To be annoyed at attendance letters from school

[PumpkinPiloter]

We have just received another letter from school about DS1 attendance.

The letter states that as his attendance has dropped since the last letter we need to make an appointment with the head teacher or be referred to the Education Welfare Service.

DS1 suffers from bouts of tonsillitis so does have a fair few absences we would also rather keep him home when he is poorly and try to make the best judgement call we can.

The last period they have judged him on was the 2 weeks before the school broke up for Christmas so even though he had 2 days off this has led to an 87% attendance rate.

We both feel that if other parents were more diligent about keeping their children at home when they were poorly our son would not catch as many bugs.

For background DS1 is in primary and is in the top few of the class across all subjects for attainment and effort. DD2 has had 1 day off sick since the start of the school year in September as she just does not catch as many bugs/suffer from tonsillitis like her brother.

It grates me the way that it seems that laws seem to be drawn up for the few percent of the population that do not parent effectively as opposed to the vast majority of parents who do.

I understand to a certain extent that this is a tick boxing exercise from the school but can they are fully aware of his health issues and that he works hard and is way above the national average for attainment.

Surely in a sane world some discretion should be used when sending out threatening letters and wasting everyone's time.

Thetrees,

That is a completely valid point. Given that, do you think it is worth it at a national level given the link (at a statistical level, not at an individual child level necessarily) between attendance and academic success? Or would it be better not to focus on attendance but spend that money on other things?

I had one of these too last week. My DS suffers with suspected IBS which has caused havoc with the 48 no school post vomit rule.

I made an app with headteacher and it was fine. We discussed how to get him formally diagnosed. I found school really supportive tbh. Good luck

cant I want and expect polite letters from my dc's schools, full stop. I will always be happy to explain any absence but I do not want the schools default position to be the assumption that parents are lying. If they are not happy with a parent's explanation then they can involve the ewo and the parent can deal with them. But stroppy letters, threatening legal action from the off and demanding meetings with no consideration for the parent's work commitments is rude and unnecessary and does not foster good relations between home and school. The time to send more forceful letters is if no explanation comes from the parent and attendance is droping. In all fairness you cannot calculate it over a couple of weeks, to see patterns emerging it has to be monitored over time.
The vast majority of parents want the best for their dc. You cannot treat everyone like criminals, because a small minority are.

If a school cannot even refer to a child's file and establish whether they have long term illnesses before hassling parents, they are not fit to deal with attendance issues.

I would not agree to a school talking to my child's gp - I see that as an invasion of their privacy. It is massively overstepping and besides it is not practical to expect doctors to supply evidence to schools, they are too busy for all that.

Basically, I think there is a lot to be said for manners - schools are full of highly educated people and I think they can manage to strike the right balance if they are so inclined.

Many years ago I worked as a legal officer doing non school attendance prosecutions. The Council I worked for had many steps before it got anywhere near Legal Services, and only to court if the parent pretty much didn't care about education at all. we needed all the letters so that when the parent said no one offered any help or that their child was bullied and they didn't have a chance to say so I had the evidence at court of the multiple letters offering meetings or asking parent to explain.

The one that stands out was a parent of a 7 year old with no SEN and I think below 50% attendance- "my child doesn't want to go and I can't make her". (The Magistrates questioned how she got DC to do other things and she had heard of taking away toys, no treats, just wasn't using them.)

Things were getting stricter nationally and presumably locally when I stopped that type of work so maybe that's why there are quite so many letters together with not wanting to be the people that missed something like a child being abused.

I know the feeeling. Have had a fair few of these with ds2 having vomiting.
The problem is he vomits, so has he a bug, eaten something that doesn't agree with him, eaten too much or drunk too much? (When I say drunk too much, he's free to get bottled water out of the porch st any time, and I've known him get through three bottles before bed only because I later find the empty bottles) he then goes to bed, lies den and is sick.
I then phone school and I am told to keep him off for 48 hours incase.
Today was a prime example, he was feeling sick this morning and his tummy hurt. But hadn't been sick. 11pm I pick up my mobile (I was now 35 miles from school) could I fetch him he'd been sick, I couldn't do dad had to leave work to get him.
So although he hasn't been sick since, I still have to keep him home for two days.

No point in blaming schools. Blame the government and Ofsted.
Attendance that is below the national average is likely to mean your Inspection grade drops. They check every group of students- boys, girls, disadvantaged, not disadvantaged, SEN, EAL, High, Middle, Low ability. They are particularly interested in the group whose attendance is less than 90% and those just above 90%. Only over 95% is regarded as good. The school is expected to monitor each group and to be able to demonstrate what action they have taken and the impact of that action.

No point in blaming schools. Blame the government and Ofsted.
Attendance that is below the national average is likely to mean your Inspection grade drops. They check every group of students- boys, girls, disadvantaged, not disadvantaged, SEN, EAL, High, Middle, Low ability. They are particularly interested in the group whose attendance is less than 90% and those just above 90%. Only over 95% is regarded as good. The school is expected to monitor each group and to be able to demonstrate what action they have taken and the impact of that action.

Exactly this! We currently have a very poorly child in our school. Mum keeps us fully up to date with all appointments, surgeries, etc. Child comes to school when they are well enough ..... sometimes just half a day in a week. Attendance is terrible and we HAVE to record that we have had meetings with parents and letters from medical professionals to PROVE that we are doing our best to provide an education to a child who to be harsh, possibly isn't even going to live yo the end of education.

It's heartbreaking but there is no leeway allowed.

Schools have become robots of the nanny state.

No point in blaming schools. Blame the government and Ofsted.
Attendance that is below the national average is likely to mean your Inspection grade drops. They check every group of students- boys, girls, disadvantaged, not disadvantaged, SEN, EAL, High, Middle, Low ability. They are particularly interested in the group whose attendance is less than 90% and those just above 90%. Only over 95% is regarded as good. The school is expected to monitor each group and to be able to demonstrate what action they have taken and the impact of that action.

Exactly this! We currently have a very poorly child in our school. Mum keeps us fully up to date with all appointments, surgeries, etc. Child comes to school when they are well enough ..... sometimes just half a day in a week. Attendance is terrible and we HAVE to record that we have had meetings with parents and letters from medical professionals to PROVE that we are doing our best to provide an education to a child who to be harsh, possibly isn't even going to live yo the end of education.

It's heartbreaking but there is no leeway allowed.

I had a letter at the weekend from attendance and engagement lead at dd's school, dd's attendance is currently 68%. List of demands and expectations etc etc.I emailed them back explaining that had they had any sort of communication in place they would know the current situation.
That I would welcome a referral to educational welfare or a MAT referral because I had asked them to do that when dd's attendance was 80% and dd didn't meet the criteria so if not authorising dd's absences would trigger that then they could stop authorising them. Had phone call from HT later to say they would continue to authorise absences and there would be no referrals made because I was engaging with the school and health services and it wasn't reasonable to expect me to conjure up absence notes when I was still awaiting an appointment from CAMHS six months and three referrals after I raised concerns that dd's anxiety was becoming out of control.
My advice would be to engage with the school because common sense will often prevail after automated letters have been sent out.

I assume that it is generic letter that is sent to all parents\guardians about a decrease in a upils attendance

I expect that the school has a duty of care to investigate and confirm the reason\s for a decrease in attendance and to provide ongoing support if it is needed. An opportunity to discuss with parent and pupil. Especially, if it a reoccurring non attendance

Similar processes occur in the world of work where you have to account for absence. So the process does actually have a bearing on a pupils future

I am aware that there are lots of reasons why children do not attend school

I dont see any reason why you need to be annoyed