To keep my child home from school on polling day

[SchoolOutForSummer]

Name change as this post will out me to all parents at our school ;)

Minor gripe here. School notified parents of holiday dates in September and these included the dates the school is closed for poling, including this Thursday.

Just received a letter today, telling us our Year 6 children must come to school on Thursday, to do extra work for their upcoming SATs exams.

I am slightly concerned that they will not be able to monitor ALL the members of public who will be in the school voting and wandering on and around the premises and keep them away from the children, which is why the school is closed.

I feel that as the rest of the school is closed from nursery up to year 5, then it should be closed for year 6 too. The year 6 children are all upset on the playground and feel they are being punished to lose their day off school.

School are concerned about their sats score. Which is laughable to think that one six hour day will make any difference to their scores. Teaching resentful children will not be effective...just let them have their 'planned for months' day off. The school has never pulled in year 6 children into school on polling day before and has reasonable sats scores and is a 'Good' school in ofsed terms.

Many parents including me have either paid for child care or planned a fun day out with siblings. Which will have to be cancelled last minute.

I know it is no big deal but I am tempted to just keep her off ill. Our letter promises that all absent year 6 children will be receiving a phone call from the school. My response would be the truth. She is very upset and stressed from all the pressure of these sats exams, therefore she will be staying home today. Would that be so unreasonable?

If the school had told us about this extra day in September or even a month ago, I would of sent her but leaving it so late and upsetting all the children seems so self defeating.

Plus I think sats is a massive waste of teachers time, I told DD to work hard and do her best but I don't want anymore headaches, tears and stomach aches over this issue

I'm not sure how OP has been inconvenienced by the change.
If my DD was finding every day going into school stressful or sick of SATs prep then I might keep her off.

Chocolatewbat we will have to agree to disagree.
The OP said they had already planned a day off together so I don't think it's fair for the children to suffer the schools poor organisation. Particularly as I feel that sats are no necessary at that age.

But that's just my opinion you don't have to agree with it.

Down with SATS!

In Finland, they don't start school till 6 or 7 y.o., have NO external exams until final school leaving, and usually have among the best results in the world!

Have a lovely day out, OP. and DC

I understand that lots of people don't agree with SATs and don't like the way schools prepare pupils.
However, the reality is that kids do SATs in this country, that schools are judged by them and that children's targets at the next stage of education are linked to them and will partly determine the opportunities available to them in the next stage of education. Those are realities.

So, I think the Q becomes whether as parents we work with the schools and support them in trying to help out kids do as well as they can, or whether we are obstructive?

Lots of schools put on extra sessions over Easter or after school. You can either look at them as an annoyance and something trying to ruin you and your child's free time, or you can be pleased that extra help is there,mor you don't even have to feel pleased to simply accept they believe it will make a difference and to attend.

I was looking earlier at the 11+ forum which is a site for parents whose kids live in counties with Grammar schools. Many of those parents are frustrated by the lack of primary school input to help kids prepare for 11+ exams, or info about how their kids are doing. Some of them work with their kids at home and e are willing to pay a lot of money for extra help and tutoring...the kid of help which is being offered here. The difference in attitude on this thread to those threads on that forum, just really strikes me.

I don't understand why they need to be off? Our school has never closbeen d for polling day, and yes it's relatively easy to make sure voters only have access to a certain area.

I was looking earlier at the 11+ forum which is a site for parents whose kids live in counties with Grammar schools. Many of those parents are frustrated by the lack of primary school input to help kids prepare for 11+ exams, or info about how their kids are doing. Some of them work with their kids at home and e are willing to pay a lot of money for extra help and tutoring...the kid of help which is being offered here. The difference in attitude on this thread to those threads on that forum, just really strikes me.

Well surely thats the point

My children do not live in a grammer school area so the SATS are next to useless. It was only ds2 ( now in year 9) that was adversely affected to be honest

Those same parents though won't be so bothered about SATs a year later ChocolateWombat their job is done and the die is cast, hopefully though all the hard work in yr5 will mean the yr 6 teachers won't have such an uphill battle for some of the class.

