To be pissed off about a snotty letter re ds's attendance?

[Whowillsaveyoursoul]

He's in year one and had four days off last term. He had a sickness bug two of the days and a chest infection the other two. The chest infection was quite nasty actually but happily tagged onto a weekend and half term otherwise he'd have missed more days than he did. Maybe they think we went on holiday?!
Anyway Aibu to think 'get lost' - what do they want me to do? Send a vomiting 5 year old into school? Send a child with asthma who can't breath properly and with a temperature of 40 into school?
Hopefully he won't have any more time off - the letter says 'whilst we appreciate there may have been valid reasons for the absences we hope we have your full cooperation to ensure there are no further absences next term.'
How would the like me to ensure that my child doesn't catch norovirus? I'm really cross!

Because, you know, a lot of people

Are literal
Do as they are told
Don't ignore or bin "official" communications
Take "official" communications extremely seriously and abide by instructions handed to them
etc etc etc

This letter would put them in a terrible position. Why does the school want that? It is a letter composed by the school that says that children must not have any absence under any circs and includes hospital appts etc in those circs. What are they thinking? I mean, seriously.

Thanks!

Omnipotent, yes! that's exactly what my letter said!

I was cheesed off about the wording, especially in our case as a) school knew exactly where she was and that they were valid reasons and b) their own SENCO booked the appointments in the first place

Which is why I wondered if they'd incorrectly coded her absences.

chances are they are also not looking for things that used to be fads but now are not.

And which will you be betting on?

Anyway, look at what this Ofsted guy says about attendance. Remember, this is coming from Ofsted

"Q. What questions might inspectors ask attendance officers/SLT members focused on attendance?

A. The questions will partly depend on what RAISEonline and the school's own data tell us, plus what inspectors find in the school. Questions often emerge during inspections; for example, if inspectors go into classrooms and find pupils missing from every lesson, or pupils are arriving late at school or lessons, inspectors will follow it up with questions.

When thinking about attendance, remember the clear link between attendance and achievement, as well as the importance of safeguarding issues. How does your school promote attendance for all pupils? What do you do to support and challenge pupils and families when they don't attend well? How effective are those actions and where is the evidence to show this? What are the day-to-day procedures – for example, if a child is late, what happens next? If there is alternative provision within a secondary school, how does the school know that the pupil has arrived safely – and what happens next if they don't?

Lastly, inspectors might also ask pupils about their attendance. In one secondary school I visited recently, attendance had gone from below to above average. Part of what they'd done was to make pupils aware of the importance of attendance. I talked to around 35 pupils about this, and all of them knew their attendance figure to two decimal points and understood its importance. Every inspection is different and although there are set questions that will always be covered, after that it's about what emerges in that particular school. "

www.attendancemattersmagonline.co.uk/index.php/component/k2/item/151086-ofsted-and-attendance-view-from-the-top

It's clear from this that Ofsted expects schools to maintain an evidence trail of interactions with families of poor attenders. Hence the letters.

Look at that bit in bold, that's clearly an utterly ridiculous expectation, but there's someone from Ofsted talking about it like it's great. Is that something Ofsted are looking for? What do you think?

How would a school react in the event that a child had support / health related appts cancelled off the back of this?

Is that what their aim is?

If not, why have they sent an official communication saying that is what their expectation is?

It's really fuckign stupid and asking for trouble TBH.

Not all parents are the sort of people who "bin" letters that they think are silly. Have they taken into account the actual impact & harm that could be caused by such fucking stupid wording?

Can I just point out in that Ofsted guy's interview he also says:

"A. The school's data is compared with the national averages that appear in RAISEonline each year, divided into primary and secondary (because the averages are different). The same is true for PA. Do remember that when we look at attendance data for groups, such as special needs, we compare it against that of all pupils nationally, not just those with special needs, to avoid lowering expectations."

So those with special needs, presumably including medical ones, are not expected to get away with poor attendance.

Ok I will phrase it a little more precisely do you reckon ofstead have a policy on instructing schools to directly imply dishonestly when parents of children with none problem attendance report sickness or when children have long term medical problems?

Ofstead is IMO rubbish they have a habit of prioritising the wrong thing I've seen some bizarre reasons for down grading settings (here's one,this setting has a from birth waiting list and has been outstanding almost consistently since inspections started until the most recent one reports.ofsted.gov.uk/index.php?q=filedownloading/&id=2440576&type=1&refer=0 it's a fantastic highly sought after amazing place that ofstead have fucked the placements of the poorer children because a child dropped some fruit on the floor and they don't want to have painting sessions at all times. Sorry ranting) ofstead do not prioritise safeguarding and child welfare it's almost impossible to get them to investigate a provider when abuse or significant negligence is reported I bastard well hate ofstead so I'm really not flattering them.

If ofstead require a school to send these letters why don't all schools (especially those rated outstanding and retaining that rating on inspection)?

morethan, do you seriously think a teacher's salary is equivalent to the cost of a couple of hundred envelopes and stamps?

Unless you time-traveled one in from the 1850s, I think your calculations might need a bit of adjusting there

needs that's here in "What do you do to support and challenge pupils and families when they don't attend well?"

