To think there is far to much emphasis on school attendance

[Starwisher]

My dd1 is in year 1. I got a letter telling me off the other day as her attendance has only been 92% when it should be 95% to date. Apparently the educational welfare officer will be keeping a close eye on us...

For goodness sake, dd has been ill! They know this, yet I still get the letter.

Im sick of parents smugly telling me how they just "bung a bit of calpol in the kid and chuck them in school" so they dont need to miss out on the gym or shopping.

They are the one's getting everyone else ill and causing more problems so they can avoid a sick child, yet get rewarded with attendance certificates.

I try and do the right thing and stop dd spreading bugs and getting better at home- and get in trouble.

What is with OFSTED threatening to drop a schools rating if attendance is below some target figure? What if a particular nasty bug is doing the rounds- why should a school be penalised? (Another reason why OFSTED means nothing)

Im not saying attendance is not important but its becoming ridiculous!

lol motherinferior

Well Zoo keeper they did in writing via book bags

as if.

me also motherinferior - but being the parent of a child who struggled to attend mainstream school due to his additional needs, I can confirm that myself and dh are not lazy/chaotic - we are both professionals who never have unnecessary sick days from work

Certainly I can never remember anyone being remotely upset, Heswall.

Duvet days Compulsory? You're basically saying everyone should have 3 days added to their annual leave?

Try telling that to a self employed person or someone who only gets paid if they attend.

If a child is genuinely ill or the school request they stay away fine, short of that they should attend. End of.

I'm really not talking about additional needs here, seriously I'm not.

what's anxiety then if not an additional need?

Perhaps ilovesooty the children saved the years and meltdowns for their parents as children tend to.

So have you had a letter Helswall?

Heswall, sorry.

I very much doubt any pupil was upset. let alone had "tears and meltdowns" about a generally directed assemby about the importance of good attendance and timekeeping.

why do you care if heswall had a letter?
I didn't have THE letter...I had a visit from the EWO though...does that count?

No I haven't had a letter zoo keeper is that essential to have an opinion on the matter ?

Full time employees should get 3 personal days . Why not? It's a good thing

I think an anxiety disorder is an additional need. I don't however think that insisting on punctuality is loading on the stress. And I do think that secondary age students would presumably be aware of the importance of getting to school on time.

calm down Cornsilk; I was just wondering if it is just conceivable that Helsall has transferred her anxiety to her DD

I'm sure the teacher that cause the melt down in our house would say the same ilovesooty it they did so that's that.

If people just decided to call in on a whim saying they were having a duvet day it would cause chaos in my job.

Full time employees should get 3 personal days . Why not? It's a good thing

They get much more than that. It's called annual leave...

Full time workers should get 3 personal days??? Isn't that what annual leave is for?

In addition

3 random days

Bloody iPhone - but it did, you have no idea who will be upset and who won't when you address children as a group so what is the point of risking the majority feeling aggrieved when a minority need to change their behaviour that's the point of the thread surely. Target your audience, it's more effective for a start.

I refuse to accept that teachers cause extreme anxiety to most secondary school pupils by encouraging good attendance and punctuality.

After this thread, I think schools should be divided into schools where the kids parents think attendance is important; and schools where the parents think attendance is too stressful to adhere to and duvet days are fine