To think this is fucked up (school 100% attendance)

[cricketmum84]

Recieved this letter from school before the start of term tomorrow.

I have a lovely, well behaved and studious year 8 girl who would love to attend 100%. However she had a bowel condition that causes extreme pain 2-3 days per month, enough so that she is unable to attend school.

Unfortunately she doesn't have the "resilience" needed to get these rewards.

Utter twats.

@FallingRussetLeaves

These were always wrong, but in the middle of a pandemic they're positively perverse.

Indeed.

" Come in with your cough and virus and spread it around school so you can get your pin badge!" Absolutely ridiculous if kids are ill they are ill and need to be off! It's not the kids fault they get ill - really winds me up the 100 per cent attendance awards etc. Kids get ill and have health issues it's a fact of life. I'd be angry to OP.

I wonder how they'll be squaring that with the equalities act of 2010?

This is discriminatory and I hate these awards. A letter to the Head is in order pointing out their obligations under the equality act not to discriminate against those with disabilities, and their moral duty not to penalise children with SEN or chronic illnesses (or indeed other problems at home or school refusal).

These attendance awards are seriously shit and should be outlawed.

Our old school used to have an attendance award but “authorised” absences for medical reasons weren’t counted. It was a secondary school and mostly counted against students who walked very slow to lessons and hung around corridors too long. Their attendance was affected by any lates to lessons in the day. I think some students had holidays and that counted against them too. Overall, seemed to work quite well. If schools are doing this and counting absences for medical reasons against children, how can they possibly claim that’s fair to children with health issues???

I was really hoping that the 100% attendance bollocks would have been done away with after the past year and a half.
I would definitely make a complaint OP, if your daughter has a medical condition which excludes her from being able to be part of this "club" then it is discrimination.

100% attendance is ridiculous. Kids get sick, hurt themselves, have appointments etc etc.
You will also get the Pushy Parent who sends their kid in every single day regardless of whether they are ill or not and end up spreading around something infectious.
My children's school did do attendance certificates, but it was 90% which was a bit more achievable. Also, it was just a certificate and no special club or badges. Both my children have missed out on it, one due to out-patients appointments due to a broken arm and the other for regular hospital check ups for his eyes. It's not been a big deal.

How can they do this when loads of students will be coming down with covid. Both of mine are missing their first week back at school because they are NOT ALLOWED to go to school, so should they be punished for that?

That is disgraceful.

Children who skip school are never going to be lured in by a "pin badge" to wear to mark them out as teacher's pets. Some might even skip school to lose the need to wear the badge "with pride".

At the very least, it promotes coming into school to spread things to others and make more children miss valuable education.

At the the most it discriminates against children who have disabilities, medical appointments or no choice due to all manner of reasons.

I hated this kind of thing when I was a teacher. I have been a head of year and an assistant head and obviously I understand the importance of good attendance. But this kind of measure is so bloody lazy and as many have said, verging on cruel for some children. The reasons for poor attendance are so complex and usually tied in either with safeguarding or health issues. These students don’t need to be made to feel bad because they can’t be part of a horrible little ‘club’. This will NEVER work as an incentive for poor attenders because a badge doesn’t cure illness or stop a child being neglected etc. And those few ‘naughty’ kids who are truanting for the sake of it (I don’t think I ever came across one of these in my career, but playing devils advocate and assuming they do exist somewhere), will not give two shits about being in the 100% attendance club!! This school wants something they can tell Ofsted they are doing to improve attendance. Ofsted will see straight through it. They’ll never be able to present the evidence to prove its working, because it won’t work. It also smacks of a ‘project’ a member of staff is working on to get some kind of leadership qualification. They’ll just end up faking or manipulating some stats at the end. Can you tell this makes me cross?!

Surely this is actually discriminatory from a legal perspective? Disabled students are far more likely to have medical appointments that prevent them from achieving these awards.

Attendance targets are discrimination

Schools aren’t meant to include medical appts but they often do

I think there should be a different target for anyone with medical or similar issues so if it’s 97% for others maybe 90% for those with disabilities or medical issues before attendance sanctions creep in.

I have a dd with asthma. She had times in primary school when it was difficult to control, requiring hospitalisation, so she missed a lot of school. Totally beyond her control and nothing to do with resilience.
When her asthma was bad she was prone to catching everything going.
When she was younger the daughter of a proud member of the 'send them to school regardless' club came to school with a stinking cold and raging conjunctivitis. My dd caught it and ended up extremely unwell. Presenteeism is nonsense.

Another vote for equalities act. This rewards kids with badges and fun days for not having medically conditions. If you have a medical condition or disability you have no chance of taking part no matter how hard you try.

Who bunks off primary school anyway? If your the sort parent can’t be bothered wake up after half term and have day off your kids getting a badge isn’t going change that. Ditto if you only chance of holiday is week before half term would you prefer week in sun or day out rain mile away from home with your class?

Write to Governors asking how this is fair and how excludes some children least make protest noticed. Head teachers can’t just ignore then. Least could do is have some sort bravery award for kids who constantly sick yet push them selves to come in which in fairness they usually do.

Load of bollocks. My dds primary school has a weekly "tea with the headteacher" if they have been good all week. When I was at primary school I never wanted to be near the scary head never mind tea with her!

When covid cases are still rising this is utter lunacy!

I’m really curious to see if schools with these programs end up with higher rates of covid, flu, and other illnesses.

I’m in another country, but it I were local, I might think about calling my health department and suggesting they look into that. The Covid and flu stats likely already exist so it’s really just a matter of getting the information on school attendance programs. Could also make an interesting graduate thesis, but The human subjects review issues probably are too much of a headache for a student to deal with.

It’s awful for children with disabilities or long term health conditions. It’s madness with covid too.
I’d really be tempted to ask how fits in with their covid risk assessment.

Why these policies are not considered disability discrimination is beyond me!

Anyway, how are they going to do this with Covid?

Also dd is going to miss 10 days in primary 2 for a family holiday that my parents are paying for. She'll be 5. So she won't get 100% then. Am I bothered? Not particularly.

Awful loads of kids get coughs and temps. So impossible with covid.
Plus my dc have caught 3 colds from school last year.
Otherwise dc did have 100% one year. Its pure luck whether they catch a stomach bug.
Otoh though one of dc friends gets a nervous stomach so maybe a minor award might help them push through

God,I remember the shit show when a parent pulled her kid out from school to go to Spain for ten days (I’m going back a few years)
He got an 100% attendance award that year
My son didn’t as he’d been in hospital with a broken arm and had been admitted overnight
It’s a joke-‘we’ll done for showing up and spreading your germs so other kids catch them’
Really winds me up-get em doled out for a childs strength not this crap

Good to encourage attendance, what with us still being in a pandemic / endemic.

Twats

That is absurd. Yanbu!

@Clymene

And at a time when Covid cases are going through the roof, it seems particularly unwise to encourage children to come to school when they're unwell

That's exactly what I was thinking. I already think many are putting coughs down as a mild cold and going about their business to avoid loosing money by isolating.

What on earth are they thinking?

Utter wank