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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

100% attendance certificates at DS's school, aibu?

362 replies

BoobleBeep · 02/12/2011 10:57

DS's school has just announced they will be giving out certificates to children with 100% attendance in an assembly at the end of term..... This basically excludes any child who has been ill at any point throught the year, needed dental treatment or has parents who can't afford to take them away during expensive term time. Aibu to be a bit pissed off about this?

OP posts:
tethersjinglebellend · 02/12/2011 16:24

Sixyearold, statistical evidence of factors involved in achievement are very different to a message which should be promoted in schools; it may be the case that children from, for example, a two-parent family achieve more highly than those from a one parent family... Does it therefore follow that we should reward those children for having two parents? Of course not.

GrimmaTheNome · 02/12/2011 16:31

Blu - sheer idiocy.
(my DD managed to get a full attendance cert despite swine flu - cert presented on penultimate day of term, came down with it overnight and obviously was off on final day. We didn't return the cert! Grin)

It should be a certificate for 100% attendance+authorised absences. It actually is relevant for a school to note attendance on the end of year report as obviously it may impact on a child's education if there's lots of sickness, but the child shouldn't be punished for it.

It should purely be a means of discouraging people from termtime holidays and 'duvet days' or parents who aren't arsed about truanting (though maybe wouldn't make much difference to them.

Sixyearoldwoes · 02/12/2011 16:45

You're mixing things up tethers. Academic excellence and attendance are the two main things we're talking about as achievement. Each of those have several factors that may contribute to success, many or most that are not within the control of the child. Family circumstances and genetics are examples of these. So no I wouldn't celebrate two parents being together any more than I'd celebrate my mother's contribution to my attendance-"you're not I'll enough-off you go".

tethersjinglebellend · 02/12/2011 17:01

Sixyears, apologies if I've misunderstood you, but I am having trouble ascertaining your point.

"Academic excellence and attendance are the two main things we're talking about as achievement."

I am not denying the effect of extraneous factors on academic achievement- but I never set up a comparison between this and attendance, so I am unsure as to why you refer to me specifically. In fact, I have not mentioned academic achievement at all.

manicinsomniac · 02/12/2011 17:05

I think YABU

I've only ever worked in one school which had these and they were valuable and did help improve attendance. The school was in a very difficult area and, unlike on this board, there were paretns who didn't really give a toss if their kids were in school or not and couldn't be bothered to get out of bed or crawl out from under a hangover to get them in every day. We had children with 60 or even 50 % attendance, it was ridiculous.

But the attendance certificates motivated some (not all!) children to encourage their parents to bring themand to get one (there were termly not yearly) was a genuine achievement for that child.

ALos, some of the children who get them may be children who never get anything and it is lovely for them to 'win' on occasion, even if it's not soething in their control.

I don't think it's discriminatory ot children with medical conditions or disabilities beacuse the children who don't get 100% arent' losing out on anything, they just aren't winning anything. THey may well win somehting else that another child wouldn't.

Different achievements don't mean unequal.

SardineQueen · 02/12/2011 17:09

I don't think that not having ongoing health problems is an "achievement" TBH.

The idea of children with ongoing conditions "letting down" their whole class is awful.

The idea of rewarding something that the child has absolutely no control over is just illogical.

People are saying oh but what if you're not academic or good at sports - in primary schools I imagine they give out praise and certs for improvement, effort, and things like following the rules. DD has certainly had stars for those things (they don't seem to do certs). These things are attainable by anyone who puts in some effort, and the child can actually make an effort and strive to improve.

justpaddling · 02/12/2011 17:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JugglingWithGoldandMyrhh · 02/12/2011 17:26

You see I don't think that would be very sensitive peabody if they just sent out a standard letter to everyone with below average attendance. The school need to know and show they are aware of reasons why different children have been absent (if they've already been told) For example I was a little upset to get a standard attendance letter after a difficult term of sickness with my DS. Illness is worrying enough on it's own without getting snotty letters from the school about attendance which just show they haven't taken on board what you've told them about the reasons/ illnesses keeping your child off school.

But I agree with your other points about the certs being a complete waste of time.

I wonder whether this thread will have any of that infamous MN influence on the powers that be ? Xmas Smile

PrincessScrumpy · 02/12/2011 17:27

ime only one or 2 kids get them per class anyway so kids don't tend to care. Might be about encouraging parents to be firmer but imo encourages parents to send in sick kids so whole class gets ill - what a great initiative!

Esta3GG · 02/12/2011 17:35

We do not value these idiotic certificates and as a result neither do our children.
They are yet more meaningless word processed tat churned out by the schools.

ScarlettIsWalking · 02/12/2011 17:39

Jesus DD would never get one of these she suffers with her health terribly Sad

Thank God her school don't do this. Is it only state schools that do?

