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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To disagree with 100% attendance awards

120 replies

user1498912461 · 20/01/2018 10:34

I completely disagree with 100% attendance awards. They reward the kids who are lucky enough not to get sick and punish the ones that are unfortunate enough to get ill. This year DS has had a nasty bout of flu, a vomiting bug and he banged his head very badly on the concrete in school so we had to keep him off. None of this is his fault but he will never get one of these certificates. What about kids who have to go to hospital or have a condition? It just seems unfair. I have also overhead many mums talking in the yard about how their child was crying all night with a ear infection or was up with D and V and they still send them in! So aibu to hate the things?

OP posts:
Somerville · 20/01/2018 16:20

I have no idea why they haven't been ruled discriminatory yet. Discriminatory to children with disabilities, with long-term health conditions, to child carers and to bereaved children.

It was just one more unkind reminder of how unfair life can be, at the end of the year in which my children's father died. Their attendance was, unsurprisingly, low - but they'd put 100% effort in to managing to get back to school/concentrate on lessons/learning to play a full part in school life again, despite everything.
The head suggested keeping them out of the final assembly, because she felt so guilty about it. Hmm

Skarossinkplunger · 20/01/2018 16:50

We give them out weekly (small treat) and then 1/2 termly (£10 voucher). They work for the kids who might decide that the can’t be arsed to go in on say a Friday, the day we give them out. I’ve spoken to the kids about them and they really do get motivated by them and make them think twice about truanting or pretending they’re ill.

I get that it’s hard for the ones that are truly
poorly but you can’t win everything.

JassyRadlett · 20/01/2018 16:54

We give them out weekly (small treat) and then 1/2 termly (£10 voucher). They work for the kids who might decide that the can’t be arsed to go in on say a Friday, the day we give them out. I’ve spoken to the kids about them and they really do get motivated by them and make them think twice about truanting or pretending they’re ill.

How old are the kids in question?

I’d say that these awards are totally pointless for most of not all of primary at least.

Skarossinkplunger · 20/01/2018 16:54

Somerville you could
Make that argument for any prize though. There’s always going to be some children who can’t achieve some things that other children can. Sports days, story writing competitions, maths prizes.

Skarossinkplunger · 20/01/2018 16:55

We have from Primary to Year 11. There has been an improvement in attendance since we introduced them.

JassyRadlett · 20/01/2018 16:57

There has been an improvement in attendance since we introduced them.

Uniformly across age groups?

What level of improvement? Honestly curious. Were the awards the only thing to change?

Skarossinkplunger · 20/01/2018 16:59

Our attendance has risen overall by 10% since the last academic year. It’s not been the only thing to change. But the kids talk positively about it.

TeenTimesTwo · 20/01/2018 17:03

Skar I'm interested too whether this is all year groups.
Also, is that 10% as in 50->60% or 10% as in 50->55%?

MrsLinManuelMiranda · 20/01/2018 17:05

None of this is his fault but he will never get one of these certificates A child who is not very academic may not pass any exams- the above sentence could also apply to them. An attendance award may well be the only achievement a less able child gets at school.

SauvignonBlanche · 20/01/2018 17:13

YANBU at all, they're quite ridiculous, I'd be fuming if our school introduced something so mean-spirited.

RainyApril · 20/01/2018 17:14

You can say that about any award.

Some kids will never have the ability to achieve for academic subjects, sport, drama or music but nobody suggests they're not fair.

I

rightknockered · 20/01/2018 17:18

YANBU in the slightest. My dd's primary class teacher has started handing out sweets to children following a full week's attendance. Last week my dd developed a temperature in class and didn't eat her lunch, I wasn't called to collect her. Another child threw up in the playground, and was kept in school. In previous years teachers would have panicked about how long parents are taking to pick up their ill children.

eggsandwich · 20/01/2018 17:26

I really think attendance awards need a re-think I’ve never agreed with them, my Dd is in year 10 and so far this year she has got two 100% certificates which in all the years she been at school she’s never had 100% attendance.

