An attendance meeting at school for 5 days off since September

Schools have to do this due to appalling attendance since covid. Sickness is now unauthorised as parents are using it as an excuse. Attendance which falls below 90% has to be investigated.

Don’t blame the school. They have to do this now. Blame the lazy parents who don’t want to leave the house to take their children to school.

But maybe if we as a nation changed our attitude to colds and thought more how we acted in the pandemic (I’m not saying lockdown) then kids wouldn’t get 12 colds a year, I bet they didn’t get 12 during lockdown. Then there would be a lot less circulating and eventually would mean less time off sick all together!

So if it's just a tick box exercise why exactly should parents take time off work to play along? My company has a meeting policy which is basically "Do you really need to hold this meeting? Could you be doing something more useful and productive instead?" These attendance meetings would be a hard fail on that test.

I would imagine it is more that it is 4 separate occasions in one term rather than the number of sick days

So, parents should comply with the charade - and if they don't....there will be long term issues?

Schools are under intense pressure from Ofsted to show they are doing something about poor attendance. The meeting will be minimal and will tick a box to show Ofsted they are doing something.

Schools are not forced, they are advised and even though they are given a large variety of ideas by Ofsted to deal with attendance they always deal with it the same way - heavyhandedly. May be we should let Ofsted know this at the next inspection using our 'parents voice'.

If you don't engage it will cause more issues long term.

Oh yeah, such as?

Exactly. I'm wondering if the 'issues' down the line would be the school claiming the parent was failing to engage, even though they have clearly said why they were off. I get how absence management is a part of safeguarding and can help build a picture and a pattern, but surely a parent sadly intent on harm would just play along in many cases anyway, i don't see it as a reason to disbelieve/pester parents who have said their children were genuinely off sick. I think not just from my experience the extent schools push explains why some parents with very poorly children I've cared for get so upset and stressed by it, when really it shouldn't be something they're having to worry about at all.

Me too.
You are the parent. If you decide your vomiting child stays at home, then they do. It’s called parenting, and common sense. You have already given reasons for absence to the school and you are fully aware of the relevant policies. What is the point of taking an unwell child to school, only for the school to call you back when they have spread the bug?
Progress won’t be harmed by that number of days off; most stuff is repeated ad nauseam at that age.

School are just doing their duty to follow up on absence, as 5 days in one term will have brought her overall percentage down a fair bit. They have to check as some children will be kept off of school for unnecessary reasons. Schools are under a lot of pressure when it comes to attendance and have to show they’re doing all they can to make sure that those able to be in school are there. Much better for you to engage with it, will be a quick meeting. They won’t want to be there longer than necessary!

Really wouldn’t advise going down the route of being deliberately difficult as some have suggested. It won’t change the policy and it’ll just make life harder for those who have to enforce it when they have many other things to do. Plus, you want to build good relationships with the school at this early stage, not break them down.

Ever had to do a ‘back to work’ interview for a couple of days off sick from work? Sounds like a similar thing. Just a formality to make sure they’ve completed their admin.

If you don't engage it will cause more issues long term.

Curious as to what issues these are?

There is a big push around attendance at the moment at the behest of the government and it is now something ofsted will look at. I'm a teacher and a parent of a reception child who has been ill a lot. This is one of the worst terms for illness especially for little ones. At my school we get in touch and arrange meeting with families when their child's attendance is below 95% which 5 days is. I would attend the meeting and simply explain what's going on. If you don't engage it will cause more issues long term.

Kids get around 12 colds a year. I can’t keep her off for a cold.
I have a friend whose child had cancer as a baby. I know she is immunosuppressed so we don’t see her when we have a cold etc.

ive done a overnight stay with a 8 month old with RSV so I no how it can impact kids.
im not saying they go with a temp of 39+

a runny nose is not a reason to stay at home.

a cough- I check their throat, Covid test them and if bad I’ll listen to their chest.
temp of 37-38 can be managed with calpol

would have to take the day as sick
3 occasions of sick n I am pulled into a attendance meeting
5 occasions n its disciplinary meeting with potential dismissal.
this isn’t per year but throughout the whole period of employment

I

Not being funny, but NOT all schools do it in this exact fashion...

No schools have the exact same policy for every scenario. However the government has attendance targets and schools have to be shown to be doing something about low attendance.

School barely know this child and family, so it's right to set up a meeting and see if there is anything the school can do to support attendance. It might just be a run of bad luck re illness, or there might be something more going on. A face to face meeting means you can read body language too, over the phone this is harder.

OPs school are doing nothing out of the ordinary. They're proactively monitoring attendance. If just bad luck, then their attendance percentage should rise in the rest of the year, but schools don't know either way.

Attendance is important. Students with under 90% attendance score an average of one grade lower than those who are over 90%.

School age is the term AFTER turning 5. So if she was 5 3 weeks ago she doesn't need to be in school until January.

The school should have highlighted the relevant policy to the LEA, it'shonedyly deplorable.

Oh dear! My kid has spent about 15 odd days at home due to various bugs he picked up at school since September 🤦🏻‍♀️. Thankfully he isn’t 5 for another couple of months.

If you have nothing to hide where is the problem in a meeting

Just curious as to why you had children when you don't want to care for them when they're ill? You won't lose your job from occasionally having to tend to your sick child.

Don't tell them you don't wish to attend the meeting. This is really not a good way to go; you will be labelled awkward and it's not going to help your case.

In this situation I would email again and write a list of the dates and what each absence was for. If they really want a meeting I would show willing and go.

There have been about 11 weeks of term so far and she's had one week off so it's probably just above 90%.