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!

@saraclara - officious people in school offices who ask ridiculous things from parents deserve to be derided. GP's are not going to want to have a child with a sick bug in their practices, so how else would the parent be able to "prove" the sickness.

We had a letter once a few years ago when one of the children started school (and had every bug going) and I just said that if I ever got one again I'd stop the parent voluntary contribution we paid every year to the school - we never got one again!

The reality is that there has been a marked uptake in schools focussing on attendance in a rigid and inflexible manner since Ofsted started on the prowl again. Safeguarding has always been an issue for childre with low attendance. This uptick has nothing to do with that an everything to do with the shitty target culture that Ofsted and DfE promote.

So I've got 2 kids with 100% attendance and one with something like 20% due to MH and SEN so have become something of an expert by necessity on this.

Don't worry too much OP, schools are being forced to aim for unrealistically high attendance percentage targets and they have to send the letters - automatically generated usually.

You won't get fined unless abscence is unauthorised, and illness reported by parents should automatically be authorised.

Schools are not supposed to ask for medical proof of illness unless they "doubt the veracity of an illness" ie they think you are lying and are in Lanzarote for autumn term or the kids are working in your cafe instead of going to school. In any case the BMA has told Doctors not to provide sick notes for children.

@BoredZelda

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?

Excuse? Can't believe you said that. A child died. Horrifically and it was missed by social services. Schools have to follow up absence for both safeguarding and OFSTED. It's hardly an inconvenience getting a letter. Just bin it.

DD will apparently need "medical evidence" for any more time off, despite being at 89%. I can't get through to the doctors most of the time, but I did manage the other day - the doctor was mystified about what kind of evidence she could provide.

I understand the reasoning but YANBU OP.

It is really frustrating, I know. I was actually called in for the first time to speak with the family support worker last week. First time, in 19 years of parenting.
It's a box-ticking exercise. I adore our school receptionist. She was so apologetic about the letter and the meeting. I totally get it. Her hands are tied. There are no bad guys here. It's just protocol, nothing more.
Initially I was a bit pissed off but you know, sometimes you just have to choose not to let it get to you. It's no big deal. The world keeps turning and all that.

Of course it’s to do with children’s welfare! I work in school admin for a crappy salary and it’s really demoralising when you get the parents sending back snarky replies when you are trying to do your job and ensure the registers are correct and that you have information about why a child isn’t in school.

The whole thing about ‘well schools were shut for months due to Covid’ in my opinion makes it even more important that the children are in school as much as possible to make up for the time they have been out.

And yes there is a lot of Covid / bugs around at the moment, my own children have more time off this term than usual. But what’s the alternative, we stop bothering to monitor attendance? There are procedures in place for a reason.

It feels shit to be “told off” but they have to send the letters. It’s not personal and even though the schools know you and you’ve had great attendance in the past they have to tick the box.

Don’t take it personally. Just ignore it.

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

Because we only hear about the cases where children slip through the net. Plenty of families are helped because a school raised concerns about attendance and timekeeping. Not even just necessarily abusive families, but also parents who are struggling to cope or have other problems that can be addressed.

DD12 got sent home twice by her school for feeling sick. Both times they wouldnt let her back without a PCR, but went back on day 3.

I got a stroppy letter from school as her attendance dropped to 92% (I can't work this out, think shes only had 6 days off in total all year) but THEY sent her home and THEY insisted on a PCR. I thought covid absence didnt count 🤷🏻‍♀️

I was primary teacher in another lifetime and, despite being an infant school where half our children weren’t legally obliged to be in school as they were under 5, our attendance figures were used as part of the Estyn (Welsh ofsted) inspection. Appalling, and one of the areas we needed to show improvement on. Our school admin had to spend stupid amounts of time, publishing a break down of attendance figures by class every week, adding it into our school newsletters and emails, all just to show we were trying to improve something we had no control over.

It’s almost never coming from school itself but from a central directive. Obviously some schools and teachers will be dicks, but largely its government/department led.

DS is 5 and I’m a huge believer in attendance and school and blah blah. He had a week off in the first half term because of a cough/cold/delayed PCR test results, then a week off for a holiday.

This half term, he’s had four days off for one stomach bug and is coming to the end of another four days for another stomach bug. What can you do? If they’re ill, they’re ill!

@Wandamakesporridge

Of course it’s to do with children’s welfare! I work in school admin for a crappy salary and it’s really demoralising when you get the parents sending back snarky replies when you are trying to do your job and ensure the registers are correct and that you have information about why a child isn’t in school.

The whole thing about ‘well schools were shut for months due to Covid’ in my opinion makes it even more important that the children are in school as much as possible to make up for the time they have been out.

And yes there is a lot of Covid / bugs around at the moment, my own children have more time off this term than usual. But what’s the alternative, we stop bothering to monitor attendance? There are procedures in place for a reason.

I sympathise - but does your school demand "medical evidence"? - if so do you have any idea what we might be supposed to provide for this? Because our GPs don't? (Not asking to be snarky - just wondering if you have some useful experience).

@TheMuggleStruggle

YANBU. It is very frustrating getting letters when your child's absence drops below 95%. It's not exactly bloody low is it, if it drops to 93%! Problem is, as has been said, it's just sort of 'automated' so will come out to everyone.

@underneaththeash

We had a letter once a few years ago when one of the children started school (and had every bug going) and I just said that if I ever got one again I'd stop the parent voluntary contribution we paid every year to the school - we never got one again!

