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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu to think this is Discriminating at its best?

133 replies

pumpkinsweetie · 30/03/2013 20:22

Just a general aibu, about a new scheme that has started at my dds Academy.
To reward children for having 96 percent per term by having a non-uniform day for those that achieved that greater and all those that do not succeed must come in full uniform!
Bare in mind the age ranges go from 3-11, do you think this is wrong?
My dds luckily achieved this but with one of them only being 4yo, if she doesn't succeed next term i will have one very upset little girl.

Aibu to think this will only upset the children who couldn't help being ill for a few days some terms and to also find that this discriminates those with health problems?

There are no special exemptions, the child must obtain 96 percent attendence or greater for the entire term to achieve one non uniform day.

I know its a tactic to achieve a better overall attendance, but at what cost to the child's emotions if there happens to be only one child in class in uniform.

Sorry to moan on, i just think its wrong.

OP posts:
Pendipidy · 30/03/2013 20:25

Especially when children have very little control over their punctuality and attendance, its their parents!

Dancingthroughthefire · 30/03/2013 20:25

I think it is wrong.
It marks children out very obviously for an entire day. I have diabetes and would have missed at least a day a term for hospital appointments and more when first diagnosed. If I was at school now I wouldn't be getting a certificate or a non- uniform day! They didn't do stuff like that when I was at school..

I actually do wonder when I read these things if it could be discrimination. There are surely some children who are never going to be able to attend all the time for pre existing reasons.

McBalls · 30/03/2013 20:26

I don't like attendance incentives that reward/penalise the children.

They have no choice whether or not they're ill and no choice over unnecessary absences - they are parental decisions.

Tee2072 · 30/03/2013 20:26

I think all attendance rewards are wrong so, yes, this is wrong. And stupid.

MrsLouisTheroux · 30/03/2013 20:28

96% attendance allows for a few days illness hence the 4%. If someone is seriously ill their attendance is going to be much worse than that.
Generally speaking YABU because it is being used as an incentive and stops the average student taking days off when really they should be in.

ImperialBlether · 30/03/2013 20:30

These are not students, Mrs Theroux; they are aged from 4-11 - they don't make a decision about having a day off, do they?

Dancingthroughthefire · 30/03/2013 20:30

But they're too little to make the decision themselves anyway. Especially at 3-7ish. It'll be the parents deciding whether to take them in.

tiggytape · 30/03/2013 20:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LynetteScavo · 30/03/2013 20:31

It's wrong, and I wouldn't want my DC in a school like this, TBH.

Children can help if they are ill. One of my DC has below 96% attendance. I work full time, and it's very difficult to find childcare when he's ill, so I admit, he has sometimes been sent in when he really should have spent the day in bed. He still has low attendance though. I would be Angry if the school adopted this crappy idea. Especially at primary level.

ENormaSnob · 30/03/2013 20:33

Yanbu

It isn't really an incentive imo as at that age it's up to the parents to get them into school.

HungryClocksGoBackFourSeconds · 30/03/2013 20:34

I wouldn't be sending my kid in to be humiliated. And I'd think most parents would feel this way, so all it will achieve is having a specific day where the children with low attendance will definitely skive. [buhmm]

MrsLouisTheroux · 30/03/2013 20:35

Imperial I teach 11-16. They are called students Hmm

McBalls · 30/03/2013 20:40

Students or not students, the point being made, I think, is that they are children and it is not their choice whether they attend or not. It's the parents.

Original poster
pumpkinsweetie · 30/03/2013 20:42

I plan on writing a complaint to the board of governors as this is Discrimination, a thing that i thought was supposed to be wiping out.
I don't agree with discrimination in any shape or form, and the only one that suffers in this instance is the child-that Imo is wrong.
These are not students, they are young pupils who have no decision of their own whether to be in school or not.

Four percent doesn't allow much, considering its a whole term they consider. The winter vomiting virus has hit the school too and when a child catches that it wipes them out for days.
My dd from a different school where its also prevalent has had it since Wednesday and is only just starting to feel better.

There are also other loony schemes at this academy too, including having to have a sick note or photocopied prescription every time they visit the doctor and an ill child must have proof they are ill, which has to include the above or it will be unauthorised. They can and do fine if childs attendance goes below 95 percent per school year, especially if a pattern is followed, even just a small one.

I have already moved my eldest from this academy, and I'm hoping to move my other dc as soon as i can, but my council don't make that easy either.

OP posts:
zipzap · 30/03/2013 20:43

I think you should complain about it now - point out how it encourages people to disregard school rules on things like staying off school for long enough if they've been sick and could contradict disability disagreement laws etc etc

And if you do it this term then as your dd has qualified then it won't sound like sour grapes!

jungletoes · 30/03/2013 20:45

I actually think it's a good idea, encourages children to go to school and not "do a sicky". My children often get 100% attendance at their schools and are rewarded accordingly; entered into a prize draw or given a certificate.

Booyhoo · 30/03/2013 20:45

i hate attendance rewards. i remember bursting into tears in school once when prizes were handed out for 100% attendance and as i had been ill i hadn't gotten anything. it's just cruel. there is no need to do taht to children.

AgentZigzag · 30/03/2013 20:46

That's just plain nasty, and I wouldn't be happy because DD1 gets chest infections because of her asthma and can hardly walk up the stairs let alone to school.

I wouldn't be able to stomach punishing and humiliating her in front of her peers.

It's a bit 'blue/brown eyes' experiment isn't it?

Booyhoo · 30/03/2013 20:47

it can never be fair to reward attendance in this way as children have no control over illness or whether their parents get them there on time or at all.

zipzap · 30/03/2013 20:48

Oops cross posted with the op.

Op - what do the local gp's think of the school's policy of needing sick notes? Would have thought that lots of them wouldn't be happy or parents would be out of pocket if they were charged for them.

YellowandGreenandRedandBlue · 30/03/2013 20:49

I agree, hate these schemes. Sometimes kids get ill. Shouldn't be penalised for it.

Original poster
pumpkinsweetie · 30/03/2013 20:49

3 & 4 yo are not capable of "doing a sicky", unless of course the parents cba to get out of bed, and even only the children will suffer in the long run.

OP posts:
tiggytape · 30/03/2013 20:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Nanny0gg · 30/03/2013 20:50

jungletoes how many infants do you know that 'do a sickie'?
Attendance rewards are horrible and nothing to do with the child.

cardibach · 30/03/2013 20:50

I think people often view attendance incentives in the wrong light. It isn't punishing poor attenders, it is rewarding good ones. However, i a Primary School either is wrong as it will be the parent who makes the decision, not the child.