To write a stroppy response to the "Amber attendance warning" received from Dd's high school?

[PingpongDingDong]

Last term Dd had 4 teeth out for a brace. She had one and a half days off for this. A few weeks later she had the brace put on. She had one day off for this. She then had a migraine so another day off for that.

All authorised absences, all pretty much unavoidable. Today we received the above mentioned letter with all sorts of doom laden predictions for those without 100% attendance ending with "we trust your daughter will aim for excellent attendance this term."

Is it me?! She was having 4 teeth out and a brace fitted and she had a migraine (the school know this). I really object to this heavy handed, ridiculous approach for kids who do not have a "problem" with attendance. Should I write and complain?

Ds was assessed over a 6 week period by Camhs for severe anxiety following prolonged bullying in and out of school. He missed 45 minutes of school for each appointment - I received an automated bureaucratic letter pointing out his 'poor attendance'. To be honest the school looses credibility when they take such a blunt blanket like approach.

I couldn't agree more Thumbwitches!

Yes Jakadaal, that's a good point, they do lose credibility.

That's an interesting shift in tactics by the school, Thumbwitch.

I wonder how it will affect the term-time holiday phenomenon, where quite extended holiday are par for the course in Australian schools, and no permission is sought, the school is told by the parents (mostly) and that's that.

I must say I don't object to such holidays, just don't expect me to do catch-up with the darlings when they get back.

I had a rather abrupt letter from education welfare over a dentist visit.

it started out as a check up that then went into 2 visits. the first an hour and half the second 3 hours.

I was accused of lying about the second visit. Booked during first visit because DS needed a lot of work doing and in my mind better to have this whole day off than 2 or 3 more and the fact he was in pain.

I was ordered to provide medical evidence (already had) or face a fine for unauthorised absence.

It does really annoy the hell out of me that my child has a lot of Drs appointments yet I'm constantly hounded about attendance when its not my fault the Clinics he attends are only open 9-4/5pm.

Don't get me started on class attendance shield. Because my DS has these appointments the kids know he isn't there and no doubt know he is the reason the class doesn't get the shield :(

My friend's dd was on life support in a children's hospital 4 hours drive from home. Her dd's head called and left a voicemail demanding a meeting and saying her dd MUST be in school the following day or ss will be called. Df returned the call saying if course her dd will be in as soon as the school confirms it has life support available to accommodate the dc's additional needs. Head said she was being dramatic and she needed proof as she didn't believe her as doctor's note said allergic reaction. (Her dd was allergic to her own organs and is only alive new because she takes tablets that are usually used for transplant patients).
Schools need to add a common sense element to their generalised letters otherwise they're meaningless and those they're really aimed at won't take them seriously anyway.

My first brace was on my canine teeth. On the odd occasion the tightening could only be done in a morning I'd often end up having the day off as it was excruciating. Of course in those days we didn't have ridiculous letters, just a truancy officer who wanted to know if you were genuine.

The letters do get your back up i agree but as has been said they are generated and a box ticking exercise. Just smile through gritted teeth and carry on.

You cant win, OP.

My three DCs all were Green attendance. Then this week they all became ill over the weekend after Xmas just before back to school. At 10.45am, we were banged out of bed by a Teacher at our front door who said it came up as a flagged safety issue", due to their unexplained and out of character non-attendance.

Maybe because I'd been awake for 15 hours too myself, fighting the kids for the toilet

I wouldn't complain- you can't do right for doing wrong!!

Yes, I had a similar letter recently. Son has had complicated orthodontist treatment and has maybe 18 more months of it. He had two days off with a stomach bug, too. TBH he could have gone back the second day but the school themselves whine if you don't keep them off 48 hrs so am not sure what I can do about it. Ortho is many, many miles away and I have no car in the daytime (husband needs it for work) - so it's 2 or 3 bus rides. I always schedule appointments very early in the day in fact so son can return to school after them. I have told them this preciously on the phone and they were cool with it.

It is a load of nonsense. These are what I'm sure we used to call 'authorised absences' - and I can't stop his dental treatment to suit them. I was thinking of phoning in a verbal rocket up the arse. They can;t say have 48 hours off, then moan when you do. And they surely have got the concept, as a secondary school, that teenagers have orthodontics appointments. My kids' - like most - are NHS so I had no say in where they got sent and of the 4 kids I have had through the school (one had even lengthier ortho than this son), each has been sent by the NHS to a different practice - only one of the four was in the centre of town - and even that ten miles away. But all the rest have been in the middle of nowhere. It was accept what was offered or the kids have wonky teeth for a lifetime...

Oh just to add, of all the appointments he's had only one was at a time of day he couldn't get back to school for most of the day after it.

And that has been down to me holding out for the earliest possible appt times.

Sod that. From now on I'll take the first appt they offer me. ;o)

I don't understand why standard ortho appointments - all but one he's attended school for most of the day afterwards - and one 2 day absence for an illness that was nt his fault - amount to unacceptable attendance levels. FFS, I missed an entire year of school and still came top in every subject at the end of the year - I've no idea why they make such a song and dance about it. Probably their failing exam results.

My dd had various health issues through high school which prevented her going in (long complex story but they refused to have her on health &safety grounds at one point). Anyway, I was informed that any absence would now need a note from the gp.

I did ask how I was supposed to get this note when it took three days to get an appointment by which time whatever illness had gone and she was back at school.

