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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

100% attendance rewards at school.

120 replies

TravellingSpoon · 15/12/2021 08:24

Dd's secondary school has decided to boost attendance they are running a competition that started on 1st December so that anyone that gets 100% attendance between then and 1st July will be rewarded with a trip to Aston Towers.

AIBU to think that in the current times its absolutely ridiculous? With Covid, the terrible cold we have going round and a norovirus outbreak it's hard enough. But you will have children going to school sick because they want this trip.

Dd is already out as she had a reaction to her covid vaccine ☹

OP posts:
CheesyFootballsAreEvil · 15/12/2021 09:53

I hate this in noncovid times but in covid times it sends completely the wrong message

CheesyFootballsAreEvil · 15/12/2021 09:54

@HibiscusIsland

I think ofsted has been threatening schools recently that they'll be judged on attendance.
Thats stupid. It's not the schools fault if kids don't turn up.
Voldermortsballsack · 15/12/2021 09:56

Absolutely awful. Any school that does this are teaching the children that ableism is normal.

Wankers

HotelCaliforniaOnRepeat · 15/12/2021 09:58

This really pisses me off. It encourages attendance when unwell which spreads illness.
IMO they need to change how attendance is calculated- 1 period of sickness should count as 1 absence.
Not 2 absences per day, it's ridiculous.
We need kids with sick bugs to do their 48 hours clear of symptoms, we need kids with covid symptoms to stay home. Teachers won't appreciate sick kids in their classrooms.
My kids that are currently at school have had more (genuine) absences for illness that my now grown up child ever did. There was no pressure on attendance and people kept them home. By all means encourage attendance but not like this.

DragonMovie · 15/12/2021 09:58

There should be a reward for no unauthorised absences. Most absences are authorised eg sickness. Less discriminatory.

SweetsAndChocolates · 15/12/2021 09:59

Pre pandemic I guess this worked, but it's a bit odd to introduce these sorts of awards now.

MaryHingey · 15/12/2021 09:59

Please, please, please complain. I can't tell you how many people who work in schools will be grateful if you do
If a child has a poor attendance, let us address that individually and offer a carrot or a stick but let's not pressurise children to come in to school when they are ill l just so OFSTED are happy
It's not appropriate, especially in this climate

DeepaBeesKit · 15/12/2021 10:00

Mad.

But out of interest, question for the attendance officer on here: do any strategies actually work for reducing absence?

I've got a friend who keeps her son off basically every time he says he "feels poorly". When he is off is getting to play console games all day.

It's hard to see what a school can do to encourage attendance in a situation like that.

CheesyFootballsAreEvil · 15/12/2021 10:01

I'd ask if covid related (ie any possible symptom of covid) or health conditions that a doctor is aware of and D&V are excluded from this. Basically everything.

thing47 · 15/12/2021 10:02

@HibiscusIsland

I think ofsted has been threatening schools recently that they'll be judged on attendance.
I think you're right. One way I tackled this many years ago was to inform the school that any time they had any sort of 'attendance assembly' or did anything to 'celebrate' children's attendance records, I would be keeping my DCs at home that day. Which obviously adversely affected the school's attendance records.

It's a shit idea which further penalises those children who are already missing some school because of serious illness, medical conditions, regular hospital appointments and a myriad other things beyond their control.

Wfhquery · 15/12/2021 10:02

@TheBoringDiaries

If an employer did this they would be rinsed dry at the law courts. Why are schools allowed to do it? When I worked in HR, one particularly nasty manager waltzed in to our office and asked if she could give a special bonus payment to members of her team that hadn't taken any time off sick that year to "teach the others a lesson". She had drawn up plans on how it might work and everything! Yeah, jog on love.
We do actually get an attendance bonus at work and lots of other work places do it. For us it’s £100 in December if you’ve not had a day off sick so by the time you take off tax and ni it’s not that much for a year. It’s deliberately set at a level to recognise 100% but not so high so sick ppl drag themselves in
CheesyFootballsAreEvil · 15/12/2021 10:03

It's basically rewarding people who already have the privilege of not being ill. Their reward is being able to attend 100% of the time. That should be enough.

