To be annoyed over school attendance letter

Just ignore it for now, but if it does 'get taken further ' be businesslike about it and throw it back on them to find a solution. Eg list the absences and reasons, then ask what they would like you to do differently:

1. [Date] was a dentist appointment. These are once every 6 months. I can try to get appointments outside of school hours but this is not always possible if every parent is going for them. How would you suggest I ensure I can get an appointment that satisfied the school, dentist and my own employer?

2 [date] was following the 48 hour rule for vomiting bugs. In future, would you suggest I send him in as soon as he feels better, breaking your policy/ DfE guidance?

Etc....

Be polite and clear and ask for their help to solve the 'problem' because you have been doing your best / following guidance

They have to send them to everyone.

If you miss registration on arrival or after lunch then your child is not there.

If you make registration and then go to dentist appointment then you are there.

DS2's school actually tells us to do this.

They also tell us to send kids in when they are ill, and they will - apparently - make sure they have an easier day or whatever. They reiterate this at every parents meeting at the start of every year, and every year I tell them that I will not be doing that and if I judge that DS2 is ill, he will not be going into school.

I used to send my son in for the roll call and collect him 15mins later for drs or if he had a temperature (he was ok in himself so school expected him to be in with 40 degree temps but I disagred). Schools attendance ratings affect their ofsted results so that’s what they wanted!

I'd chuck it in the bin and not give it another thought. Which is the same thing I did with my "congratulations your daughter has 100% attendance" letter, as if her not catching a bug or requiring a hospital appointment etc is some sort of achievement on either her or my part.
I really don't care about her level of authorised absence (and she has no unauthorised absence).

Ofsted now really dig deep into attendance. If we can’t show we’ve taken steps (i.e. sent out the standard letters) then the school is criticised.

The system IS flawed and as attendance officers we know that but have to follow the system. If your child has a dentist appointment at 08:30 and misses just 10 minutes of school we have to give an M code which is an absence. However if you bring your child to school on time, then collect them at 9:30 for a 10:00 appointment they get a present mark. If you bring them back to school before afternoon registration then they get the afternoon present mark too. They could miss a good two hours of school and get a full attendance for that day but miss 10 minutes first thing and they lose half a days attendance. It is ridiculous but it is NOT rules made by the school or the attendance officer.

It’s about being there for the register. If he was there for register then taken to the dentist then the record would have shown him being in that morning.

She could, but there's no reason to think one will necessarily be available.

My dentist, for example, works school hours and tends to take her annual leave in the school holidays. Her work pattern looks rather like mine and DCs, in fact! Obviously the competition for the available school holiday appointments is even more intense than for the average NHS dentist.

The reality is that a lot of medical appointments have to be during school hours and there's no way round that. Increasingly you just have to take what there is and be glad of it.

The register is taken twice at school if you do an afternoon it still counts as a missed registration. Sometimes I do get appointments after school but it’s always the way. They can be fully booked.

As others had said, it's the morning and afternoon register that counts and then when the % drop you get a letter. It's not personal.

To be fair the vomiting bug and meningitis check couldn't be avoided,but the dentist could have been made after school 🤷‍♂️

Yes ridiculous but sometimes the only way. Meaning you may actually miss more schooling because you take a mid morning appointment rather than one first thing all to get that important mark in the register

Also unfair on working parents who can't always make that happen logistically

It does, thank you. I don’t love that she’s been off so much but she’s 5 like OP’s son and doesn’t seem to have any problems catching up. And what can you do anyway! We’ve been incredibly lucky with how supportive school have been.

I've worked in attendance at school, pp are right that these are automated letters that are sent out, it's definitely nothing personal and we don't always agree with it either, but we have to send them, it is just part of our job. If a student arrives after the registers close it legally has to go down as an absence whatever the reason. I agree it is frustrating.

Schools can at their discretion not send the letters if they choose to.

Your daughter's case sounds like this.

Otherwise it is an automated system that they can take people out of rather than put people on if that makes sense,

Agree...my DD was in reception and we got one because her attendance had dipped. Every single absence was for a hospital appointment as she has sn...she hadn't even had a sick day. She was such a trooper what with having to have so many appointments...I was also exhausted by them all. It felt so judgemental and mean spirited. My ds current attendance is 90%...he has just like yours, had bad luck recently with illnesses.

The Revolving Door tip: send them in to register for their morning mark and collect straight after for appointments. It's stupid and wastes more time than signing in at 9:15 after an appointment, but it's the am and pm marks that count on the statistics, and the most important thing in the education system is the data.

It's great if appointments can be in the holidays/ after 4pm, but the world isn't always that simple.

Then you tell the school that, and explain about the other absences caused by sickness, if they follow up with anything. The letters will just be automatic, designed to put the wind up people who let their kids stay off school when there’s no real reason.

You could ask for a later in the day appointment, after school? Half term, holidays?

Are they standard letters? DD’s on 89% at the moment after two hospital admissions and then half days for a phased return and I haven’t had any letters.

They’re automated letters, I went to our head having had a similar experience, DD had a spell in hospital, which school knew about, she even had a get well card signed by her class, teachers and head. I was told to ignore it.

Ignore them. Responding only encourages them
DS got an email for 95.8% attendance where they reminded me to send him in to school. This was in his last week of GCSEs!!

Yes I'll send him in to do his GCSEs - just because you reminded me!