Send child in. Otherwise you're just teaching them to disrespect authority & that's no good on the long run.

I simply meant that there was a big difference in attitude towards education generally and to seizing and wanting opportunities for help for their children, rather than resisting them. My point didn't really relate to which type of exams they were preparing for.....SATs, 11+, GCSE, A Levels......some parents are keen to receive as much help as is available, whilst others obstruct attempts of the school to help their children.

RUfus - 11+ exams are quite different to SATs and happen about 8 months before the SATs. Not being in a Grammar area doesn't make SATs unimportant for your children. What they get at KS2 will determine the government targets that are set for them at GCSe and may well determine GCSE options they are allowed to choose from,much as if they can do separate sciences or certain languages and how many GCSEs or instead vocational courses. The SATs are not useless for your child but will have an impact on their time at secondary.

SHouldWest - I agree that parents whose kids have taken 11+ won't be so I tested in SATs. However, as parents who are interested in education and want their children to do well, I would expect that most are supportive of school attempts to help their children and want their children to do as well as possible in the SATs too. They welcome opportunities offered to help their children progress rather than obstruct them, favouring another day off (in the same week as a bank holiday) or making a point to the school about their poor organisation.

Have never posted before however I do know , as a teacher, that all tiny schools are facing threat of closure in the next round of funding cuts - maybe the staff are under extra pressure this year as a result? Just a thought.

Just leave it, and when they call say you didn't receive the letter!

*I don't understand why they need to be off? Our school has never closbeen d for polling day, and yes it's relatively easy to make sure voters only have access to a certain area.
*

Some schools don't have secure areas that can be locked off to voters.

Also in some schools the only secure space being used for voting means the school is unusable - the school my DS goes too holds the voting in the dining hall/gym hall and the toilets and main entrance are off this area so putting the hall out of use means the schol can't open.

I assume this is an extra day on top of their govt quota of school days rather than the rest of school being a day short.

They can't have it both ways - on the one hand say it's compulsory but then send a permission slip out as well.

What comeback will they have if dc don't go? Assuming not much if it's a day above the required quota.

Can you talk to any other parents to see how they are feeling - there might be a few that think great, they don't need to pull in a favour for childcare. There will be others who feel the same as you. If there are plenty of others that are not going then your dc won't be the odd one out the next day and if the parents know others are also keeping their dc off that will give them the confidence to keep their dc off too.

I would send a note to say thank you for the offer of an extra day stressing about the SATs but that you feel it would be counter productive to send your dc in and that you also have serious concerns about the way they are proposing to keep Y6 away from the polling areas and the voters away from the rest of the school (regardless of whether or not you do - it's something they can't argue with you about if they are your concerns). And as a result you do not give your dc permission to be in school.

If they then call you, you can just politely point out that your dc can't be in school because you didn't give him permission to school, that you have plans for today and that you will see them tomorrow.

And the more parents that do the same the better...

Just out of interest do you know what the returning officer feels about having students in the school? You don't sound very convinced by them.

DS1 was in y6 last year and was given a revision pack to read through over the holidays before that summarised everything concisely and gave examples, they had been doing practice papers or parts of papers in y5 and 6 so they weren't a shock to the system and had a set of "mocks' beforehand so they knew exactly what doing the whole set of tests was like. They knew they needed to work hard and do their best but the school have that ethos about everything so it's it's just another day as usual, there was no pressure to get excellent marks, they just needed to feel that they had done their best and that the stress was all on the teachers. And as a result the kids aren't stressed about it and they get great marks.

Hope you get to keep all your dc out for the day and you have a great time!

If you have planned, promised and paid for a day out I would go on the day out. And tell school why.
If you have nothing actually planned, I would send DC in.

I wouldn't send them in on the basis you made plans in September when you were told the school would be closed.