JugglingWithGoldandMyrhh · 02/12/2011 17:45

Sure Esta When dd has occasionally got one it's been greeted by a very mild "Oh, that's nice dear"

We've had this whole thread discussion as a family too ie. whether it's really fair on the kids who've been ill.
Probably prompted by an "It's not fair!" from DS who seems to have always just missed out on this particular accolade !

JugglingWithGoldandMyrhh · 02/12/2011 17:49

And yes Scarlett I'd imagine it's only the state schools that do it - who are desperately chasing government attendance targets.

It's dreadfully chavy really isn't it ?

< ponders perhaps DH is right and I am turning into my mother ! >

microcow · 02/12/2011 17:51

chavvy??? this thread is bonkers, if you don't care about the certifcates why get worked up over them

slavetofilofax · 02/12/2011 17:57

I can see why people have a problem with this, it does seem unfair on those children who are ill.

If they are going to have it though, it would be better to have 98% attendance because the vast majority of children will need one or two days off throughout they year.

Our school does Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates, I'm not sure what attendance has to be for those, but lots of children seem to get them.

While I can see how it's unfair, I don't see how it's any more unfair than any of the other awards that are given out at school, and if they make a child feel happy then I don't see a problem. The children who are made to feel bad should be encouraged to be happy for the others and learn about being gracious.

tethersjinglebellend · 02/12/2011 17:57

Placing no value on attendance awards is not the same as not caring about them.

I care very much that rewards are being given to children for the actions of their parents.

AmberLeaf · 02/12/2011 18:41

Im not a fan of them.

  1. my son has appts with his paed etc etc. so unavoidable absence.
  1. they encourage people to send in children who are ill.
ramblinrose · 02/12/2011 18:46

YANBU
I have never understood this.
Children can't help it if they have to have time off school for being ill.
Saying that,my kids don't really bother about this sort of thing.

Sixyearoldwoes · 02/12/2011 18:54

I don't like the certificates because there's a chance ill children could be sent to school. But as to rewarding the efforts of parents, virtually any award has an element if parental input. Either through the luck of genetics or parenting or usually both. Dd hasn't got her certificates for reading achievement without dh and me modelling reading and spending hours reading with her. And they're not exactly fair. Effort awards? Could be different but in the end it's easier to make an effort if your effort is praised and encouraged. So there are two issues here. The first is whether we can separate what is due solely to the child from what comes from the parents' effort. I think probably not. Secondly, should we be encouraging attendance at all costs-certainly not. Point one-in favour if attendance certificates, point two-against. I'm against!

mrsjay · 02/12/2011 18:56

I hate these certificates mine were/are hardly off school so they do/did get them all through school i have one thats left 1 still in high school , they get a theme park trip at the end of term which is nice for them however these certifcates dont work if a child is a truant or parents are lax at sending them in they dont care about a certificate , or what about a child with an illness or has hospital apointments they wont get them for being off school ,

I think schools need to rethink this because the kids who care get stressy about them , YANBU .

kslatts · 02/12/2011 19:07

YANBU about the certificates, they are not fair on children who have been ill during the term and could encourage children who are ill to come into school and spread their germs.

1Catherine1 · 02/12/2011 19:10

It is better than what my school does. Everyone gets a certificate. Some get one for "poor" attendance. Seriously.. what is the point?

The idea is to encourage pupils to come into school rather than them taking the day off every time they sneeze.

tethersjinglebellend · 02/12/2011 19:11

"But as to rewarding the efforts of parents, virtually any award has an element if parental input."

Six, a child's attendance is wholly down to parental input.

Other awards could be seen to be rewarding the child's input into the result, so not a fair comparison, as the child has no input whatsoever in their attendance.

And don't get me started on 'effort' awards Grin

Ipomegranate · 02/12/2011 19:21

I think they are a nonsense - they did it at my kids Aussie school (though recently changed it to 98% attendance. I think it encourages kids to go in when they're ill. In Oz I worked 4 days and the kids sick time came out of mine which was earned (the way it is in Oz). For that reason unless they had d&v or a temperature they went in. I'm sure if I'd been a Sahm I would have let them have a few more dwys off rather than shovelling nurofen down them and sending them off. So they were being rewarded for my strictness.

Mind you in Oz they seem to give out certificates for everything. DS got a sports certificate - for picking up a tennis ball from out of court where it shouldn't have been.

1Catherine1 · 02/12/2011 19:22

"a child's attendance is wholly down to parental input."

I disagree... in my last 2 years of school I was solely responsible for getting myself to school. My dad left for work at 6am, My mum left at quarter to seven. I got up at 7, did my paper round and left for school at 8:30. My parents wouldn't have known if I'd have chosen not to go in. Especially since I always got given the mail while doing my paper round off the postman so could have intercepted the mail had I desired to. FYI though... my attendance was 100%.

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