Just received a letter informing (threatening?) possibility of referral to educational welfare service re: attendance - AIBU?

[iscott17]

Just received a letter informing (threatening) 'possible referral to educational welfare service' - DS attendance was '94.39' - 'below school attendance target of 96+%' (Sept til now).

Part of this was due to SCHOOL sending him home for mandatory 48 hours absence when he puked in lunch room.

Have requested a meeting with headteacher - tempted to go in all guns blazing, esp when checking school attendance policy on the school website which says 'letters will be sent to parents when attendance falls below 90%'. AIBU? Any suggestions/recommendations on how to deal with this (short of ripping headteacher's head off!)

My ds is year 9.
So far this term he’s had 2 desperate days off and missed registration for a hospital appointment.

That’s 5/104 sessions missed by my calculations?

So attendance is 95.3.

I may get a letter? Especially as ds also will miss a morning next week for another hospital appointment.

If I get a letter then I’ll email politely and also ore earn them he’s been referred to a surgeon so will have another missed session and possibly another few weeks off.

Schools are following guidelines - the guidelines and cut offs and ‘one size fits all’ attitude to attendance is shit. But that’s government policy NOT schools themselves.

I managed to do the school run with real flu so I'd certainly have picked up £100 in cash

But I'd have ignored the same £100 with:

• mastitis
• pneumonia a day later than the school run day
• bronchitis any time

or indeed on Saturday with this fucking cold when I went to bed for four hours. Definitely not flu; £100 test inside out.

Schools are constantly harassed about attendance by LAs and Ofsted. If your DC go to a smaller school (especially in an area where the LA has a stick up its arse about attendance) there will be even more pressure, because schools are judged on their overall attendance figures - so one kid in a single-form school class of 30 off for three days with the shits makes a bigger impact than a kid off for a week with chickenpox in a five-form entry where there are 150 in the year group.
Ignore the letter. It's not the school;sfault.

Exactly the same people who complain about these letters would complain if they actually got referred to an EWO if they hadn't had sufficient warning that attendance was dropping to levels where an alert should be made.

splendide
An old colleague shared it with me and the principle is pretty good. It's not about being physically incapacitated. It's about how unwell you feel.

Headache vs migraine - when i have a migraine i'm not getting up and about unless it's essential. I don't get how I read threads where people claim they have a migrane but are sat online.
Cold vs flu - a bad cold can make you feel like rubbish and flu is awful. If you've got it bad you'll probably be capable of getting up and moving, but would probably avoid it. Whereas a bit under the weather with a cold and feeling a little bit achey isn't really time-off worthy.
It doesn't cover all things but it's a fairly useful guide for the differenve between being genuinely unwell vs being a little rough around the edges and just taking yime off.
youarenotkiddingme
I wouldn't worry about it.
Schools have to keep an eye on attendance and often that's decided centrally (with thr letters).
No school i've worked in has ever taken action for medical situations or appointments like yours. I have a severly ill child on my class list this year and have never met him. He will stay on roll and school will arrange alternative education until he can return. No action taken at all for 0% attendance.

A bout of illness won't trigger action either in my experience.

The people who end up going to attendance panel and having action taken are people who repeatedly fail to ensure their child attends school.
So in the last year or so i'm thinking:
Students who miss a day a week regularly
Students who are off 2-3 days regularly
Students who routinely miss mondays/fridays or first/last days of half terms

Why does them being automatically generated make them ok?

www.5rb.com/case/ferguson-v-british-gas-trading-ltd/

the Court of Appeal accepted that there can be liability for harassment even if the material is automatically generated such, as in this case, by computer

even though the lady in this case had received a lot of letters, it's not ok to send out threatening letters and then hide behind the fact they're automatically generated, somebody needs to have drafted them in the first place.

Years ago I received a letter effectively accusing me of having committed a criminal offence. When I complained, they said it was "automatically generated". I referred them to this case and told them to reword their letters. I didn't receive an apology, but I didn't receive any more defamatory letters, either. I also hope that nobody else in similar situation did.

OP: don't go in all guns blazing but make sure the EWO knows that part of the absence was dictated by the school (though wasn't that authorised?)

