To not understand the fixation on attendance?

My stepdad died after a short illness and it hit us hard as a family.

Work understood and I had a couple of weeks signed off sick so I could grieve and also support my mum.

My daughter was also affected by it greatly and I kept her off school. This was the first time she had suffered a loss.

Unfortunately, a couple of months later, her great granny passed away. Again, we needed time to grieve.

Along with these losses and a vomiting bug the whole household came down with, she dipped below 90% attendance and we were given an attendance officer visit from the council.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Sorry people DIED.

It's a huge systemic issue. Giving up to 5 days in a block for a holiday I'd be in favour of (as a teacher). It's the absent every Friday kids which are a real issue.

The child being marked absent for turning up at 920 is being coded wrong. That should be L.

It’s very much a systemic issue. And agreed, it’s better to continue with the routine for most children.

I don't value attendance in the slightest. If there's somewhere we want to go and it's on a school day, then school is missed. There's more to life than sitting in a classroom.

My kids school gives out awards and prizes for attendance. Well done, you were lucky enough to only get sick during the holidays and not have any accidents! It’s ridiculous.

Agreed 100%.

The trouble is as well once kids get into a routine of not going to school it makes attendance even worse and it’s hard to get them back attending regularly. I’m not blaming parents for this as due to delays in getting Sen support/ehcps often they have no other choice.

These fines will apparently increase in September.

Spare a thought for the mothers out there who are having to grapple 24/7 with their children’s mental health or SEN issues, while being clobbered over the head by the state (financially and by the criminal justice system).

Imagine the escalating pressure in family home, where attendance is a massive issue, while Mum cannot go to work, Mum cannot contribute to her pension, the school sends some “advisor” from Early Years who has no expertise in SEN to nose around fridges and bedrooms, and “help”, the educational establishment blames the parents.. These fines and criminal penalties are helping no one.

By controlling attendance and improving the percentage it gives the illusion that the LEA is 'improving' education.

Yes I'm so so sick of reading this.

I think poor attendance does need to be tackled. There are kids in my child's school who are on 20% attendance and you can't tell me that won't be having a massive impact on them and their families.

I just believe it needs to be tackled in terms of better SEN support and more investment in making schools pleasant places to be rather than fining parents and sending head teachers out to homes to drag kids to school.

I believe parents absolutely want their kids in school but what schools and local authorities are doing now isn't working.

It’s the same with uniform and the pettiness around policing appearance. Kids were punished for wearing tracksuit bottoms on non uniform day at my daughter’s school.

There’s no evidence school uniform helps academically. It doesn’t prepare them for work unless they’re preparing for the military (or prison). Most workplaces are casual now.

There’s no big “slice” of society that doesn’t care about education. It’s a tiny minority, same for benefit fraud, nasty stereotypes.

It’s ridiculous that I have to ask for the head teacher’s permission to take my child out of school for a medical appointment (consultant not GP so little choice) and be threatened with a fine if they refuse. I declined to complete the form and told them to report me.

Screw the system (that’s failing my SEN kids). I’ve taken them on holidays slightly covering school term and just reported them off sick. My holidays are always educational much to the kids’ disgust.

My children’s education is of huge importance to me. But I’ve learned that it’s not important to the LEA or school because of SEN.

When are these local authorities going to assume proper responsibility for delivering services under Section 19 and catering for children who are unable to attend school, as per their legal duty?

Every week, we read in the media about these scumbag parents like myself (who apparently don’t give two hoots about education). They are all sitting on their arses, working from home on Fridays and can’t be bothered with the school run etc, while Little Timmy remains uneducated..

These local authorities who fail to deliver are being let off the hook entirely by the media.

Section 19 says they have a duty to educate children alternatively if the children cannot attend school. Parents are battling for months and years to get those authorities to discharge their duties.

@Cowbag77
I completely agree with what you say sorry you experienced that.

Definitely agree there can be sen / mental health factors, also there are times where the factors are external linked to the child's family situation or perhaps adverse childhood experience at home which all impact too.

Any 'support' I've seen offered to the family seems to not be supportive and sometimes the opposite and doesn't help improve things. So that's why I would be interested if she was taking any different approach towards attendance and how this is actually supported

Well Labour have a very tight budget and a focus on attendance is measurable and cheap, it also requires action from the school not them, and so it makes perfect sense in that regard.

