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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

I am peed off with school and 100% attendance award

79 replies

Lottieloves · 16/12/2016 21:59

My dd and ds go to the same school, now my dd got her 100% attendance award today but my ds didn't they haven't had a day off school this term so I don't understand..... the last time they did this they just said only we'll it's just one of thoses things and as I couldn't prove that he hadn't had a day off he wasn't getting it. I even got the teacher to check the register for the days they said he had been off and she had marked him away even though he was there.. they use a paper register if that helps.... I'm really peed off as I know he definitely hasn't had time off..... what should I do.... all week we have been saying to him, well done on Friday in the whole school assembly you will get your certificate.... I only discovered at 4.30 so too late to speak to school..... I just know all holiday it's going to bug me.....

OP posts:

Spottytop1 · 17/12/2016 07:39

Usually if a child is off school you get a phone call asking why they are not in if you've not informed the school. If he has been marked absent incorrectly surely you'd have had a call to ask where he was?

HaveNoSocks · 17/12/2016 07:39

TaggieRR

It is a very stupid idea. Why reward people who happen to get sick less (or not need braces etc.). The most bizarre "you happen to be lucky" award I've ever heard of. Might as well draw names out of a hat. Especially because you just have to be there for the register. So you might have a 10 minute appointment and miss the register which counts as absence or you might attend register then go home for the whole afternoon and still have full attendance. Not to mention the fact that it encourages people to come in when they're sick.

(My DS's school has the sense not to do attendance awards so I'm not bitter just find the concept of a school award based on good health incredibly bizarre)

Bananabread123 · 17/12/2016 07:43

How old is your ds? not a pleasant thought but could he have bunked off in between you dropping him at school and it starting?

Shirleyucantbeserious · 17/12/2016 08:00

Personally I'd be more concerned about the incorrect register. Presumably the school would have no record of him being there in case of a fire or other emergency. This is a big safeguarding issue imo

Spottytop1 · 17/12/2016 08:03

It's not just sickness that causes attendance issues - some children just don't come to school as they, or their parents can't be bothered to bring them. The schools I have worked in have had attendance awards for those who attend over 97% of the time and then also for
100% .

CrohnicallyPregnant · 17/12/2016 09:03

I'm assuming as OP said 'universal free meals' that he is infant aged (7 or under). So no chance of him bunking off, if OP brought him to school then he should remain there until she picked him up.

I agree with OP, this is shocking record keeping and needs to be raised. I would want to know which absence code was used for the day he was 'away' (e.g. did they claim you had phoned him in sick?) and whether he was marked down for a dinner or not, also the PP's suggestion of looking at school books is a good one.

I hope it's as simple as marking the wrong row, so the child before or after him in the register was off (so the total number of children would be right, lessening the chances of there being a problem in the event of a fire- most places headcount first and then take a register)

Otherwise, there needs to be a tightening up of procedures, is it possible he went to the toilet or wasn't listening, and missed his name being called? In which case the teacher is to blame for not noticing he was there all day!

Spottytop1 · 17/12/2016 09:09

Primary children also aren't brought into school... it's not just a secondary school issue.

I would also have expected a call asking where he was if he was marked absent.

PootlewasthebestFlump · 17/12/2016 09:26

Agree - a register is a legal document and should stand up in a court of law so their record keeping should be robust enough. They should log why he was off and have evidence eg sick note or call log.

We ignore attendance stuff here. DS is LAC and has had to attend social work appointments which means he is marked absent even though on some occasions the teachers are also present at meetings.

Each review them hum and hah and say 'oh yes, 97%, that's just within acceptable range'. He's never been late and never been sick. It's nonsense.

Original poster

Lottieloves · 17/12/2016 09:31

Ds is five. So bunking off isn't a issue. Will report back in Jan.

OP posts:

Littlelamplight · 17/12/2016 09:36

Attendance awards are the biggest load of wank there is

I tell my kids to completely ignore them and do some critical thinking about how ridiculous they are. Maybe try that instead

Potentialmadcatlady · 17/12/2016 09:39

100% attendance awards piss me right off.
Kids get sent to school when they shouldn't so other kids catch their illnesses all because of some stupid bit of paper.
Much more importantly kids like mine who have serious health issues and numerous appts never get the award and get their noses rubbed in it every single year of their school lives in the 'special award' assembly...
Kids like mine who are majorly brave to get to school when they can are yet again made to feel shit and second class because they have an illness they can't do anything about...ever

dingdongthewitchishere · 17/12/2016 09:44

I would absolutely contact the school about the accuracy of their attendance record, this is not on.

