To think awarding medals/prizes for 100% attendance is really rewarding good antibodies, strong constitutions and a bit of luck.

[Sleep404]

I just don't get this policy. It doesn't encourage or insentivise kids and likely makes them either have a dont care attitude or upsets them as they lose out through no fault of their own.

Who's the target?
Kids who play truant arent going to suddenly show up because of an award/prize on the last day of term, so it can't be them.
Mums and Dads who take their kids out of school for special trips or holidays will likely see the benefits of the holiday, be it financial or educational, as more important than the reward.
So that leaves the kids who make every effort to attend every day, but through no fault of their own, they get sick and miss a few days. Why punish them further by implying they have done something wrong.

I find this utterly baffling.

You can reward both tho surely?

YANBU. DD got the award last year and I told her it was good she'd managed to go to school but really it was an award for not being ill and if her friend didn't get it it wasn't her fault but because she had chicken pox earlier in the year. I also warned she may not get it this year.

No surprise she didn't. A bout of diarrhea and vomiting put paid to her certificate this year. Its a silly award really

"But if children want to come to school they are going to attend more often than if they don't"

That's a flawed premise on which to base an argument. Most (primary aged) children want to come to school. Even those with disabilities or medical conditions which necessitate frequent medical appointments during term time. Even those who get chicken pox. Even those whose parents are too drunk from the night before to take them to school.

No matter how much they want to come into school, they can't. They don't make that decision. Their parents do. Why not reward them instead?

Yes, but when do you start encouraging attendance? Do you wait until children are secondary age? But then some walk, some get the bus so are you penalising those who need a lift and parents won't get out of bed?

Schools do so much to help and support families. Families with more complex needs take up a lot of resources and on the whole staff will deal with this for the sake of the children. Why is it so bad to spend a few minutes at the end of the year congratulating a few children who have made it in everyday?

Meant to say staff will deal with this gladly for the sake of the children.

tethersend you do make me laugh

You can reward both - but why should schools reward something that is purely arbirtary and doesn't reflect hard work, aptitude or attitude?

If we started rewarding pupils for having good health, or for having parents who don't have emergency childcare, or parents who don't want the burden of looking after ill children (which, lets face it, is what it is) then I can't imagine many defending the reward.

I think that children's attitudes can affect attendance at the margins though Tethers. There are loads of situations when keeping a child off school for a day would make a parent's life a bit easier. Taking them into school isn't impossible but it is inconvenient. Knowing that your child will spend the day moaning about missing their attendance certificate can be enough to sway the decision.

And in many areas a 9/10/11 year old can get themselves into school - sometimes that's a sad situation, but even so, better that they're in school than not.

Rewarding "attitude to learning" is far more subjective...where do you draw the line for that? There will always be someone who misses out there too...I can just imagine the backlash our school would get for "choosing" children for that.

We could,of course, ban all awards. The Sporting Achievement awards (is it fair your child can't run,jump,throw, as well as another child?), the Music Award (Is it fair that your child can't play a musical instrument well?).The swimming lessons award (Is it fair that your child doesn't swim as well as another and make the higher grade?). And of course all the sub-levels that children need to achieve...is it fair to award a grade for literacy and numeracy,if your child is not quite as academic as others? Extrapolate that to 'is it fair to make children take exams,because some of them might not pass'.

There are plenty of chances to achieve, why shouldn't they be celebrated? 100% attendance is just one of many that schools give out.

(My Year 8 son got a certificate from his teacher for "Saying intelligent things that Miss doesn't understand." at the end of term! )

They reward attitude to school already in many schools - there are criteria which are preset and teachers reward accordingly. Happens in my DCs high school and so far there hasn't been a backlash!

A full attendance isn't an 'achievement'. DC3 has full attendance this year, and that is down to pure luck. If the school chose to reward that (they don't, thank goodness) then I would be very about it.

I think attendance certificates are marvellous. Especially if it is for 100% attendance - not the much easier 95%!

Personally I hate cleaning up sick so if the school wants 100% attendance I'm happy to drop dd off with her plastic bucket. I'm also not a big fan off calamine on chicken pox so if ds comes down with it while at school (unfortunately dd has already had it) then who am I to keep him off and mess up the Ofsted.

Conveniently it also means no more midnight conversations with dh over who stays home from work with poorly children. (Our nursery is very inconsiderate about 48 hour rules!)

Superb! Just 14 months until dd starts school!

Am I missing something here???

mumoftwoyoungkids
one of my daughter's friends invariably has 100% attendance the poor guy is sent it with any illness he has, cos his mother got into such terrible trouble with school and SS over her elder child having too much time off.

To be fair, they award for effort and for achievement in my kid's secondary school. I think it is easier to judge at that level.

They also award for 100% attendance. I think there was roughly 10 children in each year group. My two (Year 8 and 11) just missed out this year because of really bad colds. They know that it's just pot luck. It is no biggie. One of the girls in year 10 had 100% since she started in year 7. That is a real achievement.

YANBU

My kids only ever miss school when they really are too ill to go. My dd loves standing up for her reward. She couldn't understand why she was left out two terms ago because she was sick. She is only 5 and she thought it was unfair that she had to miss out her reward just because she was off school for one day due to vomiting.

