Are we losing the plot re: attendance?

[BlueySchmooey]

Are we losing the plot re: attendance?

https://x.com/catinthehat/status/1840399910769672198?s=46&t=G9BWOZlYGPa11_pR7aKkbHQ

School were absolute bastards to be about my DD's attendance, this was in primary school. Lots of stomach problems they got really snippy with me. Despite having the 48hr rule being strictly enforced. Turned out she was coeliac. I am still really annoyed with how they treated me like I was making it up. Even now if she gets glutened and is ill they are twats about it. She is a worrier and keen to please so it makes her really anxious when she finds out school are 'concerned' because her ExH's told her this after parents evenings. The whole thing is topsy-turvy. Really interesting that it's different in Ireland. I think that it's a bit of a red herring and something the austerity govt had schools focus on because 'being strict about attendance' didn't cost anything or something.

'You boy, the one with the chronic health conditions, you'll not amount to anything'

'Hey you, the one who stayed home after catching norovirus and chickenpox at school - do better. Be like Harry - he had the resilience to come in every day - even when on occasion that meant spending his time between the toilet and making his friends ill'

'As for you, the kid awaiting mental health support, pull yourself together. At least try to mask your feelings and behaviour until you can take no more (wait until you go to a different school though).

'Special educational needs you say? Pah!'

'Your mum died? I'm sure you can honour her by missing her funeral and aiming for full attendance instead.'

I tried to post a screenshot instead, but it wouldn't appear in message.

That’s so depressing.
The whole thing is shit, and it even affects special schools. My DD’s school has some profoundly physically disabled students plus lots with chronic conditions, as well as all the neurodivergent, anxious kids. They all have masses of hospital appointments, and every week, the school newsletter contains stats showing each class’ attendance rate and making a big song and dance of the class that did “best”. Neither the children nor the parents have any control over whether the child is in school, and yet it’s another thing for us to have to worry about. It really sucks.

That's a terrible poster but it is true statistically that the more present you are in school the better gcse grades you get. Fact.

‘Sorry Mr Cardiac Surgeon but my son can’t have his life saving cardiac surgery carried out because his attendance is below the national average’

I really resonate with @Xtraincome 's post; when the narrative in so many schools is firmly centred on attainment at all cost, as opposed to instilling a lifelong love of learning, education settings are bound to run into difficulties. The pressure to perform is massive. For children and young people who are not particularly academic, there are few options ‐schools are not meeting children where they're at. My child has so many skills and talents but as these fall outside the narrow academic framework of expected attainment, it's clear that these are literally worthless in the eyes of the education system. And I say this as a teacher myself and one of the biggest cheerleaders of my DC's school, always trying to keep things upbeat and relations cordial.

That is truly awful. As pp said no one appears to be looking at the underlying causes of why many children don’t want to be or can’t be in school.

The school environment in many schools is so soul destroying, lacking in creativity and engagement with students , too many petty rules, too many ways for them to ‘fail’, a one-size fits all approach and an underlying attitude that the majority of teens, unless they’re very academic and ‘well behaved’, are miscreants and untrustworthy. It’s no wonder there is a huge crisis. And the only answer so far is to blame parents and kids for not wanting to be in an environment that teachers are leaving in droves… and no one seems to be overly concerned about that either. No one seems to trust parents to make decisions for their own DC anymore.

This is what I was wondering. Its also got a typo in it. “I thought your were better than that” as well as missing punctuation.

Equally a child can be present every day and not ever really focussing and do far less well than a child who misses school due to illness but works very hard whenever they are there.

And if you have a chronic condition then knowing it may harm your exam results doesn't make you magically less ill.

I have a chronic illness. If my children were to pick up every illness going from kids who are forced to go to school by policies such as these, even when unwell, my life will be shortened. One of the many reasons why I homeschool - and as a result I am in good health, and my six year old dc has a reading age of 12.

Happy to be quoted on that in the national press, too.

Don't get me started on the parent blaming...

And whoever made the point about higher attendance = better GCSEs; you're right, of course. Schools are brilliant at instilling the importance of good GCSEs in pupils. And for many children and young people whose mental health is a barrier to attendance, or whose cognitive differences present challenges to academic attainment, this frequently cited 'fact' is a killer, and a huge contributing factor to anxiety and poor self-esteem.

