To think that this jobsworth of a headteacher is a spiteful idiot?

[GlitteryRollers]

I know it's in the Daily Mail, and these school bashing stories are usually rubbish. But I'm pretty shocked by this one.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3363790/Boy-5-banned-attending-end-term-cinema-trip-classmates-poor-attendance-run-spend-two-weeks-off.html

What a nasty, spiteful cow! I'd be pulling my child out of that school ASAP. "Exceptions can't be made"? He was run over by a car you cruel bitch. Was he supposed to attend school when he was in hospital?

Why is it that so many headteachers seem to lack basic empathy and common sense these days? Even my very strict andy terrifying old primary school head wouldnt have done something so bloody mean.

We also had 95% awards. I don't particularly agree with it. It's a tool. Obviously motivates some.

multi you seem very tense this evening. I'm not the attendance queen you know!

There are thousands of these pupils across the country and that is aparet from the ones who have attendances of 20-80% - and there are plenty of those.

An 80% attendance means a child misses the equivalent of a day every week. 90% means half a day every week. If that was what happened at work, we would be sacked.

Schools run all kinds of attendance encouragement schemes, targets, rewards, letters home, certificates. We run courses for parents. We employ 3 full-time attendance staff and all they do us work with parents. They have good relationships with the parents but changing their behaviours is nigh on impossible. We text them, ring them, help them financially where there is a need eg can't afford uniform so he won't come to school. Eventually, we issue warning letters and they are taken to court. They often get paltry fines- £25 and 6 months to pay it at £1 a week.

We have a parent who works in a school as a teaching assistant and can not get her own child into school.

There is a lot of indulgence of children by parents, pandering to them, and also giving in for an easy life to difficult teenagers. By secondary school the pattern is established. Those children who have years of lower than 95% attendance in primary school are those who are even bigger issues in secondary- that is why primaries focus on that number. It does not sound too bad but it is half a day every two weeks.

Mrsglow at the time he was year 10. He got onto a college course for part of y11.
He is probably 20ish now.

Multivac- your attitude to it is the kind parents have that causes problems for their children. No parent should be so crap that they run a chaotic dysfunctional home that requires them to keep their child off school to help them run it. It is their responsibility to look after their children and his right to be looked after and go to school every day. He obviously loved school. For many children like this school is their place of sanity and security where they feel safe and looked after.

ego. No reward for them

Not necessarily. You can make "excellent effort" awards for kids, or have the 95% ones. Ultimately you want to encourage internal motivation and the pleasure of learning ... but that can be hard - as you've explained.

Four sessions missed today at my sons' primary school - because two girls were taken to watch The Nutcracker ballet. A whole day missed! By two pupils! I think we all know, however, that this is not where resources need to be focused in terms of attendance.

The stats, however, say otherwise - and that we need to throw nonsense threats and rubbish rewards at the mum taking her 9 and 7 year olds to the ballet (something the school would totally do if it could afford it). Because, erm... because...

Most school reward excellent attendance but also set targets for other students and reward those that meet their target.

"Multivac- your attitude to it is the kind parents have that causes problems for their children"

Rightyho

Whereas celebrating someone not being ill for a term is useful... how?

Ideally of course you are correct - focus only on the liars. But how to know No, I did not mean this. I meant try and work out why some kids are off so much and see what can be done to change it.

It's quite easy to see some kids have a pattern, so find out what that is, are they often off because it is sports, or spelling, etc etc. Not all parents whose kids are off frequently are happily lying for them. Some ave medical issues and are trying to work out what is going on. My friend's kid fitted this pattern, and she got a snotty letter from school. One of my kids fits the pattern of being ill when things are happening that she can't handle at school, but school have never written to me and even though I have tried to speak to then about it do not seem interested.

IguanaTail that is a wonderful story. I think we need more awards for individual effort.

Yes I think developing a sense of internal motivation in some kids is really hard. Especially when some kids are constantly expecting a material reward.

"No parent should be so crap that they run a chaotic dysfunctional home that requires them to keep their child off school to help them run it"

Absolutely.

So if a parent is that 'crap'... you think it's appropriate to punish the child?

(are those the kids 'constantly expecting a material reward', in your experience?)

Multivac- the point I was makng about the school being outstanding was even outstanding schools have attendance issues and challenges. It is not just schools like the one in the article- although they will be under huge pressure from OFSTED, absolutely huge pressure.

I am sure an Outstanding school would not suit your way of thinking Multivac.

I meant try and work out why some kids are off so much and see what can be done to change it.
Yes absolutely. So as you say it can be a particular lesson or subject or teacher. Or it can be mornings because it's cold and dark and parents don't get up. Or it can be fear of another child, or a journey to school. Or home. Or it can be desire to play an X box game. And it can be internal truancy which can be harder to detect because there can be missing marks on registers etc.

By law parents have to be informed of their child's attendance and may not have picked up on some patterns themselves.

those the kids 'constantly expecting a material reward', in your experience?)

Yes many are. They live in quite a materialistic society where people want to know what they "get" for doing their work or helping someone out etc.

In your experience is that not the case?

I'm not sure what point you are making lulu.

"Multivac- your attitude to it is the kind parents have that causes problems for their children."

I never said I thought it was appropriate to 'punish the child'. Where did I say that? Your thinking is bizarre on many things. It is parents who are to blame for a child's poor attendance at school- poor parenting; apart from genuine cases of illness.

You were the one who suggested a child from a chaotic dysfunctional family might be needed at home rather than be at school- warped thinking there if that is acceptable to you.

In my experience, kids from disfunctional families, and kids from secure families, tend to exist in the same society. I don't find that the former are more motivated by material rewards than the latter.

Lulu I think you'll find most schools (certainly primary) do not reward for less than 100% as highlighted in the op's article. There is no give or take or exception to the rule.

Iguana that is great for that boy, but again year 10 and with a degree of self responsibility. You just cannot compare to primary age tiny children who have no control over their attendance. If anything giving a prize to parents for this age group makes more sense. All we are teaching our infants it that life is unfair. Sad.

Agree with you Mrsglow.

Multivac - I meant kids generally. Must have misread.

I love the fact she is going to the cinema - which will not be authorised.

Awful, awful! Can't believe there are people here defending this policy.