My DC's are at private school so don't take SAT's. I'm hoping that doesn't destroy their chances in life.

If the school has to be closed for polling, then there is no way in which the school can require children to attend when the school is closed. Tell them to piss off.

Unpopular comment alert!
Education comes first in my opinion. We're lucky to be able to send our children into schools (for free), many children all over the world hope, dream and wish they could receive an education, don't take it for granted (even if the testing has gone mad in recent years).
Think about it this way, if the rest of the class attend, and it's a constructive day, would you really want you child to have missed out...for the sake of a day trip out (which let's be fair, could probably be rearranged for a weekend or the half term/summer holidays)?!

chocolate

As i said my children did sats a few years ago, there wasnt half as much pressure

And as is very usual they sat tests in their secondary school and were set according to those tests

Or at least thats what the school

Sorry

Thats what the school said

Danni1979 education isn't free. Not for mine anyway. I've paid loads into the system over the years. It's just free at the point of delivery.

I know the other parents are cross, as most of them have arranged for childcare and/or time off to spend with their child/children. No idea on the number of pupils who will attend/not attend on Thursday.

I have other children and if I sent DD to school it would mean cancelling the day out for all of them.

As I couldn't be an hour away by car and get back in time for school pickup which is why we decided to go on Thursday as we can travel back later that afternoon.

I should add that I have support DD and the school though all their excess sats homework. Both at Christmas and Easter Holidays. ..none of which were ever marked.

I have encouraged my DD to take the sats tests seriously for the schools sake and to try her hardest in all her tests.

She has been told she has achieved her expected level in all the tests and they are now working on 'the hardest papers only now' in the class.

If the school had asked politely and in an reasonable time scale, I would of sent her in.

But as the notice is too short and I know missing this additional day will make no difference to DD's sats results and she will pass them all, I am not upsetting the whole family on a last minute whim.

I will tell the school via letter/email on Wednesday, if I have not been asked before then.

If the school is closed on a polling day, that decision is usually taken because of safety considerations. Our primary school was always closed on polling days, but a couple of years ago the decision was made to keep school open. A man who was supposed to be there to vote went into the corridor off the school hall and knocked on the fire doors and one of the kids walking along the corridor on the other side opened the door and let him in!
So, it is possible for polling locations at schools to not be entirely secure, and there isn't always anyone there monitoring everyone in and out.
Plus, if the plan is to keep all the year 6 kids in one place near the back of the school, that's going to be pretty miserable for them isn't it? Are they not going to be allowed out to play?
I think you should call the school out on safety grounds and demand details regarding how they will be keeping the building secure during polling. And I'd also be asking why, if they feel the school is safe enough for children to attend on polling day, the rest of the school is not being asked to attend as well???

Sorry, should also have said I'm a school governor. We've discussed safety on polling day a lot, and after the incident would never ever open the school on a polling day again.

want their children to do as well as possible in the SATs too nope, openly telling yr 6 teacher that SATs don't really matter to them, just the outcome of the 11+. In fact the very families who have planned their dc's education by investing in tutoring from a young age (or attending church/ temple/ synagogue for faith schools) would also be the sort to sit down with a spreadsheet and plan childcare in September. Besides most tutoring will purport to cover yr6 curriculum too so parents are less supportive of cramming for SATs having spent yr5 cramming for 11+. They might also hold the belief that if Tarquin passed 11+ in Autumn he won't fare too badly in SATs in the Spring (in my experience).

If I had a day out with other DC planned, I'd stick with that, otherwise send the Y6 DC in. On that, YANBU, OP.

On the subject of primary schools as polling stations, it's not always as straightforward as it looks. A new HT decided to stop our nearest primary being used as a polling station, but there are no other suitable buildings in this part of town, and buses and parking for the next closest candidate are non-existent, meaning that anyone elderly or disabled who's not clued-up enough to sort out a postal vote in time is effectively excluded from voting because they can't physically get to the polling station any more. I can see the school being brought into service again in the not too distant future.