I mentioned it once to my very supportive gp who sent them a letter asking that they not add more pressure to overworked gps by asking for doctors notes as a form filling exercise. They didn't ask again

I think you should complain. It is wrong and it ought to be challenged. If people just ignore it then these things carry on.

People whose dc are genuinely ill, should not be harrassed by school. It is horrific that a mother whose child is on life support, has to have that conversation with a head teacher. I hope she made a formal complaint.

SistersOfPercy I had that too about my DS being ill with a cold, swollen glands and sore throat. The school wont allow pain meds unless on prescription. GP wont see a child who has cold/flu symptoms and if we call in are told to give calpol, fluids and rest. which is perfectly reasonable advice.

My GP actually wrote a letter stating it was totally unreasonable to send a child into school with a cold/flu when in pain or to insist they get a DRs note when adults self certify for the first week. This was purely down to me being harassed and having to take him to GP to stop myself being fined. A waste of everyone's time.

My GP is lovely but is absolutely pissed off with it. She put a sign up in the surgery stating 'we will not provide letters as medical evidence for schools because it is a breach of our own data protection policies and wastes valuable time we should spend with patients'

Yes it is painful after the braces are tightened but some children are in treatment every 8 weeks for 2 years She wasn't having it tightened, she was having it put on, and left school at 11am to have it done.

Could you have organised the brace appointments for the holidays? In Australia where I live, we are currently on our 6 weeks summer holidays. Before school ended (11th Dec) I tried to make an appointment for my girl to have their dental check ups.

First appointment? 1st Feb. The day they go back to school! So no, it isn't always possible to make it during school holidays.

Sending kids in whe they're really poorly?! I'm in Oz, so echo Thumb, that we don't have the same system. However, at a primary my friend's dc go to, they DO have a policy of 100% attendance. They get termly certificates (given in assembly) for 100%. A woman sent her dc to school with whooping cough, so her child would get a certificate. My friend had to have her kids tested (they had it, as did her dh), I had to have mine tested.

So yeah....100% awards are fucking great! Watching my friends 2yr old turn red in the face & struggle to breath was a wonderful sight...

Sorry, should have added, the child who caused the spread only had a mild case, so mum thought it would be fine to send her in.

echt - it came from the NSW DET bastards. Yes, term time holidays are also being frowned upon now, no exemptions are given except on compassionate grounds - so where in past years I've been able to get an exemption cert. for DS1 when we go back to the UK, last year I didn't get one and it went against his attendance. This year, I won't even fill in the form as it's pointless - will just advise them that I'm taking him out of school a week early.

I got round any complaints by asking DS1's Y2 class teacher if there was any work she could give him so that he could keep up - she asked him to write a diary of his holiday, which he did. And kept up his reading too.

The whole shift in NSW (from what I've seen in P&C meetings) is towards better school attendance, being on time, pretty much heading towards league tables by the sound of it, without that being specifically mentioned - but our school's "performance" isn't as high as some others in the state, although how much of that is to do with demographic rather than school attendance is entirely debatable! So the principal is taking it all on board and implementing as much of the new measures as she can. I don't exactly know how much of it is compulsory, and how much voluntary.

And yes different - that is EXACTLY the problem. Whooping cough is rife in this area too, last thing we need is for it to be passed on to younger siblings or ill family members! So sorry your friend's 2yo caught it :(, hope they're all right now.

at sending a child to school with whooping cough. When I had it during the outbreak in the 80's I was sent to the isolation hospital! They set up a ward for kids affected by it to try and stop it spreading as its so serious, especially for anyone who has other health issues. I get epically pissed off about attendance. My DS has appointments about his autism so he can't achieve 100%. He gets PIP and is under the high needs students team so I'd have thought excluding him from attendance incentives would go against equality legislation.

I wonder how the DET will handle long service leave? After 7 years, all public servants get this, and most use it to pad out holidays so they can go to Europe, round Oz, etc. for a long holiday. I only know teachers, but I do know plenty who take their school-age children. To be fair I know none who take out exam years children.

Many awful and ridiculous stories. I am going to complain. I know my situation isn't as bad as some others but I think, like many things in education at the moment, it's going the wrong way completely. As Ego says, children are nothing apart from SATS results and attendance results now.

On these threads people always say there's no point complaining.

Which is bollocks. Nothing will change UNLESS people complain. You have to complain in the right way though - politely, but in fairly strong terms, and in writing.

A friend of mine whose youngest has leukaemia had one of these letters, she went ballistic ...

Crikey Mistigri, that is truly awful!

On these threads people always say there's no point complaining.

Which is bollocks. Nothing will change UNLESS people complain. You have to complain in the right way though - politely, but in fairly strong terms, and in writing.

YYYYY

If you want change, then you need to complain to the LA or the Government. If you write a letter to the school or Governors you'll be heard, but nothing will change - because it's not the school or Governors pushing the practice. You might get a 'We understand your concerns' type letter back, but you'll still get another absentee letter if your child has further time off.

As long as school aren't being a pain in the sense of constantly pestering about it then I wouldn't worry.

Ds attendance last term was 72% all authorised, all unavoidable. We got the standard red letter (ours came out in an envelope though and I noticed lots didn't) I read the figure on it and then filed it. The school have already apologised but it's something automated which they are expected to do. Not worth worrying about then.

I did send one of them off with a DLA claim to help highlight the issues he has.

If children were robots who never got sick then this would the perfect scenario, 100% attendance. But children are human and get sick...schools should be concentrating on persistent truanters not genuinely sick kids, letters are completely pointless.