100% attendance rewards at school.

[TravellingSpoon]

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 ☹

They think we ' re too stupid to see through it.

The not counting covid related absences just shows how daft the system is.

Ds gets recurrent chest infections. He has had two since being back at school, both needing 2-3 days off. But because they came with a cough and temperature we had to PCR so as we were waiting on results (we knew wokld be negative) it didn’t count against his attendance!

Hate these awards as they are discriminatory and demotivating. If a child actually is struggling with attendance (I had this with DS1 as a teen as he hated school) then one blip, even something that was not their choice like a bug, and they've lost the treat so no point going in now. That's the nature of extrinsic motivation like that.

@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.

@TheBoringDiaries my former boss bought us savings tins and gave us £10 a month for every month we’d had no time off sick and saved it up so us poor people had it to look forward to in December 😂

I wouldn’t care, we were on nmw and got no sick pay anyway!

@Marvellousmadness its not just a yay is it , its trips out , rewards at school whilst others look on , attendance is out of many control .
Its also encourages people with ill children to send then in and infect others , my friend did this a lot as she always wanted her dc to have good attendance
In fact not sure my ds didn't catch covid from hers as she never tested and her ds had identical symptoms i found out to what hers had had a week before

“ 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?”

You paying?! Because I sure as hell can’t afford to take mine, not in July or anytime.

My kids will never achieve 100% through no fault of their own, but mine, I have a health condition and there have been days when I can’t get them to school, and school accept this, I don’t have a village, am a single parent with no family to help either, I’m a one man band and when I’m down that’s that. My kids are the sort who should get to go because unlike classmates they won’t have the opportunity otherwise and I couldn’t give a shit if that’s an entitled attitude, I said what I said!

It's like any school award, surely?

For some kids, the attendance award is all they're ever likely to win throughout their school career. Should we take it away because not everyone has a chance of winning? I never had a chance of winning any of the sports awards but I didn't begrudge others getting them

@Marvellousmadness and no i don't do all kids to a birthday party or things like that
But 100% attendance especially in a pandemic is unrealistic and borderline irresponsible
My ds has been moaned at for attendance this year at college , he was off with covid ! They were a bit surprised when i complained and pointed out legally he wasn't allowed to leave the house , but if there is a next time I will be sure to send him in
He has a cold now and i have kept him home as I don't think anyone else wants a cold for xmas . Normal years would of gone in

@Thehop although I wouldn't condone your former boss' reward system there is something quite sweet about him/her getting a savings tin per employee and working out where to put the £10 notes each month Did you get to take the tins when you left??

@AndSoFinally but sports awards are done along side literacy , reading, you can also do a most improved sports award , attendance is not able to be controlled by many so its not the same thing at all

@Brainfogmcfogface exactly no one looks at the bigger picture , like in your instance funding would be better spent on having someone who can pick kids up or take them to school in instances like this of which there be many
Also is it not about what they achieve on the time they are there
You could be in 100% but not do your work , be horrible , be destructive etc but its ok as you have 100% attendance

Totally unfair. My school gives £5 out for top attenders but a trip is ridiculous.

Putting covid aside my son has picked up tummy bugs at school and the rules are you can’t come in for 2 days. How on Earth is that his fault?

Apart from the obvious ableism, I think policies like this feed into a culture of 'work til you die'. You should take time off if you're unwell, not force yourself in because of fear of repercussion.

Oh and to add, it also affects kids who can't make it to school through no fault of their own. Parents unable or unwilling to get them in, no uniform because they've run out of washing powder or the machine broke and parents have no money to fix it, I've worked in schools in deprived areas and these are all reasons why kids stay off school. So unfair to take it out on a disadvantaged kid.

Having been the teacher in charge of Attendance, I thought long and hard about this as a way to encourage young people to be in school. I came to the conclusion that it was not the way I wanted to go, for many of the reasons given here. I do think there are ways to encourage good attendance without individual treats. It feels wrong to punish pupils for being absent, especially so during a pandemic. We don’t always know what challenges people have to face before they ever get out of the house in the mornings.

Not what you’d call inclusive is it? Very unfair and disheartening to children who can’t exactly help being unwell.

@TheBoringDiaries I’m sure it came from a good place 😂

We did! She was quite fair with them! And it was a nice treat come December!

You know these constructs exists in work places as well right? Who cares.

Do they? Currently?

@Marvellousmadness

Omg all these pp's claiming "unfairness". You'd be those people that want all kids invited to a birthday party and everyone receiving a ribbon at sportsday (even if your kid hasn't won anything)

It is just a "yay,you've been there a100% of the time" . Cool for the kids that actually have done it. "Unfair" for the sickly ones?? Really? How about just trying to be happy for someone else instead of just going Boohoo poor me.

You know these constructs exists in work places as well right? Who cares.
It will encourage some to show up more. And for the proper sickly ones you just organise your own fun day at the end of the year.

Stop being so selfish and grinch like. Let other people have some fun.

Said no one ever who has a child with a chronic medical condition / serious illness / requiring regular hospital appointments.

Honestly are you totally lack in any empathy for children who are ill, or are you just a little bit thick?

What is there to be happy about a policy which offers the potential for tangible rewards but knowingly excludes children who are ill? And who are already likely to be missing out.

How about you just try to be happy that your child doesn't have some incurable, lifelong medical condition? Without being rewarded with a special day out for it.

I think awards are pretty pointless other than for good work!. It's when your child (who never gets a gold star) comes home and says 'it's not fair x is always naughty but today he hasn't and got a star, so tomorrow I'm going to behave badly then be really good on Friday to get a star' behaviour awards are also pointless