The problem is not with the occasional (and entirely understandable) days off sick; with children with serious illness or with specific needs and difficulties or EBSA it's with the massive increase in children whose attendance is really low, like 50-75%.
If you think that isn't going to impact on their learning, wellbeing and future life chances, you're wrong. Not only do they miss their learning through that time, but everyone else doesn't. The gap widens.
Children going on holiday may have a great time but rarely has it enhanced their cultural understanding. They tell us what they've done and seen and it's usually been in the pool.
I have every sympathy with those who have genuine health reasons that affect attendance and will always support them. But there is a big problem with low attendance, and a link with disadvantage and vulnerabilities. Government really does have to do something about it because otherwise the rich will continue to get richer and the poor get poorer.

This is a popular theme wheeled out that “a large percentage of parents could not care less about whether children attend”. I would like to see the rigorous research that backs this up.

The issue is a large % of parents don't see education as a priority. Until they do, the focus needs to remain.

My ds is16 so I've done 12 years of this. I've always ignored the school's pressure letters but ds' education has always been the top priority.

If he is poorly, he stays at home because he is infectious or has a fever. The only term-time holiday I've taken him on, he was 4 and we were offered a free week skiing. Legally he didn't need to be there.

We've managed 98-100% every other year. A mixture of luck and priorities.

One of mine didn’t go at all for a long time (due to SEN) and neither school or local authority gave a flying foxtrot.

There was none of the usual “definite correlation” chat being wheeled out then. School and local authority had to be forced. I am a middle class, well educated parent and able to articulate myself. I feel most parents would not have been able to navigate the series of obstacles and would not have known to create a lengthy paper trail.

Facebook groups like “Not Fine in School” have hundreds of parents who have lost their jobs, while supporting children who cannot attend (through mental health and SEND) and who are being fined & given a criminal record. This would have a completely counterproductive effect on any family.

My lads 12 he's in year 7, he's not been poorly or had a day off sick since year 2. He just hasn't been poorly,. He's never, not once, actually thrown up - he'll panic when he does because he's never experienced it. If he was poorly I'd keep him off in a heartbeat he just never has been. Not a cough, cold, belly ache or anything and I'll happily admit we've been very lucky. That's all, lucky. Never been rewarded with anything though except for 100% certificate every term!

Yeah that’s unreasonable, she should be given a concession and marked as present.

I think it’s important not to miss lesson time. Our school also sent out information regarding attendance vs achievement. Ultimately my DD is the one who will directly benefit from being present and accounted for. I don’t make sure she has good attendance for the benefit of the school, it’s for her.

She’s ahead so no a few days here probably wouldn’t be the end of the world but I’ve known kids with poor attendance who start to struggle socially because they are missing out on the ebs and flows of the school social scene. It makes it harder and harder to go in.

Also if 5 days is fine, why not 6 or 8 or 10. I also think theres poorly and then theres poorly. At nursery they constantly had runny noses constantly so the rule was as long as theres no temperature send them in. Also Dd has never had a raised temperature, ever. She’s had infections/COVID (also some people appear to be immune to COVID) and no raised temperature. So I can well believe that some kids just don’t get really ill or show symptoms of illness. I rarely get ill myself.

Does someone have a link to the speech ? Thanks

I think until people stop using an Ofsted one word rating to describe a school.

Everyone wants a 'Good' one and this is what schools need to do to tick that box. I'm sure they'd rather spend tge admin chasing money etc on something else too.

I feel the way it is being measured is part of the issue.

Daughter on the spectrum frequently has anxiety at the school gates and enters at 09:20. Daughter is then marked off for the entire morning although she is attending the majority of the session.

You want an extra 5 'discretionary' days as well as the vast number of days children and teachers already have off?
Education standards are on the floor already. Too many parents don't care about their child's education. They take them out of school 'because holidays are cheaper ', proving that they value their needs above those of their kids and they do not care about the disruption to the class caused by such kids when they get back, and having to catch up with work missed. But the parents tell you 'it's good for their social skills to meet people from england drinking at old mother reillys old red lion pub while eating chicken and chips sitting by a pool other cultures'