How would a school easily answer that question if they didn't send out letters?

I got an even better one than that! Ds1 had time off for asthma/wheeze attack was in hospital and off school 5 days. Then he got a sickness bug and then he got a cold bug that we all got that we all had twice!! The school want me to go in for a meeting the school can fuck off

Here we go... its the "schools" fault yet again. Grow up you lot and just tell them. No need to act like your childs age.

Why not go for the meeting and discuss ideas of you can help your son and stop him falling behind when he is ill?

And our school readily admit they are not allowed to write to persistent offenders as that's discrimination against the children who are obviously neglected! The same as they are not allowed to inform reception children's parents when they are weighed when a child is underweight as again that stigmatises the child who has fuckwits for parents! So the kids with shit parents don't actually get the help they need, the mind boggles at the logistics of that decision!

If that was for me sirzy because I have already done that with his teacher every time. They want me to find a solution to stop him getting ill. He is in a large primary with 4 siblings, and I adhere to the 48 hr rule. To be honest the reason so many kids get I'll is because others don't respect the 48 hr rule.

I got a warning letter last term about DD2's "lateness". Mysteriously there was no issue with DD1 and DS being late, even though they all arrive together (and she is by far the easiest to get up and out in the morning). I binned it but will mention at parents evening.

Our school doesn't send out these letters.

DD1 had quite a lot of appts when she was younger, and DD2 has assistance from an outside provider but on school premises. DD1s were authorised absence I don't know if DD2's are.

So if I got a letter saying DD1 "whilst we appreciate there may have been valid reasons for the absences we hope we have your full cooperation to ensure there are no further absences next term." then I would have been on to the clinic to find out what options there were for appts outside school hours and if not could she be referred somewhere else and if not then what on earth to do.

The statement is, you must not do this any more.

I just can't believe this is being sent to children because they have appts related to their health & wellbeing. Telling parents they must not keep their kids off when they are sick (which is against school rules I would guess anyway) but if they can't get up they can't get up. Appts on the other hand are arranged in advance so you know and they are therefore avoidable ie you can cancel them.

I can't believe that is their intention but parents here saying well that's what is in the letters.

Really really stupid thing to tell people.

Some parents aren't going to be the sort to think their little one is a special case or exception, they will think, right the school has looked at my child's attendance and seen they have had authorised absence for hosp appts and have written me a letter to say this is unacceptable and must stop.

It's awful.

Only had the letter once and went into school to discuss at length the difficulties we were experiencing that they were well aware of as we kept them fully up to date with dd medical treatment schedule and additional appointments. Once in a blue moon she will hit a wall of exhaustion and she gets a day off (happens maybe once a term) most days she comes home and is lying in bed bar evening meal and bath and more physio. Dd has two weekly appointments at 8:30 (and is in school by 9:15) for intensive physio. Because she arrives late this affects her attendance record
Dd is in top and top middle sets for all subjects and clearly despite her 93% attendance is achieving.
Really don't believe that schools and ofsted should be applying a one size fits all approach. I think it would be far better if the schools worked at having a good working partnership with parents and making sure that all parts no about children like dd who are always going to have "poor" attendance.
Cheeses me off too op!

Schnitzel

Are your DCs at secondary? Check with your DD2 before you talk to the teachers. Some students might arrive on site on time, but get waylaid on the way to registration, chatting, finishing off last-minute homework, waiting for a friend, etc.

Also check the late codes the school uses. We have a late code, then an unauthorised absence code if you arrive after close of registers (usually 20 minutes after the students should be in school).

The way that ill children are being treated and the way that ill disability benefit claimants are treated have some very stark similarities.

Maybe this is their way of teaching children with health problems to get used to being treated this way

Worth a repost i think.

From the Malicious Communications Act.

v.uk/ukpga/1988/27

1. Offence of sending letters etc. with intent to cause distress or anxiety.E+W

(1)Any person who sends to another person— (a)a letter, electronic communication or article of any description which conveys— (i)a message which is indecent or grossly offensive; (ii)a threat; or (iii)information which is false and known or believed to be false by the sender; or

INFORMATION WHICH IS FALSE AND KNOWN OR BELIEVED TO BE FALSE BY THE SENDER.

helena, it didn't work upthread, I doubt it will work now.

Last time you tried to claim letters like the OP's were accusing parents of keeping their children off school for no good reason. You couldn't quote which part of the letter stated such a thing before, and I'm sure you can't now.

So please, spare us the melodrama. These letters can be inappropriate, badly worded and ill-thought out. But they do not contravene the law you're so keen to trot out ad nauseum.

Rhonda im not having a go at you Im pointing out that what Ofstead are doing is wrong.

The letters are irritating and in the majority of cases totally unnecessary.

Calling them malicious communications though is ridiculous. They are bog standard letters and a box to be ticked.

You could try to sue Ofsted under the Malicious Communications Act if you wish, but I doubt you would get very far. It hardly applies.

Rhonda, no they're at primary and we live next door to the school!

Ofstead do not write the letters the school does.

YY Sock Someone mentioned upthread that a high school can differentiate so why not a primary?