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

Children need to be treated as individuals. Obviously it’s awful that school is a kids only safe space. It’s also awful that some children are genuinely traumatised by the school environment.

My DDs both have EBSA. It is HELL. One is on the autism pathway, other being referred for ADHD. My younger daughter is terrified of vomiting or feeling sick. She flees. This has lead to restraint causing a genuine fear of school as well as other enclosed spaces. No referral to CAHMS as not SHing.

currently in the process of trying to just get one foot in the door at the end of the school day.

my other daughter who’s a teen is coming out the other side of what has been called autistic burnout.

it is draining, for everyone

these attendance posters/drives do nothing to address the fact that a massive number of kids are being failed by our education system.

@RockyRogue1001 You are absolutely right; as teachers, Keeping Children Safe In Education is an absolute priority. I don't think anyone would seriously argue with that. Everything you say is true. I'm a massive school-enthusiast in every sense!

But you must also know that there is a cohort of children whose SEN or poor mental health present real barriers to attendance and whose parents are doing all the right things with all manner of allied professionals and support, yet who are also targeted by broad-brush attendance initiatives such as the poster in question, along with term-time holidaymakers. There needs to be a distinction made, and until there is, pressure is heaped on families who are trying their hardest to stay afloat.

Children need to be treated as individuals.

They do.
But the law is a blunt instrument.

I did say in my post that I heard the individual stories
I totally understand them.
My schools do. A decent school will.
But the rules are the rules and they're there for a reason and I hope you - and others - understand why they're there.
Ultimately, it's about keeping vulnerable children safe and trying to give all children 4he best outcome.

That is NOT a bad thing, I hope you'll agree

@TheCentreCannotHold the law is a blunt instrument.

What's your alternative?

I do agree. I only wish those who have the power to change it would hear our stories too!

Also, if it's about safeguarding then the DFE needs to be honest and say "we don't trust you to look after your children so we expect you to send them to school even when they are ill"

Rather than pretending it is about missing education, which the adverts claim

Lol to this pledge.

‘We have first aiders’ 🤣

Whats a first aider going to do in 99% of normal bacterial or viral illnesses. Mental

I live abroad and while schools do emphasize attendance, they aren't this evangelical about it. DS is 5 and on his school reports they split absences into "Sick Day" and "Absence". There's a certain amount of time after which you need a doctor's note, but otherwise sick days aren't counted as an "absence" when they're tracking attendance. If anything they're pretty strict on you keeping the kids home until they've been fever free for 24 hours.

DH caught everything going last winter, we would have been in so much trouble by this metric.

Exclusions also come off attendance. Obviously if your child has badly transgressed the school rules, then it is what it is. But excluding children over uniform and haircut transgressions is very silly.

Yes, again, it sends the message that education actually isn't valued at all..

Schools don't care about the kid who is being bullied & abused in school, whose time in school is full of fear about the next time they will be physically attacked, their belongings damaged & stolen. They don't have to deal with them not sleeping, being terrified so much that they eventually start to refuse to go to school. If an adult was forced to spend 5 days a week being constantly bullied, pushed down stairs, kicked, hit, sworn & spat at, having possessions taken or smashed, there would be an outcry but since it is a child it doesn't matter. God, I'm glad ds has left school & I no longer have to deal with this shitshow.

To an extent, but:

Correlation is not causation.

It's not a linear relationship. Studies in the UK have shown a difference in achievement between students missing no classes and those missing between 10 and 20%. But this kind of initiative focuses on harassing those with 90% + attendance, presumably to bring up the average and not out of concern for individuals.

A well designed curriculum and school system would not require 100% presenteeism for exam success.

Obviously students who never miss a minute in school will be physically and mentally more robust than average. They will be compliant, and they are unlikely to live in chaotic circumstances. All of that will help with academic attainment.

But unless we micromanage children to death, and judge them by jumping through hoop style exams, they should be able to catch up after an absence or work at home occasionally. In fact, these skills are valuable.

What is wrong with doing a bit of reading or independent work, for heaven's sake?

And who "books" hospital appointments? What planet are we pretending to be on here?

If you don't have the means to work out which children are at risk, @RockyRogue1001 , how does nagging I'll children to come in to school help?

If you can work out who's at risk, surely it's better to concentrate resources on those children than to damage so many by pretending they need to be in school every day, ill or not?