I’ve said to her it great that she’s well enough to attend school but if your ill and need time off to get well then so be it. Two years ago she was diagnosed with coeliac disease and prior to her diagnosis she kept getting ill, finally it came to a head and she was just keeping above the required acceptable attendance which was luck more than anything, unfortunately some children catch everything and rather than sending them into school and passing it on it’s better to keep them off.

EggysMom · 20/01/2018 17:26

Our son attends school, on time, every day that is possible. We don't keep him away on the flimsiest excuse - generally if he is off sick, he's off after school telephoning and asking us to pick him up when we've sent him in! (colds, not d&v). He's never 'late' as he travels on school transport.

But he'll never get an attendance record because of those sickness days. Personally I don't think that's fair. If school won't have him there with a bad cold - which I'd agree is sensible - they shouldn't penalise him for that.

Slightlyperturbedowlagain · 20/01/2018 17:31

I do and I don’t think YABU. Maximum should be a certificate, and not lots of fuss, I don’t agree with parties, trips etc as there are children who really can’t manage 100% attendance and that is very unfair. It does seem to have an impact on the ‘stay off with a runny nose for 5 weeks every year’ brigade though. Almost everything held up at school is not something children can control -sport, academic achievement, musical or acting prowess. I guess a good primary school would reward resilience, hard work and effort etc, but there is a bit of a trend at ours for the difficult child who very unusually tried hard for half an hour one day instead of bothering the child next to him getting a certificate for effort when the one who quietly gets on with everything every day goes unrecognised forever and feels unvalued.

DearSergio · 20/01/2018 17:40

At my Dds school, if her whole class are in and on time they get a treat on Friday afternoons ( pj party or biscuit party etc ) but it puts alot of pressure on the kids to be in, so the others don't miss out. My dd6 had a horrible viral flu bug after new year and missed the first day back plus a few more days, she had d&v too so she couldn't possibly have gone in but she was still so upset that she had let her class down Sad too much pressure is put on them for 100% attendance

DearSergio · 20/01/2018 17:41
  • if her whole class are in all week and on time i mean
BeyondThePage · 20/01/2018 17:51

My youngest came home before Christmas saying "I got a certificate for turning up again mum..."

"oh - and best of year for Physics... "

she's SEVENTEEN!!

as if she needs a bit of paper to tell her she has turned up at school as required and been lucky enough to not be ill.

BeyondThePage · 20/01/2018 17:51

My youngest came home before Christmas saying "I got a certificate for turning up again mum..."

"oh - and best of year for Physics... "

she's SEVENTEEN!!

as if she needs a bit of paper to tell her she has turned up at school as required and been lucky enough to not be ill.

my2bundles · 20/01/2018 17:52

Speaking as the mother of a child who has spent his whole life in and out if hospital yes they are unfair. He will never get to go on the hugely glorified picnic because he was unlucky enough to have a condition which requires regular hospital appointments, they are not just unfair they are cruel.

my2bundles · 20/01/2018 17:52

Speaking as the mother of a child who has spent his whole life in and out if hospital yes they are unfair. He will never get to go on the hugely glorified picnic because he was unlucky enough to have a condition which requires regular hospital appointments, they are not just unfair they are cruel.

my2bundles · 20/01/2018 17:53

Speaking as the mother of a child who has spent his whole life in and out if hospital yes they are unfair. He will never get to go on the hugely glorified picnic because he was unlucky enough to have a condition which requires regular hospital appointments, they are not just unfair they are cruel.

Skarossinkplunger · 20/01/2018 17:54

I maintain that they are no less discriminatory than other awards. Do we stop our pupils competing at cross-country, because we have a child who has a heart-condition and can’t compete? Do we stop having spelling tests with prizes because we have a number of dyslexic children?

RandomUsernameHere · 20/01/2018 17:59

I didn't realise they did this, but YANBU. Also, if the parents choose to take a child out of school for a holiday, for example, then that is not the child's fault.

MiaowTheCat · 20/01/2018 18:02

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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