I agreed with her.

The health of our children is not in their control, so why reward someone who has had the fortune not to get ill?

jamdonut, how is having 100% attendance since starting in year 7 a real achievement? It is not an achievement to be lucky enough to not get sick. It's just luck.

Or the child is sent to school when they are sick regardless of if they are contagious or not.

I'm kind of on the fence with this one.

On the one hand, DS has had 100% attendance this year. I don't see that as any achievement on his part. He's 5. He goes to school because I get up early enough to get him ready and take him there. He's been lucky not to have been ill all year - so 100%. It feels a bit weird that he gets rewarded for this.

However, my sister is a primary school teacher and she says that some of her kids will tell their parents they have a headache etc and the parents will let them stay off school. If you can incentivise those children to WANT to come to school, they are not going to try it on with their parents.

Also, DS's school has a big problem with attendance. I know as I'm a governor. There are sanctions for persistent non-attenders but the attendance awards are really aimed at the kids that have 70-90% attendance. The ones that can't be bothered turning up and who's parents can't be bothered to make sure they get there every single day.

So, meh, I don't know! It does seem unfair to reward children for good health (and so also exclude children who have been unwell) but then, for some schools attendance is a big issue and you've got to try everything to get kids into school so they can learn!

Doesn't bother me to be honest.

At our school they do 100% punctuality certificates as well and dd has had one every term she's been there. So that makes her happy and she doesn't notice the attendance one which is good as she's most unlikely to ever get one of those.

You can say the same about any prize. My ds got the sporting achievement cup at the end of year 6- he was lucky to have good physical health, good hand/eye coordination and a lot of determination. All things outside his control. And a mother prepared to take him to training and to fixtures. Not fair either. Almost as not fair as not giving it to him!

"Yes, but when do you start encouraging attendance?"

Attendance awards are not compulsory.

Personally, I'd like to see schools which offer such a rich experience that children of any age want to come to school. Many, many schools are already achieving this.

"We also celebrate attendance each week,(with a cup for the class to display for the week),with the children very eager to know who has won."

And you say this like it's a good thing? Schemes like this cause untold misery for those dc who have a chronic condition and continually 'let their class down.' My dd is one of these, and when her last school also did this, was bullied and pushed around for 'losing them the prize' yet again

Yanbu op. I've posted on these threads before but feel very strongly that these award contravene the Disability Discrimination Act because they exclude these children from the start.

What is more, they also reinforce the script those children are picking up through the years - that their disability makes them fail, that only the healthy can be the best and that they will never be able to compete. Imagine how these dc feel sitting through yet another attendance assembly with children lucky enough to be well being yet again rewarded and clapped for something THEY HAVE NOT DONE.

And those saying well it's the only award some get - if that's the case I'd be having strong words witrh the school because if they can only award some children with attendance awards then they are showing very little imagination. Attendance awards reward nothing but luck and health. If a school cannot find awards which reward something positive the actual child has done then something is wrong.

I think rewarding 100% punctuality would actually be better - those who need encouraging to get ready in a morning (possibly the only part of getting to school that the child has some control over) will be motivated and those who are off because they are ill or at hospital/dental appointments don't get penalised.

I like the idea of 100% punctuality.

As regards class achievement, the school should be adjusting for that, we have a similar award but if there is a persistent malingerer or child with a medical condition, allowances are made and it's judged on the rest of the class.

Children should be off school if they are ill, especially sickness. They stay off for 48 hours. If they come in they get sent home again (parents are called etc). That in itself stops parents calling in sick for a day off.

What can you do? If the child attends well and it's not recognised, then that seems mean too, especially if they are unlikely to win other prizes.

Actually, CokeFan,that is a good idea!! But some people will then say it's not their fault they can't get to school on time. Where do you draw the line?

I want to know if people think that it is best we should stop rewards altogether.

Do you think children should be rewarded for good behaviour? What about children who have conditions that make them misbehave? Should we reward for not misbehaving as much as they did the previous year?

As I said in an earlier post,what about Sports,Music,Swimming ,taking part in events? Should these not be rewarded because not all children managed to achieve in these areas for a variety of reasons? Maybe they can't do after-school clubs,or afford school music lessons etc? Maybe they can't run,jump,throw as well as someone else.

Does that mean the children that can should miss out?

I know of a child whose behaviour is abysmal in the classroom,and their attendance not brilliant, but who is brilliant at sports,absolutely excels. He may not get the other awards, but he is rewarded for his sports prowess,and he is very proud of this,as are staff.

I like that idea owlinatree . We'd be guaranteed to win 100% punctuality.

I think the point is this: You know how some schools have a "No children in school 24 hours after vomiting" policy, and some have a "No child in school 48 hours after vomiting" thing? Well, the point about all these prizes, medals, certificates, etc. is to tell parents - in secret language - to ignore the official policy. That, in fact, is for losers.

In fact, schools with certificates for 100% attendance are saying: "Dose your children up with calpol if they are feeling off; put calpol in their water bottles if necessary; keep quiet about the vomiting: drop 'em here and run, run, run."

So. Just so long as we all have that straight, everything is fine.