We have had points where at the end of the year ds attendance has been in the 70s.

I did have one run in with the school attendance officer when she phoned me to see where he was when we were waiting for him to go to surgery which the school where well aware of. However otherwise somehow School have managed to avoid any EWO contact - mind boggles how but I assume the fact I keep them informed every step of the way helps?

I know when we get the termly attendance letter in the next couple of weeks ds will be in the 80s. I also know he is in school whenever he can be. The letter will be looked at out of vague interest as to what the number is and then shredded. The only time I keep them is if a dla renewal is due as they get sent off with the evidence then!

The thing is poor attendance is a genuine concern.

Of course. But it shouldn't be a concern when a child has been off for three days of which two were correctly demanded by the school.

ceto
I've already said that I wouldn't have sent the letter the OP has had until attendance was below 90%

I got this too for ds yesterday. Meh - bin fodder. He had a nasty virus where he was shivering and sweating and could barely move. Ironic thing was what pushed him under the 95% was a school trip, marked as authorised absence

If you know your absences pass the £100 test (if therr was £100 on the floor on the other side of the room) and they're really ill then over time, once they've been at school more, their attendance wouldn't drop low again.

What utter nonsense. I was taking my DCs to the park one afternoon when I was ill. I'd have easily passed the £100 test. Shame I still ended up in resus that night though eh?

Yes some parents pull a fast one but you're listing three examples out of a school of how many pupils? Presumably you trust the rest of the parents to be sensible and judge when their child is ill enough to need to be kept off school.

Perspective is everything.

it's not ok to send out threatening letters and then hide behind the fact they're automatically generated, somebody needs to have drafted them in the first place.

DCs old school used to bother me until they realised I worked in the legal field. Soon realised I was one to 'argue back'. Politely of course.

Yes some parents pull a fast one but you're listing three examples out of a school of how many pupils? Presumably you trust the rest of the parents to be sensible and judge when their child is ill enough to need to be kept off school.
Because I'm totally going to list loads of cases just to satisfy someone stranger online
Attendance at my school is above the national average. We are very sensible with how we deal with absence and how we support long term absentees for medical reasons. Equally, we do take action against piss takers.

I absolutely think common sense should prevail on not attending work/school. I'm not a fan of 100% attendance awards etc but do understand why it's important to keep an eye on attendance.

I'll be honest though. Even in a school with good attendance, if I was off work as often as some of our piss takers I would be on absence monitoring within 12 weeks.

Some places I've worked absenteeism has been ridiculous. One of my first tutor groups attendance between 86-90% was the norm. So it was normal to miss a minimum og 1 day a fortnight.

I never asked you to list loads of other cases MaisyPops

I'm simply saying perspective is everything. For the three you mention they'll be 30 more with genuine reasons.

I would calm down. You are both on the same side here: making sure your child is happy and getting a good education. No reason to get aggressive. Play nicely, it will lead you to much better outcome.

JonSnowsWife
Sorry, I read it like you were suggesting there's probably only 3 piss takers.

I agree with you. Most will be totally legitimate.

The thing with schools (which is both sad and understandable at the same time) is that we have to view situations and procedures from the perspective of the most vulnerable child.

E.g. A y10 student made a joke about a risk taking activity. I spoke to thrm and explained that I have to pass that on. The student even said 'you don't seriously think i'm stupid enough to do that, do you?!' and seemed quite upset that I would think og him that way. I confirmed I didn't think he would do it. But if he did and I hadn't flagged it up then I'd be the one having my professionalism questioned. He left still thinking that it was a waste of my time flagging it up but I still did because some students do engage in that activity and it puts them at risk.

Attendance, safeguarding concerns etc are all in the area. Sure, some people will love to complain about how the nanny state is intruding and act like some personal victim, but if a few generic attendance letters as part of monitoring attendance means a child at risk ends up being identified and can be helped then it's absolutely worth it in my eyes.

So to the op who wrote about the £100 test.

What a twatty comment to make.

My dd has severe anxiety and School is causing her many issues.
Camhs has a waiting list so long she will be waiting to be assessed for 3/4 months
Her GP is trying to push her up the list because she is deteriorating.

