To think that attendance awards in primary are mean?

[schooltripwoes]

DCs were distraught (no exaggeration) earlier this term to catch chickenpox, because it meant they had to stay off school and wouldn't be able to get an attendance award. They're 5 & 7.

Their school makes a BIG thing about achieving 100% attendance for the whole year. The 'winners' get an award in the end of year assembly and then go to a special tea party with senior staff on the last day of term. Only 5% of kids achieved 100% this year.

AIBU to think that it's wrong to reward attendance at primary level because generally, kids aren't absent due to anything they control. It's either genuine sickness (which is more prevalent in younger children), or family holidays, which the parents have decided to take. Fair enough to encourage a truant 14-year old, bit not little ones. The kids are so upset when they can't go to school.

Refuse not reduce. Everybody refuse to accept any reward for 100% attendance

There should be a mumsnet campaign for this. It’s awful and it means they are discriminating against children who have disabilities, health conditions and those who just get ill occasionally. Being lucky is the most ridiculous and unfair thing to reward

In schools around here it's a certificate. Kids get certificates for being good citizens, for getting homework in on time, for wearing uniform every day, for participating in sport, for being good at reading. Attendance is just one more certificate. No one gets more than one certificate.

Unless there are special circumstances, attendance is important. Yes, people can't help being sick but many absences aren't down to illness. Absence is so disruptive in a school environment, as it is in employment.

Yanbu, it's just all kinds of wrong and people have been complaining about it for years.

I also think it's wrong at secondary school! My dc have gone years without missing a day at school but if they suddenly get norovirus there's no way I'm going to be sending them in for two days.

And that sort of routine illness takes no account of children with ongoing medical conditions.

Yanbu with knobs on.

Blimey olly, aren’t you a well programmed citizen

bookridden lots of kid ds with physical disabilities or dcd won’t get these either due to medical appointments

I don't know if these Attendance awards and ceremonies are a particularly English thing - I don't know of any schools where I am in Scotland who do this. I was appalled at a recent post on here about a MNetter whose daughter had had to sit and watch her classmates have a treat because she had lost out due to being off ill - that seems so archaic and mean.

Would schools prefer that children go in to school whilst suffering from colds, upset stomachs et in order to keep their perfect attendance? It reminds me of my dad who went to school in the 1930s being made to go to school at all costs to get a book at the end of term. One year he got such a telling off from his mother because he broke his perfect attendance by having chickenpox

These awards are cruel

This is a gross exaggeration IMO.

They do them in my DDs high school. They didn't in primary school.

Those with 100% attendance are read out in front of the the whole year and their parents at the achievement evening.

It is what it is. My DC never received one due to illness. They both had around 98% attendance and do well academically. That's my primary concern.

When my kids do well...I reward them myself.

www.thesun.co.uk/news/6792467/schoolchildren-poor-attendance-watch-children-teachers-free-ice-creams-reward/

It would be really good if more people refused them. I would certainly refuse if my children ever got one. My son had a full 5 weeks off this year for different illnesses and not one day of those five weeks would he have managed school. That’s not his fault!

SandyY2K— Do any of your kids have a disability which means 100% attendance is impossible?

These awards are very cruel.

Ds’ attendance certificates are filed in the bin.

I don't mind if they do certificates for attendance but other rewards like tea parties and bikes aren't right I don't think. My 5 year old's attendance was low this year, 80something % not sure exactly. He has long term medical problems and has been in hospital 3 times this year. We got one of those awful, patronising letters from the school saying that his attendance will be monitored by the educational welfare officer next year and we will have to provide proof of all medical appointments. I have tried my best to make sure he is in school as much as possible and if we are given the choice I ask for afternoon appointments so he can still be marked as present in the register. It's not like he has gone on holiday. I think schools should be able to use their common sense when handing out these letters.

