To be pissed offer that dd is on attendance watch.

[Fantasticday69]

So Dd2 is in year 7. She had a really bad tummy bug near the start of the year. So she had the required 2 days off.
Now because her attendance is only 89% she is on attendance watch.
Aibu to be annoyed as it is just bad timing. 2 days off later in the year would not trigger such an event but it is still the same level of absence.

in my opinion attendance awards undermine the school. Kids aren't stupid, they know it's not their fault they caught some bug, and they know it's not fair that being off school for it means they don't get whatever the prize is.

It trains them that the school has some stupid rules. It suggests to them that other rules might be stupid, and it forces me to tell them the rule, explain the criteria, tell them that that's just how it is, and I'll do something with them instead.

In short. they suck.

yup - system is ridiculous - those that don't care put the letter in the bin or never read it. Those that do care worry about attendance when their child has been ill and shouldn't have been at school anyway. i've had it too and all absences have been authorised (and DS was in hospital or recovering for most of it). Head said not to worry but I felt awful. Hate the awards for attendance too

suburban surprisingly simple plan! Excellent idea!

There is not normally a requirement at secondary level to have 2 days off after a tummy bug.

In most schools the 24/48 hours off after last sickness depends on whether lots of children are reporting the same conditions. So, if no-one else called in sick , 24 hours; more than 48 to try to stop infection.

In most schools the 24/48 hours off after last sickness depends on whether lots of children are reporting the same conditions. So, if no-one else called in sick , 24 hours; more than 48 to try to stop infection.

I've never been given a flexible rule. The rule is always 24 or 48 hours after last episode (depending on school - never had one school give me two rules). And they err on the side of caution in my experience. DS1 was once turned away until I'd taken him to the doctor to prove that the spots on him were mosquito bites not chickenpox (he reacts weirdly to mosquito bites)

Never had that rule at the secondaries where I have worked. I think most primaries seem to have this rule though.

From the NHS website:

"If your child has diarrhoea and is vomiting, they shouldn't go to school or any other childcare facility until 48 hours after the last episode of diarrhoea or vomiting."

To be fair she was still sick and had diarrhea on the 1St day. So we really didn't want to risk it. Especially as she has some continence issues.

My son was referred for monitoring to Education Welfare when he was in Year 9 due to his attendance being 92%.

He has a hereditary condition that means his immune system is impaired and that particular Winter he had three colds in two months. It doesn't sound bad ("Oh it's just a cold" is what people probably think) but a cold really wipes him out and can potentially lead to him needing to be hospitalised for a blood transfusion.
This condition was always noted by us on the parent/school agreement we signed every September and each time I've emailed an absence into school I've mentioned the condition.

School could find nothing about it on his records so I offered to get a letter from his consultant. I handed it in at reception. It was lost. I asked the consultant's secretary for a copy. That was lost too. The deputy head said not to worry, the monitoring was just a formality

Dd's attendance is very low atm due to an auto immune condition and immune-suppressing medication. I'm dreading getting a similar letter because I know it will upset me - I know this is not really rational, and I'm usually extremely pragmatic, but I still know it won't feel nice, whatever the logic behind it. School are actually being very supportive, so perhaps we won't get chased. Her teachers have all been asked to keep her informed when she misses lessons and so on as she's into the GCSE years - she emails her teachers when she's off, can keep up with homework as it's on the website, etc. Her attendance was pretty bad last year as she got iller and iller (was diagnosed over the summer), and she would always email teachers then as well, but would only ever get a reply from one particular teacher. At a meeting at the beginning of term to discuss her health/the plan, her HOY actually said that it was a policy not to give pupils the work to catch up on if they claimed to be/were ill, you basically make life harder for them and give them an incentive to get into school!

I don't agree with 100% attendance awards either!
However recently ds moved to an amazing inclusive school that awarded him the 100% attendance despite him not being at registration 6 times due to hospital appointments and missing 16 afternoon sessions - leaving 30 minutes after registration as was receiving MH support through Camhs.