Kendodd · 15/12/2021 10:07

In current times I agree.
In normal times, I don't see anything wrong with attendance awards. Ok, some children will never be able to win them but this is true of just about every 'competition' in school and throughout life. My son always came last in the running races, no matter how hard he tried, not only did he not win, he came last for all to see. Do I think running races should be banned, no. It's just life, and you have to get on with it.

DeepaBeesKit · 15/12/2021 10:10

Ken Dodd

I do think there's some truth in that. Children do need to learn, they won't win everything.

My son is the same - he is never ever going to have a shot at winning anything on sports day, no matter how hard he tries, because its simply not where his strength lies. It doesnt mean I expect sports day cancelled for everyone else.

I also think an important part of being a resilient adult & having a positive can do attitude is learning to join in, participate, celebrate other's success, do your best etc even where you know you haven't a shot at winning or even doing well.

Willyoujustbequiet · 15/12/2021 10:13

Utterly stupid and discriminatory. I would honestly question the intelligence of any head that supported this.

Sirzy · 15/12/2021 10:16

Disabled and chronically ill children are already at a massive disadvantage without having to watch their friends be rewarded for not having to face the extra battles they do every day.

Voldermortsballsack · 15/12/2021 10:17

I question the intelligence and empathy of any human who supports this.

Blueblossombush · 15/12/2021 10:18

I remember the year of uproar when a child took 10 days off so he could go to Spain to see his mums mate
My son had the whole year with no time off at all,but this kid got the 100% attendance award even though he’d had these 10 days off in the middle of the summer term
My son didn’t get his award (it got overlooked) so he missed out on getting it in front of the whole school-he had it shoved in front of him at the school gates-it went in the bin on the way home

There was uproar from other parents in this class-mum was heard squeaking about how her son needed this time off and other parents where vocal in how he shouldn’t have been allowed the award

So wrong on every level-kids get ill

Mischance · 15/12/2021 10:19

There should not be competition over attendance ever. No-one can help being ill.

And as for doing this now during a pandemic - what the hell can they be thinking? Utter madness.

lifeturnsonadime · 15/12/2021 10:20

Having a disability or a serious illness is nothing like not being the fastest runner.

Good grief.

People are really applauding letting disabled kids KNOW they are disadvantaged by society from the start of primary school???

CopperLily · 15/12/2021 10:24

My kid's school does this and it's appalling. Youngest daughter got to spend Monday afternoon watching a film with hot chocolate and popcorn because her attendance has been 100% despite having 2 weeks off with covid, but they disregard covid absences. Meanwhile, another girl in her class didn't get to take part in the cinema afternoon, as owing to an ongoing health condition she has numerous hospital stays and outpatient appointments. I honestly don't know how schools get away with this shit.

SusieBob · 15/12/2021 10:24

Even in normal times attendence awards are utter bullshit.

Makingnumber2 · 15/12/2021 10:25

That's insane with covid case levels as they are currently. I'm a Head of Year in a secondary and as a group of HOYs we have told SLT we won't be awarding attendance prizes this term in our rewards assemblies because it seems utterly nuts- why would we want to be encouraging ill students in who could potentially be bringing covid into school?
To be honest- since covid began, it's helped me see the negative side to attendance rewards. Like others have said, people get ill, some have long term conditions etc. No-one chooses to be ill or to get ill so why are we rewarding students for what is essentially good luck that they've managed to dodge most of the skanky bugs that circulated that half-term/term?

Spudlet · 15/12/2021 10:26

DS has ASD. He's never going to get an attendance award because hospital appointments fall in school hours (he wears glasses and is still under hospital care for these) and anyway, I will not send him in unwell. He's never going to get the best reader award or the most class points. He doesn't get the concept of competitive sport, so he's never going to win that either.

His disability is going to make a lot of his life a lot harder, but it would be really nice for that message not to be ground in by school before he even turns 6... happily our school doesn't do this. I would be making a fuss if it did, because I think these things are just so stupid. You can't control whether you get ill or not, unlike being able to train to run faster or work hard on your reading or whatever. Good health is the luck of the draw.

nwatty · 15/12/2021 10:28

@Onehotmess

You can’t win everything. I’m sure you’re child(en) will win other awards in their school career. If it’s really important to you then just take the kid to Alton Towers in July?
HAHAHA have you seen how expensive the entry alone to Alton Towers is for a family??