primary school sickness

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Dd came home with newsletter. New head teacher has introduced the idea that each class will get a certificate in assembly each week for 100 percent attendance. Aibu to think that small children (school only goes up to year 4) have little control over their attendence and that children who suffer from ill health will be made to feel they have let the class down?

This bugs me. My son isn't at school for another 12 months but has really bad asthma he will never get 100% attendance.

Schemes like this encourage people to send children into school when they aren't well enough which puts vulnerable children at more risk of illness and needing time off.

You can't reward something which is out of control.

Yanbu.

Apart from those children with ongoing health issues bring penalised, I worry that these sort of things encourage sending in contagious children.

Dd lost one day last year because of a stomach bug and she was properly gutted that she wasn't one of the people collecting an attendance award last year.

That said- only 8 children in the entire school managed to get the award

yabu - it's a class thing - not an individual thing - our school do it - although the 100% target is a bit much - ours had 96%

I don't see that any of these schemes help with chronic non-attenders, because very often those kids who do fall into that category are the ones with chaotic and challenging home environments. The certificates are so far out of reach for them in the first place that it doesn't make a blind bit of difference. What is really needed is help and support for the parents who are facing massive problems in just running the family home, but that would take time, money and inter-agency input, so instead schools have these pointless targets and certificates to give out to the kids who would always have been in school anyway.

YANBU
Please write back and tell the idiot you really want to lose days of work because DCs that should be at home insist on coming into school.

Also suggest that he cleans up after all DCs who are sick and looks after all DCs waiting to be picked up by a parent.

It's a ridiculous idea!

I think a large employer once offered bonuses for 100 per cent attendance in a year. I think it was challenged by one of the unions as being unlawful because a pay benefit was not available to those with disabilities, or who were genuinely ill. The school needs to actively manage cases of unexplained absence. It is grossly unfair.