I don't even know where to start with that one.

So you blackmailed them so they would stop sending letters about your childrens absence?

Also, not all parents are so negative when we phone them about their child’s attendance. Sometimes they are really glad for the call, they might be struggling with all sorts of issues from bereavement to financial issues to their own health problems. Or their child is having ongoing health issues and they don’t know what to do. We can then refer them to other sources of support that they might not be aware of, arrange for a laptop, work to be sent home. It’s not just a box ticking exercise. Yes you might have a good reason why your child is off and be fine, but many others are not.

@daimbarsatemydogsbone
Schools are not required by law to see medical evidence to authorise abscence for illness. It might be their "policy" but it is one they have made up. Neither the LEA nor the DfE require it and in fact the DfE says schools should not request medical evidence unnecessarily or unless there is a clear case to do so (ie they think you are lying).

@thedefinitionofmadness
"You won't get fined unless abscence is unauthorised, and illness reported by parents should automatically be authorised"

Is this true about it automatically being authorised? Is that dfe thing or per school policy.

I have a child currently in a dreadful state with a physical and psychological issues occurring as a result. A good number of absences now. They keep telling me the absence is unauthorised. We've got evidence coming out of our ears. Go appts medications and more.

The last time I was told bluntly "this will be unauthorised" was after child attended A&e via ambulance in MH crisis. I'm on my fucking knees with it, so stressed out at crisis point myself with my MH and the schools fucking attendance shite is making it so much worse.

I was called in when ds’s attendance dropped to 33%

He had been at the school 3 days. He had struggled in on the first day but had the 2nd and 3rd day off. Bad cold, tonsillitis type illness.

I had to go in and be talked to about his low attendance until his attendance reached 95%
It was pointless.
There seemed to be a distinct lack of understanding that if the 2days off had been in the summer term he would have had an excellent attendance record.

New year 7 pupil who ended up in hospital after being beaten up on school grounds was asked to leave as his attendance was not acceptable.

Maybe if someone could take a sensible and pragmatic view on attendance and the reasons why, and not waste time speaking to parents about pupils who were just ill for a couple of days then maybe Arthur Labonjo-Hughes’s case would have thrown up Red Flags instead of being put in the same category as children who had good attendance but were ill for a couple of days.

@123Suprise there is an excellent org called Not Fine In School (they have an FB group too) it is very useful for knowing your rights. Obvious caveats re FB groups apply.

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.

How is an automated letter safeguarding? The head teacher had no idea it had been sent. Nobody ever followed up. This wasn’t the first time she’s had attendance dip below 85%, not the first time we’d be on the radar. Nobody in the LA has ever spoken to us about it.

Because we only hear about the cases where children slip through the net. Plenty of families are helped because a school raised concerns about attendance and timekeeping.

Right, but that can be done without badgering everyone. Foolish to pretend the school don’t know who these kids are, without there being an automated letter sent to their homes. And in cases of actual abuse, those parents aren’t going to contact the school, are they?

[quote thedefinitionofmadness]@123Suprise there is an excellent org called Not Fine In School (they have an FB group too) it is very useful for knowing your rights. Obvious caveats re FB groups apply.[/quote]
Thank you @thedefinitionofmadness
Will look

It's automated. You have the evidence and follow procedure. It's annoying but not personal. Do you have all evidence and correspondence saved in your email for example? Then if you do get fined you can easily print off and challenge, rather than panic.

Excuse? Can't believe you said that. A child died. Horrifically and it was missed by social services. Schools have to follow up absence for both safeguarding and OFSTED. It's hardly an inconvenience getting a letter. Just bin it.

And that child’s death was tragic, but people are losing their shit here, using it as an example of why anyone should do anything about anything.

Your final comment is actually the fucking point. If “just bin it” is the answer, nobody can pretend it has anything at all to do with safeguarding, because his parents would have just done the same. And given these procedures have been in place at least as long as my 12 year old has been at school, they didn’t safeguard him either. If parents are intent on abusing children it is really easy never to send them to school. Those parents will never be caught by this. Those kids will still be abused,

What is happening here is, LAs and schools are using a “safeguarding” excuse for doing all this when the real reason is to tick the appropriate boxes for their reports. All the while they are not doing the things they should be doing to protect kids who are being abused.

@BoredZelda

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.

How is an automated letter safeguarding? The head teacher had no idea it had been sent. Nobody ever followed up. This wasn’t the first time she’s had attendance dip below 85%, not the first time we’d be on the radar. Nobody in the LA has ever spoken to us about it.

Probably because someone in admin just had the job of sending them all based on percentage and didn't know the backstory, but if you kept school informed the actual attendance officer did know and therefore didn't follow it up as it was unnecessary? (I'm just guessing obviously). But other families would have had it followed up and the letter is a first step that could help to identify potential issues. Stuff like that really isn't personal but the next steps are (hence why you heard nothing further). Frustrating but in a large school they have procedures to follow as attendance is a massive job and the attendance officer won't be able to do it all on their own so admin are roped in.

Probably because someone in admin just had the job of sending them all based on percentage and didn't know the backstory, but if you kept school informed the actual attendance officer did know and therefore didn't follow it up as it was unnecessary? (I'm just guessing obviously)

We don’t have an attendance officer and schools don’t send them. They come from the local authority and when I spoke to the school they have no idea who the letters are sent to.