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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to hate Spike with a passion

45 replies

wineoclocktimeyet · 04/07/2012 17:29

Spike is the school attendence mascot.

Disclaimer - I do understand how important it is to attend school and would never let my boys 'skive off' but I have a 5 year old with a temperature of 39.5 who is crying his eyes out because he missed school today and so wont get a bit of cheap plastic shite reward from Spike for being at school every day this term.

The school make such a big deal about 100% attendance, bet they'd be less keen if I sent him, and his germs in.

PS I've also got the cold and feeling lousy so my level of reasonabless is dramatically lowered :)

OP posts:

Booette · 04/07/2012 18:36

I've got 4 children with 100% attendance and 1 poor 5 year old who got very upset that he couldn't go on the trip to the cinema because he'd been unlucky enough to get ill during term time. (ds3 & 4 both got a vom bug during half term)

The teacher said the rewards aren't for children like mine, but surely lazy arse parents who cba to get their children to school aren't going to care about a trip to see Alvin & the Chipmunks.

CowboysGal · 04/07/2012 18:37

YANBU It is beyond cruel to punish children for being ill.
We recently had a letter from DD/DS school stating that children MUST be kept home for 48 hours following any vomiting or diarrhoea as a nasty bug had been doing the rounds at school. My DD was one of the children who had caught it. I kept her at home for 2 days and I kept her off for the 48 hrs so she missed a week (was sent home on the monday as she'd been sick after registration).
The day after the 'stay off for 48 hrs' letter we got a letter saying DD had a low attendance this term and if she had much more time off the education welfare office would need to be informed.
Think schools need to make their minds up-do they want full attendance, germs included or do they want Parents to use their best judgement about whether or not children are well enough to attend?

Anniegetyourgun · 04/07/2012 19:57

Sorry girls, Spike cannot come out to play this evening.

ContinentalKat · 04/07/2012 20:10

Rushing in to MY Spike's defence only to find out that this is about nonsensical 100% attendance bs, especially in combination with the 48 hours rule.

BadIdeaGenes · 04/07/2012 20:31

I also thought you were on about Spike from Buffy and was about to give you a roasting

pointythings · 04/07/2012 20:40

No, Spike is mine .

DD1's school does this too - cash rewards for 100% attendance, starts at £5 for the first term, then an additional £10 if 2nd term is 100, £15 if third term is too.

DD1 has very good health and has timed all her illnesses to coincide with school holidays been lucky with colds and such. DD2 is exactly the same - but is in a school that does not have this scheme.

DD1 is also unhappy because her very best friend has health problems and never ever hits the target. The dosh comes as WH Smith vouchers, so DD1 always makes sure to use the money to buy something for her best friend too - the scheme really annoys her.

Original poster

wineoclocktimeyet · 04/07/2012 20:56

Apologies to everyone whose blood pressure I have inadvertantly sent sky high.

I honestly have never heard of the Spike of which you all speak

OP posts:

MrsReiver · 04/07/2012 21:45

Whaaaaaat??? Well let me enlighten you.

ContinentalKat · 04/07/2012 22:44

Wine - that's just shocking! Seriously?!

lovebunny · 04/07/2012 23:00

spike is not yours. spike is m i n e! and you'd better remember it!

sashh · 05/07/2012 03:44

While you are all fighting over William the Bloody can I take Captain John Hart?

Dahlen
I used to phone parents and offer an 8am appointment for school age kids. It still drives me mad that clinc hours are mon - fri 9-5.

WinstonWolf · 05/07/2012 03:59

YANBU

I also expected this to be about that Spike though.

CaveMum · 05/07/2012 08:07

[holds hand up] Also thought it was a Spike the Vampire thread.

[joins queue]

Pooka · 05/07/2012 08:10

I also hate spike. Want to punch him in the ridiculous carnival face. But am aware that is actually mr J from yr 5 who has been forced to don the stupid costume and so I (just) manage to restrain myself.

GrapesAnatomy · 05/07/2012 08:20

Another mistaken Buffy Spike defender here. Although really Angel was.......phwoarghh.

Anyway, back to the thread. I couldn't agree more. I got an official letter saying my DS was a 'cause for concern' due to his attendance. He'd had exactly two weeks off after an operation. In fairness someone from the school had scribbled on the bottom 'we know Grapes' DS has had an op' but it still really farked me off. I never keep my dc off unnecessarily.

Ormiriathomimus · 05/07/2012 08:25

God I am sooo old . I thought Spike was the bulldog from Tom and Jerry....

GlassofRose · 05/07/2012 09:28

Dahlen

The rewards are aimed at children because if we can encourage children to want to be at school then they will nag their lazy parents to bring them!

Obviously if your child is ill keep them off school and understand that actually these kind of reward systems are not aimed at the children who have a good attendance record but are occasionally ill.

There are parents out there who never manage to get their kids to school on time and then the whole class is disrupted half way through a carpet talk and theres a whole kerfuffle about whether the late kid is booked in for lunch etc... Then there are children who miss phenomenal amounts of time from school.

Children are very honest; I once had a child tell me "Mummy lied, we weren't waiting for someone to fix our boiler she just got up late".

MardyArsedMidlander · 05/07/2012 10:11

If I was a mum, and Spike was handing out the attendance certs- my kids would be there everyday hell or high water. Sigh.

Johnnydeppsnewmrs · 05/07/2012 10:14

We had a letter recently to say our child had below average attendance, this is not because we are lazy.
It is because other parents take their children in when they are unwell, and DD catches everything going.
A few weeks back as DH was dropping DD at school he heard the teacher ask one of the mums if her DD was all better now as she dropped her off. The mum said "Oh yes, you are a bit brighter aren't you DD. She still has a high temperature though..."
The teacher looked at DH and raised her eyebrows.
Low and behold 2 days later, DD has a horrific cold with high temperature.
There isn't a week that goes by where DD says "Mummy (insert childs name) was on the poorly settee today."

The school are useless at sending sick children home too, which just spreads it round more. DN started feeling unwell just after morning break a few months ago. She had a temperature of 39.5C, was shivery, said she was going hot and cold, very pale and said her throat really hurt. School was having a "beach day" so all kids were out in swimwear all day. Instead of ringing her mum they made her sit on the sidelines all day wrapped in towels. Come pick up time she was really ill, and SIL rushed her to the GP up the road. She had really bad tonsillitis, and the GP was not happy with the school at all, and said she should have got seen sooner.
Can you tell it is a bone of contension?

susiedaisy · 05/07/2012 10:17

I thought someone really disliked the late Spike Milligan!

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