Regarding the award itself, you are BU to make a bid deal out of this. What happens if one of your kid gets another of this stupid and ridiculous award next time, whilst the other was off after having this appendicitis removed, or being off with ear infection/ chicken pox or any other illness?

coffeetasteslikeshit · 17/12/2016 09:47

Potentialmadcatlady, I feel the same as you and my kids are healthy. But DS1 had a boy with CF in his class and I would sit in the assembly and fume on his behalf. I think they're a terrible idea.

fairgame84 · 17/12/2016 09:55

I just re-read your op. It doesn’t look like you have spoken to school and that they have said he was absent.
It could be that they have accidentally missed him off the certificate list? Sometimes happens in the school where I work. If so he can just collect his certificate in assembly next term.

Mumoftwoyoungkids · 17/12/2016 09:57

This is a major problem from a record keeping point of view. Firstly because of the "fire" thing. But also something far simpler like him getting a really bad tummy upset over lunchtime and being stuck in the loo. If he was (correctly) marked as present at morning register then someone would go looking. But if not then he may be there for a while without anyone to help him.

Potentialmadcatlady · 17/12/2016 10:02

Thanks Coffee... There aren't that many things that annoy me with school anymore because we so used to it but attendance awards make me so cross for my brave child

Topseyt · 17/12/2016 10:02

Just, don't be an arse. I said nothing of the sort and don't see where you made that up from.

If you bothered to read both of my posts you would have seen that I actually said I didn't agree with attendance awards anyway. I don't. They are an irrelevance and were introduced by schools under pressure from Ofsted etc. to be seen to be doing something about attendance figures.

I set no store by a100% attendance award and never will. Twist that whatever way you want to.

user1471560343 · 17/12/2016 10:17

Surely if the teacher checks one of his exercise books, there will be at least one piece of work dated from that day that he was supposedly not there? Obviously will have to wait until new year now.

grannytomine · 17/12/2016 10:25

I remember my mother telling me about a girl she went to school with. She had never missed a day at school from starting at 5 and she was about 13 or 14 at this time. Her mother died, I think in childbirth not that unusual in the 1920s, and a neighbour arrived at the school to say she was needed at home. I think her father was coping with the death, a new baby and at least one toddler. She refused to leave. Apparently her father arrived at the school and she still refused to go and it ended up with her being dragged out of school screaming.

Now she might have been a bit deranged on hearing about her mother's death but my mother said she was obsessed with getting an award for never missing a day at school and she was due to leave in a few months.

I think 100% attendance awards can be taken too seriously.

Kreeshsheesh · 17/12/2016 10:32

A school where I worked used to do this. It had dreadful attendance issues and we even used to collect children from their house to bring them in. I was a head of year and sometimes went to the houses with the education welfare officer. The reasons for lack of attendance were complex but mostly very sad. It seemed so unfair to reward 100% attendance with trips, etc. I also remember a boy winning a bike for being an excellent attendee (he was entered into a raffle) Unfortunately he was probably the most poorly behaved child in the school; regularly swore at staff, bullied other children and made zero effort. He'd been excluded on more than one occasion, but because he always came to school first, he was entered into the draw! You can imagine the

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 17/12/2016 10:32

For those who manage to get to school every single day, it IS an achievement, and should be celebrated like any other.

No it isn't. It's just good luck. It doesn't require effort for KS1&2 children because it's largely out of their control whether they are in school or not.

Kitty I take your point, but I suspect there are fairer and more effective ways to show Ofsted that you are trying to improve whole school attendance.

Piglet208 · 17/12/2016 10:33

The dental appointment is probably what has affected attendance. As a pp said the attendance awards are to show Ofsted that a school is attempting to improve attendance but as a teacher I think it is crazy. We don't want sick children at school and children cannot help getting ill.

booklooker · 17/12/2016 10:37

The register is a legal document, you can't have any maybes.

Either your child is in school, or not.

MrsKCastle · 17/12/2016 11:27

For some children it is the only certificate they might get in a year.

This is not a good argument. If children are getting recognition for attendance and nothing else over the course of a year, there is a serious problem with the school. Recognition doesn't need to be in the form of a certificate, but all children need to feel proud of their achievements, a 100% attendance certificate will not fix that.

Nokia3310 · 17/12/2016 11:28

I wouldn't worry about the award, but I would worry about the safe-guarding issue of poor record keeping. If your child is stuck in a fire in the school, but the school think that he is absent his life is at risk. Also, are they saying that his absence is authorised by you? I'd be very concerned!

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