Also “first aid” at school seems to largely consist of applying a “cold compress” aka a damp paper towel to all injuries, regardless of the cause! That’s not going to stop a sickness bug from doing the rounds is it?!

The law is a blunt instrument but there is another law - the Equality Act - which provides for a right to reasonable adjustments for those with disabilities. Surely the answer is that the attendance rules should be adjusted for those with long-term medical conditions (physical or mental) based on medical advice, so that schools can focus on the “I wanted a cheap holiday” and “He couldn’t be bothered to come in because he’d been up all night on the X box” parents? This is what would happen in the workplace.

I do agree with much of what you say @RockyRogue1001; I just think there is a clear solution that would allow schools to focus on exactly the families / issues you highlight.

As much as I hate this can we remember that it's the government pressuring the schools as much as anything else. ..

I’m going to post this in the full knowledge that the majority of posters on this thread are not even going to engage with what I’m saying. I’m a secondary teacher of 20+ years experience and am also a parent of two school aged children. So I have relevant experience.

1. completely agree with @RockyRogue1001 non attendance is such a massive massive safeguarding issue. All of those horrible stories that were in the news recently regarding children killed - all those children were regularly absent from school. Covid lockdowns gave a lot of those horrible parents/step parents ‘cover’.
2. that poster is awful, I don’t disagree. But this is a government directive. Schools have to follow it. 3)I get that holidays in school holidays are more expensive. (As a teacher, believe me, I get it.) however I get so frustrated when people say ‘well it won’t hurt my child to miss a few days a year to go skiing etc’. Well, no, of course it wouldn’t. But you are contributing to an idea that school is optional, and while your child is having a lovely holiday, the poorer children are just learning that school is optional. 4)attendance is linked to exam grades is linked to university application success is linked to career success. No that’s not the be all and end all. But let’s be honest with ourselves, most of us want our children to have decent careers.
3. anxiety/depression - a major issue and on the rise. I have much sympathy. But I’ve seen it so many times: What starts as a few days here and there, leaving lessons every now and then, begins to snowball and snowball and suddenly school is a mountain to climb. It’s not fair to say schools don’t care, most schools do as much as they can to help students in this position. But the more a child is away from school, the harder it is to return.
4. of course there are children with complex medical needs - I don’t think this poster is aimed at them and schools have to accommodate those needs.

anyway fully expect to be told that I’m being so unfair and unkind etc etc etc. Some parents just don’t want to hear what I’ve said above but trust me I know what I’m talking about, have worked with literally thousands of children.

I do wish there was some proper analysis between the rise in academy chains taking over schools installing draconian rules and then the fall out! In our local area we have rising levels of home education because if you have an intelligent but anxious child or neurodivergent yp they just don’t fit the square box so they get spat out of the system. Mine has zero attendance and has had no education in place for 12mths because the tribunal system around kids with EHCP is so overwhelmed she’s still on roll because I’ve refused to remove her whilst the LA and school argue over whose responsible but in reality we have been forced to home educate. The “system” is utterly broken with zero support.

"If you can work out who's at risk, surely it's better to concentrate resources on those children than to damage so many by pretending they need to be in school every day, ill or not?"

Except the government sets targets based on whole school attendance, persistently absent numbers etc. It's a bit like when the government first set 4 hour targets for people to get seen in a and e so hospitals appointed people to take basic details to hit the target.

Us for them set the narrative that every day matters for the rest of children's lives. The government took schools to court to keep them open for a single day.

Plenty of posters here have the attitude go to school with sniffles etc and kids with COVID are recommended to attend as long as they have no fever.

This is all government policy. Schools toe
The line unless they want a bad Ofsted gradings

I'm also loving the idea that people get to choose when to book dentist and medical appointments, as opposed to having to take what comes up or wait years for the next one.

I completely agree.

80% attendance means, on average, a day off every week.

The easiest way to solve this is things like hospital appointments, dentists appointments, funerals etc., are all excluded from the attendance percentage upon production of proof of this (I.e. the appointment letter or funeral program). That's what happened to me at university.

Emma - wise words. Fellow oldie teacher here and I completely agree. We want kids in school because it is in their best interest.

@Sandysoles have you been in a school lately? If you had, it would be clear to you that school is not always the best place to be.

According to my secondary school teacher DD it's doing your homework that gives you the best chance of doing well in your GCSEs. We know students who are engaged but barely there in school who have done well.