Hi
I was on this thread earlier, but haven't been on line for a few days (I've looked at MN, but not been able to post). I'd like to apologise for how (I'm trying to think of the right word) - 'in your face'? - I was. And particularly, apologise to Weebo, who I see is still posting [Was going to PM you, but as you're still seeing the thread, I'll do it publicly]. Thank you for what you said to me, and please accept my sincere apology to you. I'd JUST finished work for the summer and was in that manic phase of being in 'work mode' and being scared to stop because of how much I still had to do, but knew I was going away. Does that make sense? I was on 'transmit' and not receive. I didn't really take in what you were trying to say, but I have heard you now and apologise for being blinkered.
But whilst I'm sorry for being all rumbustious and bombastic, I do still work for schools, and attendance is part of my role, and it's tough. I'd point out that about 10 pages ago, I did ask for suggestions of how to do things better, and there weren't many suggestions, but everything suggested the 2 schools I work for already do regularly.
I won't go on again about how OFSTED decree it, so schools need to do what they can - this point has been made several times by people who say thing better than me.
I'm so, so sorry for people on this thread with SEN children or children with serious illnesses (or both!); and you're all right - your kids aren't going to win awards for 100% attendance. Of course they aren't. But that awards system isn't to penalize them, it's the others. It's the parents who keep kids off because they've had a sniffle, or a late night, or a good deal for a long weekend away, or the DC don't like PE/Swimming etc.
There's lots of evidence that just turning up at school improves your attainment. The brightest will be the brightest anyway, but the rest need all the support they can get, and being in school is part of that support. So schools aren't wrong to do what they can to get kids to turn up (regardless of OFSTED. It's OFSTED that force schools into doing something, but whilst I think OFSTED is crap and best ignored, there is proper evidence that being in school boosts attainment. And I liked a PP who pointed out that the kid that's off does disrupt the class because they need to be caught up). There's loads that most of you don't see, or only see the periphery of - letters home, regular phone calls, home visits, meetings etc. Those are ALL with the parents, and the kids don't know and don't feel any stigma.
And I said this really early in the thread. If you've got some PROPER reason that you need to miss school (because of appointments or bereavement or whatever) then the school should be looking to 'celebrate' you in other ways, and if your school doesn't do this for your DC, then I would urge you to change schools. You should also receive lots of support in other ways too, which might be work being sent home if you request it, maybe benefits [I know the money isn't the point]. You should be cut slack in all sorts of areas, and school should be understanding to you and sympathetic. In my schools we do really feel for those families who've got it tough, and we do do what we can to help (I make loads of calls at parents' request, and help with paperwork and stuff where I'm asked to. I've even gone along to appointments and things where a parent wants someone to sit in with them). This is a tiny detail, but do you all know about the codes in registers? I'll post it if it would be helpful. It's national (don't know so much about Wales, Scotland and Ireland, but I can post if for people in England and talk you through it). But basically there are absences which are 'authorised' and those which are 'unathorised'. They're all still absences, but you'd NEVER get a fine or other penalty with an authorised one.
The systems the schools have built in don't cover many of you on this thread. Because your families don't make up the majority of children in mainstream education. You can argue this is right or wrong, but a service as big as "education" is built on the majority. However, my other thought reading this thread over the weekend was - if you have a child with a disability (in the broadest senses) you can ask for a 'reasonable adjustment'. (so, a basic example is that a child in a wheelchair isn't denied access because of stairs). If you feel that strongly about attendance awards, then I think you should individually talk to your HTs about a 'reasonable adjustment' being made to include your child for absences which are authorised. I think your Head would be hard-pushed to say 'no'; although if I were a HT (I'm very much not, I'm way down on the pay-scale/responsibility!) what I'd say to that is "yes, as long as you're only out for exactly as long as the appointment and then straight back to school'. So if you have an appointment at 1:30, and if finishes at 2:30, you bring your child in even if it's only for the last 15 - 20 minutes of the school day. Or if you have an appointment at 11, your child comes into school until as long as it takes you to get to hospital.
Schools don't tend to give parents a hard time for this one, but lots of parents don't bring their children into school for the morning/afternoon/whole day when the child has an appointment mid-morning/lunchtime. Understand if the appointment is for something invasive or painful, but often a child could be in school for some part of the day and isn't.
ALSO, going back to the original argument, and not including the PPs with children with severe needs (not to be rude or to exclude you, just to speak to the majority); one of things primary schools do (or should do) is prepare kids to be ready for secondary. Yes - in primaries, it's mostly the parents who bring their children to school or don't; but in secondary it's far more up to the kids. So in the same way that in reception, school letters are put in kids bags; in KS 1, letters are given to children to put in their bags; in KS 2, letters are put on the side the children to take (same with homework). Attendance is the same thing. Primaries should be preparing children to think coming to school is what you should be doing (I'm not talking about those with serious illness, like many of the PPs - you're the extreme. I'm talking about the majority).
This is very long! My hope here is to understand what has been written in the 13 pages of this thread and give a more sensible and sensitive (ish) response than I did in the first few pages, whilst still understanding where it is schools are coming from and why. Sorry if this post doesn't do that... I've been in the car for a looooong time today, and been thinking about this all the while.