at school (and take the flak) so would welcome your ideas. Rewards for good attendance don't seem to go down well - on MN anyway.

[alcyone]

The head greets all year round, wouldn't have it any other way.

[Tortington]

the children who are habitually late come into school ontime whilst the smiling ladies are there?

and if they do - which i'm doubtful about, then when the smiling ladies are gone - then what? do they continue on their reformed ways becuase now they had a letter and got their lazy arses out of bed to get the kids to school - they now see the light?

[alcyone]

Saggar....makers
Califrau's school sounds good.
Much more consistent.
Everyone will be on time next wseek 'cos we all have letters!

[Tortington]

i think there is something fundimentally lackin in the parenting skills of a parent who cant be arsed to regularly get their kids to school - we all mess up from time to time, but when your kid is always late?

therefore its not the kids that need to be rewarded/punished. its the parents who need parenting classes.

but govt thinks this costs to much money to properly invest in the future generation - its much cheaper to do this through the school system.


children can be an excellent conduit to parents to make sure certain things are done the way the school likes.

for instance - the knock ont he door - late slip thing below - a child would/could be mortified - with a parent who doesnt give a rats are - all that happens is you have a perpetually embarrassed kid - who doesnt want to go to school. the parent cant be arsed anyway - the kid wont go.


my kids hated walking into the classroom when everyone was settled - on a day the alarm didn't go off or a shoe went missing.

and they conveyed their complete mortification to me perfectly, i understood this becuase i listen. i would suggest that parents who dont get their kids to school on time regularly may not listen.

[Saggarmakersbottomknocker]

Califrau I agree, I don't think it is fair to reward for attendance. It's often out of the child and the parent's control. I've been on both sides of the fence here as dd has poor attendance due to medical problems (barely 75% last year).

It's hard though because the parents that you are trying to target with attendance and punctuality letters don't read them/take no notice and the ones that do read them get all shirty because they feel affronted.

[Saggarmakersbottomknocker]

Our school does the locked doors thing. I spend 9 to 9.30 signing in the latecomers - same ones all the time. It is so disruptive.

The only thing that improves (it (IME) is the EWO knocking on the door and the threat of a fine.

[quanglewangle]

This is equiv. to keeping the whole class in after school cos one person has misbehaved. It is a cop out and often the lazy way out.

And Califrau, I agree with you about the 100% attendance business. Why be punished for being ill? Do they really want kids staggering in with fever and bird flu? The implication is that absence through illness is a scive.

[alcyone]

Custardo, daily i witness the same child runni ng to school seemingly alone, his mum furthter down the street. She has a daughter at another school,who regularly has problems.\Mum is held up at 9.45 with dd1 and struggles with dd2. How are smiling ladies going to help her?
Couldn't agree more with what you are saying.