Oh and all the people who say that for some children 100% attendance is all they can achieve. My 12 year old has been awarded house points for academic achievement. He has also been awarded house points for getting no bad behaviour points, helping others, participating in clubs, helping out at open evening, handing in homework on time etc. I don't think there are any children who would get 100% attendance but couldn't get a certificate for anything else.

Here have a certificate for being incredibly lucky and not being sick, diagnosed with a chronic condition or dealing with the loss of a family member.

I suppose it's a lesson for the future as I have also been in jobs where I have been penalised and treated like shit for being in hospital (because I just love it so much there and thought it was an excellent opportunity for a day off)

I don't have children so maybe I'm not allowed to comment on this I don't know. But my friends children are also rewarded if they walk to school 10 miles away which is impossible for their mum as she has to leave straight away to get to work on time ! The kids have actually cried and got really upset saying but we won't get a special mention ! These kids play sports and train a few times a week.

Rewards for doing well in subjects or sports seem a much better way of doing things to me

Deshasafraisy

Do any of your kids have a disability which means 100% attendance is impossible?

No they don't, but even if they did I wouldn't find it cruel, because when it really matters ..disabilities will be taken into account.

At work we give allowances for disability related sickness. We don't progress through the stages and we discount the sickness days. That's when it matters. Not in primary school.

You could say the same for certificates for sporting events, where children with some disabilities don't stand a chance. Are they cruel too?

Some schools stopped this because others became upset....and they started stupid things like start in the middle and run in any direction you want.

So everyone's a winner. That's not reflective of real life.

I really don't place any value on the attendance certificates. At the end of the day the purpose of school is education.

There will be other things given ad rewards like star of the week etc

I understand kids can get upset when they miss out on these awards and prizes... because mine have in the past, but I just distract them and give my own treats when I know they've done well.

My kids have never got one, although the school did do them, and have never cared.

Just teach your kids, by example, to not let this shit bother them.

Blimey olly, aren’t you a well programmed citizen

Nope - just know how challenging it is to keep kids focused on learning when you're playing catch up with 20% of the pupils all the time. And almost none of the absence is illness, special needs or disabilities. It's the chaotic lives a lot of these kids lead and a lack of respect for education.

I agree. I strongly believe that no child should be penalised for being sick. It actually feels a bit sinister...

"Yes, your child should stay home / that's the school reglement."

Come awards day: "you stayed home when you were sick. We're therefore punishing you for following the school rules and getting sick!"

I agree. It should not be seen as a bad thing to have time off when you are ill!!!! Would the staff rather they came in and infected the other kids/teachers?

SandyY2K except the schools don’t, which you would know if you had a SEN child or a child with a disability.

ollyb that is a terrible generalisation. You really haven't a clue. Fact.

I'm a primary school teacher and I think it is ridiculous. I hate seeing poorly children in school, whether it is a cough or a cold or a tummy ache (don't get me started on conjunctivitis, diarrhoea or acute toothache). They feel miserable, nothing is going in, everything just feels too much and it is massively overwhelming for them. I end up propping them up in the book corner with a pillow and a blanket. And the thing is, everyone else invariably catches it if it is even slightly contagious.
My own kids' attendance is shocking (93% ish) as they both had flu in January and I refused to send them in until they were 100% better. I know that is a luxury though, and that many parents face really tough choices about taking time off work for sick children.

My DC's school do "on time" certificates for kids who were there on time for every day that they attended school. This seems to strike the right balance between supporting the discipline of getting to school without being disruptive but recognising that not every kid is lucky enough to be able to make it in every day.

I should add that most poor attenders in my school are failing to attend school regularly because of their parents' ill health, not their own. For this reason, my local authority do not pursue attendance penalties where parental mental health is a cause for concern for instance. We also support parents with mobility issues, either with parking or with looking at suitable transfers to schools with better transport links.
Ofsted puts a HUGE amount of pressure on schools to be seen to be chasing non-attenders, but it is so rarely the child's fault if their attendance or punctuality is poor.