To be pissed off with school attendance awards.

[FortyDoorsToNowhere]

I hate it, a child can't help getting ill or can not get to school on time as it down to the adult taking them.
then there are children who have appointments, such as SALTS or paediatrician which are often difficult to rearrange.

What pisses me off is that my son has many appointments, so he will never get 100% attendance and never gets these awards.

aibu to think attendance awards should be banned in school.

[TwoLeftSocks]

YANBU, and I'm glad DS's school don't do it.

[elskovs]

When my son started his new school this year the head could see from his file he has history for lousy attendance - I keep him off whenever I feel like it, he is only 8. The way the head chose to encourage me to bring him everyday was to tell me he would be very unpopular if he let the class down. They have class awards there.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

Class awards

Young children shouldn't feel responsible for their whole class missing out. Builds resentment and a lack of understanding for others

[Bumbolina]

I'm in my 30's and remember our school having these awards (I never got one!).

From memory, only a couple of kids ever achieved it - and they were generally laughed at because the poor saps hadn't had any time off

[elskovs]

"Do you really mean that you let him have random days off school with no illness, no appointments, no other reasons?"

Well, less than legitimate reasons. Holidays in term time for example. The bulk is from when one is ill I keep them both off rather than drag the sick child along on the school run with us or make my husband get to work late to take one. I just don't think school is that important at their age.

We had a weeks holiday middle of September, so to avoid that being down as "unauthorised" I delayed registering him in school (its a new area) until after that holiday. So far he has been in 4 weeks without a day off.

I decided to keep the 5 year old off school altogether this year as he only managed 70 something % attendance last year and we were at risk of being fined.

I don't think class attendance awards are at all fair on the child though. Its not an 8 year olds fault if he doesn't get to school.

[NoComet]

We need funding for a EWO (education welfare officer) and other support staff.

Not shirty letters to DCs who were genuinely ill, followed a week later by a smug 100% letter for the next term.

I wish I'd recorded DD2 reading these letters out. Her sarcastic tone of voice summed up the whole farce perfectly.

[janeyjampot]

There's a boy in my DD's form at secondary who is so determined to get 100% attendance that he sometimes vomits in class. Personally I'd rather he was rewarded for being responsible and thinking of others than coming to school with illnesses that could be transmitted to others.

[pregnantpause]

My workplace has attempted many, many incentives like these to bring down sickness. Monetary bonus, team bonus, an extra days holiday. Ten years, eight incentives and we reviewed the outcome last April. No significant improvement. None. If people are sick or the kind people who fake it, these incentives have no impact.

On children the only impact IMO is the Childs feelings. As it's the parents making decisions, and if extra money can't make them stay in work, a piece of paper isn't going to make them force their child to school. the only outcome is disappointed children. And the few proud children who feel all the worse next term when they are sick and mum won't take them in.

[2tiredtoScare]

I was really happy when my DD1 got her 100% attendance award as I couldn't drive at the time and used to walk the 45 minutes to nursery every day and used to feel like I was letting them down because I couldn't drive so was proud of her award. Don't think your BU as I know of several children her are often late as their parents are laid back in the mornings!

[fuckerandbawl]

YANBU

All it's saying is, well done for being somewhere where you have to be on time.

[MsWilliamTheBloody]

DS's school is doing my head in with their attendance wankery.

DS was really poorly last year with an impacted bowel and had a fair few weeks off school.

Is sorted now and he's not had a day off since. And it was really good before the bowel issues. Yet the school (one particular person - no idea what her role is - busybody?) are currently bombarding me with letters saying stuff like:

WELL DONE for getting DS to school!! CONGRATULTIONS on your good attendance. THANK YOU for supporting us in this matter.



FUCK OFF!! He was ill!

Was I supposed to send him in while he was in agony and having frequent poo related accidents?

Argh!!

[2tiredtoScare]

That is very patronising, I'd be royally pissed off too

[kalms1971]

These awards get me mad. Ds has appointments for his medication etc and will never get 100% attendance award because of this. I am always trying to be positive about his appointments but then these stupid awards make him feel different and he says its not fair :(

[hillbilly]

At our school, every week the class with the highest attendance gets a cake to share out

[MsWilliamTheBloody]

That is very patronising, I'd be royally pissed off too.

They sometimes post a 'Good Attendance' sticker too.

I have about five of them on my fridge.

Everytime I get the milk out I see them and pull this face:

[2tiredtoScare]

We got a pencil!

[MsWilliamTheBloody]

A pencil?

Ooooo, 'citing!!

[NoComet]

We'll probably get a shity letter this term to because DD hurt her knee.

Had she not insisted on going to school the next day, it probably wouldn't have ended up flaring up to the point she missed three days the following week.

[2tiredtoScare]

It was very exclusive

[NoComet]

And that's the whole problem, you as the parent aren't judged competent to decide when your DC is too ill or hurt to go to school.

You might know they coughed themselves sick or guzzled a ton of party food and haven't got D&V and don't need 48 hours off.

You might know your YR or Y7 is absolutely exhausted and one day off will stop them going down with something for the following week.

You know walking on injured limbs will only cause more grief.

And you know sometimes the little darling is pulling a fast one and simply needs some paracetamol and some TLC.

First Aider at senior school is great at this, primary sec. sent them home just a bit too easily.

[2tiredtoScare]

I detest people who knowingly send kids in with sickness bugs

[nf1morethanjustlumpsandbumps]

YANBU. When I was at school it was a day out - BBQ type of thing. When I was in fourth year my dad passed away suddenly and then two weeks later I was in hospital for scheduled spinal surgery so obviously missed quite a bit of time of school that year through no fault of my own. When it came to the end of year outing I was excluded from it and made stay behind at school because of my 'poor'. I was upset as all my friends went off on their outing and I was left behind like I had done something wrong. Twenty odd years later I still feel hurt about it. Can't imagine that would seem reasonable to anyone

My son has special needs and his school doesn't count hospital appointments as absences as long as I copy the letter into the school.

[JugglingFromHereToThere]

They are very annoying and discriminatory and unimaginative.

And that's from someone whose DC have both had several.

Much more interesting when dd had a postcard for good work sent by the geography department - something more personal is much more memorable. With thought every child could get an award (or several ?) for something over their school career.

Went to one end of term assembly where only attendance awards were given out by hand by head-teacher (way too much emphasis on them and on nothing else)
I couldn't sit still for adjusting my judgy pants

[treas]

It's probably the only award he will ever win in his school career.

Well then schools should be more creative and imaginative in rewarding the children for something they put effort into achieving.

Speaking as a parent whose children always receive attendance awards. My children find them pointless and think them unfair to children who have been away for reasons beyond their control, e.g. illness.