To disagree with attendance awards

[LittleMissUpset]

DS2 came home from school with some chocolate and a certificate DS1 didn't because he had a CAMHS appointment and is now awaiting assessment for ASD, therefore didn't get the attendance award.

I explained to DS1 that school are measured on attendance and they are just trying to encourage the children, but it's not his fault and it's unfair so I will buy him some chocolate too.

It really is unfair, as even if children are off ill it's not their fault.

AIBU to disagree with attendance awards?

But I do send them to school with a cold or something, so he's gone in when he's had a cold, but didn't get the award because the only time off he had was for a medical appointment which wasn't his fault, and couldn't be arranged out of school hours.

He missed one morning because of it, just seems unfair when because we are awaiting an assessment for autism that he misses out.

I know you could argue about where to draw the line, but it seems unfair when we make the effort to be on time and go in with minor illnesses, but medical appointments can't be helped.

My child got 98.89% attendance on his report, but he didn't get the attendance award, they are obviously very hard to get.

I have no problem with children getting rewards for academic achievement, sport or soft skills like being kind to others because they can work on these things. A child cannot work on not catching a vomiting bug and certainly shouldn't attend school with one.

In our school the problem is more about attending when sick (because childcare is a hassle for example) than under attendance. Utterly stupid and selfish given there are a number of pupils with chronic conditions. These attendance awards do not help discourage people sending sick children to school.

itsmine: Like grown ups? Like sending letters, making phone calls, inviting parents in for meetings, issuing fines, calling the EWO? Hmm. I thought most people preferred a more positive approach, particularly given some of the comments on this thread

Certificates are just about praising those who make the effort (in whatever they have been awarded the certificate for). Attendance is one aspect of doing your best; you might be praised for sporting achievement, being a good friend, academic achievement, musical skill, good behaviour. It is a shame that some students will miss out because of chronic illnesses, but let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.

I know our school does a weekly name out of the hat prize for all DC with 100% attendance. Then the annual end of term attendance certs for those 95% above.

They have a weekly star of the week 1 child per class - very broad range of what they got it for. Could be academics, could be sports ,could be behaviour - all including improvement and not restricted to the best.

Sport's day is divided into 4 teams across the years. Only a couple of sprints where you see a clear individual winner. It's the parents' race that gets the most fierce! And only done annually.

Some ad-hoc in-class rewards.

So attendance is the only one occurring weekly and is at a whole school assembly. So those with ongoing barriers to attendance will feel it more keenly.

itsmine: I am sad to say it but no, they don't. Some kids don't try. Some kids make excuses and half-arse their education, and that is tragic.

But as others have pointed out, many things are matters of luck - students will have to learn to deal with this truth at some point. The overall impact of praising good attendance is (in my view) positive enough that it outweighs the negatives.

I think they are one of the dumbest things on the planet but my children dont care about them so neither do i

The schools attendance policy on the other hand, makes me virtually homicidal

Trifleorbust You keep equating attendance with effort and commitment but it very obviously has nothing to do with either of those attributes when a child has a vomiting bug or appointment (most cases of absence). If you're going to have an award for attendance then you need to allow all kids a fair chance at it and not count lack of attendance for sickness and appointments.

There seems to be a bad attitude from within some schools which assumes students/parents are lazy/inept and need cajoling to bring their kids to school. It was the same when I did secondary teaching. School policy (like piling on as much stress as possible around exam time) was always aimed at the minority who were just being lazy and ignored the negative effects it had on the students who were trying hard and already incredibly stressed (there were significant numbers of students self harming due to exam stress, yet the school continually piled it on as thick as possible).

Trifle, I agree.

Life isn't a level playing field. Some children are more clever or more sporty or more healthy or more popular or whatever....these are simply facts of life and some children start off with more than others.

Actually, these certificates are trying to create MORE of a level playing field, by trying to give the children who have a raw start in life, because their parents keep them away from school, a bigger incentive to be at school and a chance to break the cycle of poverty....that's what these certificates are about.

They are a blunt instrument. Some children maybe hurt (slightly...and I think this sense of hurt really shouldn't be overemphasised) who don't get one and whose absence was nothing to do with skiving school or staying off without a really good health reason, but I think the gains outweigh the downsides. If attendance improves as a result of these certificates, then I think they are worth it.

Trifle I'm glad my school doesn't have that attitude.

Yes life is unfair, so you teach children to try to make it as fair as possible. You don't say who cares suck it up kid.

I hate this too. My kids have never had it as they have hospital appts numerous times a year. That's is the only reason they have been off school except for one year when they had a virus that knocked them for 6 and they had a few days off.

My solution is to buy what the head gives out, put it in their bag and say the head rang me to say he forgot to award their prizes. 😁

Always worth posting about fairness and equality.

There were no attendance awards back in the 70s, and I wouldn't have given a fuck about them anyway. I was very rarely ill, but when I was 7 I was in a car accident and had to have time off for a couple of operations.

What would have been the point of giving me an award for being healthy and taking it away for being in a car crash?

Yanbu. We've had nori virus and other viruses since half term and a lot of the reason is because people are sending sick kids. Their attendance may be good as a consequence but due to this the attendance officer at our school has sent out 60 letters to parents.
My sons attendance may warrant a letter but I'm not sending him in with nori or a viral infection including vomiting and harming him and everyone else.

HaveNoSocks: No-one is saying suck it up. They're saying don't make an artificial 'fair' that fails to recognise achievement just in case you provoke some relatively small upset. It's about an appropriate balance.

HaveNoSocks: I am not equating them. I have recognised that there are some students who are committed but, through no fault of their own or that of their parents, don't achieve. What the certificates and awards are recognising is a correlation between commitment and achievement, not an equation.

Oh for goodness sake!

So being lucky that you're smart/good at sport etc is equated to being lucky to being healthy? You have totally missed the point.

The point is, there are lots of small children who already feel shit or in pain or stigmatised or isolated because they have a chronic illness. Being isolated or overlooked because you are suffering is not the same as. Being overlooked because you're not smart or appear less intelligent.

Most kids will shine in some area and will be rewarded for this in time. A minority have to miss school because they have a long term condition they are 'unlucky' to suffer from.

But are parents of poorly children really going to deny a child a certificate and a minute of recognition for coming into school everyday? Really?

If so there are some really sour adults out there.

Or they are so hard up they have to go to work?

YANBU. DS's school bangs on about it all the time like it's a measure of academic achievement. Uhm, no, that's not quite how it works...

YANBU. I despise these things. DD1 has had a couple of attendance awards and a badge and a pencil. I turned the badge into a birthday badge, the pencil is languishing amongst the many pencils she has. We told her the certificate was hers and she could of course keep it and be proud of it. However, it didn't go on the wall (before I'm flamed, we make a big deal of star if the week etc even though I do realise that is fixed so all children get it eventually). I refuse to celebrate something so completely focused on presenteeism which does not take into account health and social aspects.

I also had a long talk with her about how some children are unwell or have unwell parents and cannot manage 100% attendance. Helped her understand why her friend with asthma didn't get one.

Sorry, that was longer than I intended. Really do hate the things .

Yanbu. If my children are illl, they're kept off until they're better. Convalescence is important IMO, so as not to immediately pick up another infection. I've told mine not to worry about being off and that their health is more important than an award.