SHE COULD EASILY PICK UP £100 BUT STILL NOT WALK INTO SCHOOL SOME DAYS! FFS

ihatethecold
Oh dear me.
It's clearly discussing whether someone is poorly or has the snuffles.

But hey, as with anything on school threads there's always a couple who get irate all 'BUT MT CHILD....'

So, for what seems like the millionth time on a whole range of attendance threads of late:
if your child has some kind of ongoing medical issue or a situation which requires additional support or extenuating circumstanes then I'm sute you have informed school, they are aware and can support accordingly. If there is a specific situation then obviously there are allowances and adjustments that can (and do!) get made.

Dear me. Sometimes I read these threads and feel bloody thankful that I work in a school that is sensible, we take no action on kids with medical needs who have less than 25% attendance, we facilitiate suppoet for those with anxiety and mental health needs, have additional arrangements for people with medical conditions and yet still manage to promote the message that if you just feel a little under the weather then you still attend but if you are properly poorly then you stay off (aka the £100 principle). Most parents support us. Parents of kids with extra needs support us and want their kids here.

Unsurprisingly, wr have attendance that is better than the national average. Who'd have thought common sense works.

Every school has an attendance target from the government. Ours is 96% . Any student whose attendance falls below that, gets a letter. It's automatic. If the letters don't get sent, and the school cannot show what we are doing to improve attendance, it affects their OFSTED rating. So, by all means get angry that school is letting parents know about their child's low attendance. Just make sure that when you choose your child's next school you ignore their OFSTED grading, won't you?

My comment was aimed at the op who said about the £100, not at schools in general.
I get why they send letters, and my dd’s school does when you go below 95% but there are lots of reasons why a child may not be in school. Not just physical illness’s.

The guilt trip through receiving these letters can be so unhelpful.

They're automatically generated. My mum got one threatening to take her to court because my youngest brother has severe special needs and has a lot of days off because of hospital admissions and medical appointments so his attendance fell to 84% one year. The LEA just apologised and said special schools and children with SEN weren't considered when doing attendance figures.

"The guilt trip through receiving these letters can be so unhelpful."

No, you shouldn't feel guilty at all, if you have reason for low attendance.
I can see why people get upset, since I did get upset first time.
School is just trying to do the best for all, it's not something you should
feel guilty about or worried, unless you have reason to be.

ihatethecold
That was me.
And I still think it's a useful gague to use (obviously it doesn't apply for everything but then nothing does e.g. mental health) because the principle is 'there is a differene between feeling a bit under the weather and being poorly'.

E.g. I get migraines. They are horrible. I am capable of getting up and going to the bathroom/making a drink etc but to be honest I feel so crap that I wouldn't be getting up to pick £100 off the floor.

A parent with flu might be in a total state but would still feel the need to haul themselves to do the school run because needs must but they wouldn't be up and about if it could be avoided.

Both those 2 situations are different from 'so and so has a headache' or 'so and so has the snuffles' so we'll keep them off.

I don't agree with 100% attendanve awards.
I think that abrubt letters at 95% is unnecessary.
But I also have spent too long in schools seeing kids miss out because home enable them to miss education.
E.g. i havr a gcse student who we are tracking in detail. She misses at least one lesson a week. That's enough that she lacks the info to do next lesson's work and she ends up always behind. That's totally different to child b (who was off poorly for 3 days but otherwise a good attender) who emailed me asking for catchup work in case she was better over the weekend.

My ds's attendance fell under 85% one year, we never had problem with school.
Recently ds had appointment at hospital, school signed off him as absent for whole day. I brought him back to school at 1:45 in the afternoon, purely because he wanted to go.
If you have mutual understanding with school that you are doing the best for your dc, they are really helpful, and you have nothing to worry about, ime.

irvineoneohone
It's nice to hear some common sense here.
In my experiences schools are generally reasonable even if they are bound by LA regulations etc.
If people are up front with school, follow sickness guidelines, keep school informed of any conditions which mean adjustmebts have to be made etc and aren't taking the piss etc then whilst they may be bound by LA rules to send a letter, they don't do anything more because they know it's not an issue.