I then had to completely try and celebrate with ds whilst still trying to tell him award or not he does his best!

He also had hospital appointment first day back! Day 1 50% attendance. School Sen admin lady (who is fab!) rang and said ignore any letters I get from ewo or LA as school know I had no choice to keep appointment set - their school nurse was the one who pushed the referral!!!!

I'd be tempted to send an email to school.

Dear Xxxx,

Thankyou for the letter informing me DD is on 'attendance watch' due to remaining at home for the set quarantine period of a D and V episode.

Could you clarify that should DD suffer another episode whether I should keep her off for the quarantine period and risk or send her to school as following the policy is disruptive to her education and considered something necessary to track?

Regards
Xxxxx

I had a pupil who had sores on bottom of foot and sore throat making her feel pretty yuk.

I contacted nurse to come and look suspecting HFM and simply rang parent to say it's possible cause but she can come to school if parent thinks she's well enough.

Both school nurse and I were surprised there's no exclusion period due t how contagious it is.

my dd (y8) is on 54% and I have to jump up and down to get the school involved at all.
I'm not impressed.

Ah yeah, those jobsworths tracking attendance and trying to ensure every child gets to school. Those jobsworths trying to make sure that at risk children come to school and are monitored. Those jobsworths who as a result have to send out letters to everyone, even though I'm sure they'd rather not?

I do think the ‘monitoring’ my daughter received when her attendance dropped was fairly shit and I do think the person responsible for it was a jobsworth shitheal.

Granted attendance was shockingly low but there checks didn’t apparently involve checking info the school has on file stating why nor did it involve much else other than a series of letters all of which were responded to then a series of demanded meetings (17 in total) combined with the threat of social services and court action then actual court action.

My kid was off for 6 months in one hit then a year after.

If she were at risk of harm that wouldn’t have been detected for all the good their checks and nonsense did it was nothing more than a ridiculous exercise in piss poor tick boxes.

Oh my kid was also humiliated without need by an ewo and school nurse in an effort to up her attendance then bullied to sign a consent to view medical records form , because they apparently knew far more about kids in comas after very serious road traffic accidents who then spend a year and 6 months as a inpatient than all the consultants on her team.

It seems high because it's early in the school year. Less than 90% attendance is always a trigger but as the term progresses her attendance will go up as long as she doesn't have many more absences. Later in the year 2 days would not trigger below 90% provided she had had good attendance during the year.

My little one was in foundation when she got chicken pox. Teacher told us how many days she had to have off so we kept her off for that amount. Then one of her last scabs started causing conjunctivitis in her eye teacher says another two days off.
Then in parents evening I got a grilling for why she had these days off.😡

youare

Why would anyone send a letter that arsey unless they were deliberately trying to be confrontational?

Well hopefully they wouldn't Rhonda. But that's the point of being tempted to write something. Once you've thought it you realise things seem a massive deal but yet actually they aren't.
Very annoying and often overkill and just a box ticking exercise.

But actually it as major as first thought!

But just a box ticking exercise.
Not as major as first thought

we got a letter saying his attendance was 50% and we would be investigated by the LEA and would probably go to prison

Of course you did.

I would be pissed off.

Attendance awards can be useful. My son got one for 100% attendance for years 7-11. He was only child in and got certificate presented by mayor and voucher. When he applied for part time job told he was taken on because manager impressed with attendance award.

How rediculous some of these schools are , I do not agree with good attendance prizes treats etc it is not fair to children who have got health issues , bet a lot of them would rather be at school every day than having a long term illness !!!

2 days off in the 30 teaching days so far is 96% attendance. If your child is at 89% they are below the governments minimum guide of 92% and have had more than 2days off. At 89% you have triggered intervention from the attendance officer from the LEA. Further absence is likely to be met with a warning letter and possibly a meeting. You will need to be showing medical proof of any further illness. Sorry, but this is just the way it is.