Really bloody sick of schools going on about attendance.

[TheMuggleStruggle]

I have 4 kids. Eldest is in college.
We have NEVER been pulled up for attendance prior to 2020. Never. Always had over 97%, for each child every year.

2020 they were hardly in school alongside the whole coubtry. But attended when they were open.

2021. Well since September it's been an utter shit show. We had symptomless covid, which meant we had to isolate 10 days from PCR test.

They seem to have had every cold and stomach bug known to man.
One of DS's bust his knee and couldn't put any pressure on it for 3 days.

And I think the pressure of everything that's been going on really affected DD, who has SEN, and she's had a few days off when she's just been hysterical and so, so tired.

So I've had letters from 2 different schools about attendance. And I know DS college aren't happy with his.

But we've gone 12 years so far, with 4 different kids having constant attendance certificates awarded and it's not intentional!

What are we supposed to do if they have a temp/couch/have vomited when we are getting letters saying keep them home if they do?!

It pisses me off even more when they had the schools shut for half the year. They know things aren't normal right now.

Just fed up of worrying when someone gets a bug that I'm going to be threatened with another letter or even a fine!

Also another son has ongoing stomach issues which GP is investigating, which I strongly suspect is anxiety due to all that gone on lately!

Ignore the bloody letters.
I do.

I had a phone call about one of mine once, they wanted proof that she was ill. I asked if they’d like me to bring in a bag of vomit. Apparently there was no need to go that far. They never asked again 🤣

Just ignore them.

@GoodnightGrandma

I had a phone call about one of mine once, they wanted proof that she was ill. I asked if they’d like me to bring in a bag of vomit. Apparently there was no need to go that far. They never asked again 🤣

😂 That's brilliant!

Oh I got a phone call too.
Ask what you're supposed to do - if they're ill there ill.
It's all to do with targets and nothing to do with pupil welfare and that's not my priority.

It's not personal. The school are obliged to monitor attendance and engage with parents on it.

Schools are heavily under pressure to monitor attendance for various reasons. The most important one is safeguarding. Did you hear about Arthur, who wasn’t attending school when he was murdered by his father’s partner? Please give the schools a break, they’re damned if they do chase up attendance, and dammed if they don’t.
If you can justify why your children have been off school then why stress about it?

@FindingMeno

Oh I got a phone call too. Ask what you're supposed to do - if they're ill there ill. It's all to do with targets and nothing to do with pupil welfare and that's not my priority.

It is totally to do with children’s welfare. Schools are now obliged to contact parents who don’t contact school to notify their child’s absence. Should we just leave it, until we have another dead child???

@GoodnightGrandma

I had a phone call about one of mine once, they wanted proof that she was ill. I asked if they’d like me to bring in a bag of vomit. Apparently there was no need to go that far. They never asked again 🤣

Pathetic response to someone who’s following agreed safeguarding procedures; that kind of response will just make you look like an arse.

It's totally to do with welfare, yes they need to have students in as much as possible but crikey.
In our school phone calls go home if students are absent without a parent calling in. If unable to contact by telephone, a home visit is then done. If we still can't see the child or speak to the parent, a safeguard referral may be done.

Realise that's missing the point of the post, I feel for you, but you can justify all absences so don't fret too much x

Every time they have a fever or cough you get a pcr as they have to isolate with symptoms until negative. Always forward the negative pcr results to the school. Any evidence you have at all you forward to the school.

You also count yourself lucky that your children have thus far been healthy and campaign against attendance certificates/ awards which some children will never attain due to sheer misfortune. Yes my child has missed quite a lot of school, but until they bring an A&E department to the school to fix every dislocation and until the consultants start doing consultations in school my child can never attain 100%. Except during lockdown- 100% attendance!

@Soontobe60 If it was effective in safeguarding that poor child might still be alive?
However, it does make me pause for thought.
Maybe I'm overreacting as a frustrated parent.

My son had tummy problems for a year before we finally found out what was causing it. He often had diarrhea at school and so would be sent home for 48 hours. I would then get letters saying his attendance needed to improve.

This is all on central instruction from DfE or similar. I've noticed our little ones' school is all of a sudden publishing class attendance rates in the weekly newsletter and praising any class that manages to get 100%. All well and good yet one of mine children's class teacher has been off for weeks now, reading books have stopped being changed, no spellings set, and not a word.

@Soontobe60 actually I've thought on more.
You're right.
I need to remember that it's not a lot to tolerate if there's any chance at all of an abused child being helped.
Well pointed out. Its not up to me to assess the effectiveness of these measures, but instead I should be glad of anything being done that may help.

One of our admins was nearly in tears because the local authority pulled her up on our attendance records and wanted proof of illness for dozens of kids, which she had, but they seem to not be clever enough to realise that children who have never had a full year of nursery or school MIGHT just get more bugs as soon as they start to mix with other people for the first time in two years. It beggars belief but our head has told parents that sickness is still a valid reason fot absence even if you get a letter from the borough saying you will be fined for absences.

Don't blame the school, blame the DfE and OFSTED.

It's not personal, they could absolutely do without the work it involves and the pressure from above. They could also do without the aggravation and the damage it causes to their relationships with parents. But they have no choice.

@GoodnightGrandma

I had a phone call about one of mine once, they wanted proof that she was ill. I asked if they’d like me to bring in a bag of vomit. Apparently there was no need to go that far. They never asked again 🤣

What a nob you are. Are you like this with customer service people too? The person you spoke to will have to make these calls as part of their (probably low paid) job. S/he has no choice in it nor does s/he get to decide who gets called. And gets treated like shit by you for it.

Did you hear about Arthur, who wasn’t attending school when he was murdered by his father’s partner? Please give the schools a break, they’re damned if they do chase up attendance, and dammed if they don’t.

When will this stop being used as an excuse for everything?

It's all to do with targets and nothing to do with pupil welfare and that's not my priority.

Yep. If it were anything to do with safeguarding, why is abuse still happening because they have been doing this stuff for a long time now.

They sent me a letter about my daughter’s attendance, despite them having all the proof they needed that the 6 weeks she was off was because she was in hospital having surgery, then recovering. I was told it was just an automated letter that a certain percentage triggers. That has fuck all to do with safeguarding.

My child will never get 100% due to hospital appointments and if she's sick then she's sick. I always notify the school of any absence or upcoming appointments and it annoys me when I call in they thank me for keeping her off but then I receive the letters. I understand the schools hands are tied but really think they need to stop punishing kids who have no hope of getting 100%

Blame ofsted.

@BoredZelda

It's all to do with targets and nothing to do with pupil welfare and that's not my priority.

Yep. If it were anything to do with safeguarding, why is abuse still happening because they have been doing this stuff for a long time now.

They sent me a letter about my daughter’s attendance, despite them having all the proof they needed that the 6 weeks she was off was because she was in hospital having surgery, then recovering. I was told it was just an automated letter that a certain percentage triggers. That has fuck all to do with safeguarding.

But lower attendance could indicate a safeguarding issue? Obviously not in your case but it's automated so children don't fall through the cracks. Irritating for you but again, not personal.

Agree with a PP, it's lower paid administration staff who have to chase this up and get the flack from parents (who in many cases are understandably irritated but still) - I often felt so sorry for them when I was teaching.