Don't get me started on the parent blaming...

And whoever made the point about higher attendance = better GCSEs; you're right, of course. Schools are brilliant at instilling the importance of good GCSEs in pupils. And for many children and young people whose mental health is a barrier to attendance, or whose cognitive differences present challenges to academic attainment, this frequently cited 'fact' is a killer, and a huge contributing factor to anxiety and poor self-esteem.

Dd high school give out achievement points for attendance, and for being on time all week. I think it’s absolute bollocks, it’s not really fair if your a generally sucky person who catches more bugs and viruses than others, basically getting punished for being ill. dd was 100% attendance in reception, had one day off in year 1 due to my Nan dying in the early hours. They promised her an attendance tea party at the end of the school year but then revoked it because she had one day off, which she wasn’t even ill for.. since year 2 she’s had illness after illness, so been off for at least a week every school year. It’s literally pot luck and it should be stopped in schools.

I feel so sad about the way that schools have gone now. I've removed my son from school and am home schooling him through GCSEs, but I wish he could have had the good school experience that I had.

I liked school and really enjoyed knowing my teachers. I excelled, and went through to a good degree and PhD.

Now I'm sitting at home with my extremely bright son, trying to convince him that the GCSEs aren't some evil construct of the Conservative Government to trap poor people. It's just grim that the SATs and the school neurosis about attendance has given him such a poor view of state education. He has no respect left for the system at all, and it's a very bad thing for the future of our country that the kids feel this.

He said the other day that life would be safe if he could only manage to avoid state services entirely. I wish I could tell him it wasn't true, but increasingly it is.

I just feel as though the whole state school system is going to hell in a hand cart unforunately, and the NHS isn't far behind.

Can I just point out that this a Govt directive. Schools have to follow their directives - they don't have a choice.

The school I work in wants to work with families and have a good working partnership, but feel this Govt directive actively harms that for some families who, through no fault of their own, have sickness/illness needs and require time at home to recover.

I think that's very clear to the parents. Our primary head teacher stood up to her superiors. She refused to send out letters threatening the parents of ill children with prison. Eventually she got so ill from stress that she had to give up work.

It's just an awful situation and I so very much hope that the new government can sort it out. It's grim, honestly.

Then I see all these threads about the VAT on private schools and the parents there talking about moving to state schools en masse. They're going to be in for a shock when they get there.

The one thing that made us laugh though was this:

A week before the first covid lockdown we got a very official looking email from the primary school head announcing that, since there was a dangerous pandemic illness coming, they were going to start putting soap in the toilets.

I mean seriously, what were they doing before? <headslap>

Tbh, if someone was attending 80 or 90% and yet they struggled with their health or other issues, I would consider that successful that they made it in the majority of the time.

I'm having problems believing this is genuine.

'This is what I was wondering. Its also got a typo in it. “I thought your were better than that” as well as missing punctuation.'

Maybe the author had poor attendance 😉. The post just said a school in Essex. Do you reckon it's fake? It's hard to tell these days - I've seen other genuine OTT behaviour and attendance policies with poor SPAG.

My daughter has a kid in her y9 class who has twice taken out a whole class with Covid!
he has tested positive both times yet his mum sends him in and he is coughing his lungs up.

Poor spelling and grammar was fitted as standard in our state school communications.

I just google image seached though and this image is only on twitter in that one location.

It seems to be a modification of this:

https://longfield.inicioacademies.org.uk/attendance/

And this is the obvious consequence that I don't understand why schools can't see. They'll have had more absences from children who caught the bug from those sent back too early, than they would have had if those children stayed off.

The on upside of it is that we were send to a paediatrician and and DS was diagnosed with anaemia, which was then fixed, but if a fix can't be found then it really is grim for the kids.

A quick Google tells you which school website it comes from.

That poster is awful, it just heaps pressure on those already struggling rather than actually looking behind the stats and considering why they are not attending. For some it's genuine physical illness, mental health issues but for others their attitude to education is poor. I've heard just this week, "My dad told me I don't have to do what you say!" - a poster like this won't be pricking that parent's conscience.