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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think the schools covid absence penalising is bloody ridiculous

48 replies

Laughingstock91 · 13/01/2022 20:20

My DS is 15 and got covid last year and had 2 weeks off school. He was only a bit ill but most of it was isolating & waiting for test results etc.

The school have put a massive red flag on his school report saying his attendance is a cause for concern.

Aibu to be raging about it. It’s not his fault that he got covid and had to isolate. If you were lucky enough not to get covid then obviously you won’t have a big red mark on your file. But in a pandemic surely this system of absence reported should be suspended as otherwise you have kids with poor attendance on their file when they leave school through no fault of their own but because it’s public health policy that you have to stay home.

It’s absolutely ridiculous!

OP posts:

MrsTerryPratchett · 13/01/2022 20:22

How is it worded? Because it is a cause for concern. All these covid absences are. They affect education. But if it's about him being poor at attending, that's different.

Horst · 13/01/2022 20:22

I got one for my youngest because she had to isolate due to being positive yet having no symptoms. It’s stupid if she hasn’t of asked to be tested she wouldn’t of been abs she wouldn’t of been in school spreading with no symptoms.

OnceuponaRainbow18 · 13/01/2022 20:23

It’s silly but I wouldn’t waste my energy and rage over it

Original poster

Laughingstock91 · 13/01/2022 20:24

He’s doing really well in school. He has a big absence because he had covid - how can that be a cause for concern red flag? It’s a pandemic and it’s luck if you catch it!

OP posts:

OnceuponaRainbow18 · 13/01/2022 20:25

Honestly don’t let it bother you, not a big deal

Aria999 · 13/01/2022 20:25

YANBU

I am sure there will be people along to tell you it's an automatic system and it doesn't mean anything but I think I would be thumping the head's door in a rage while waving the report madly in the other hand and screaming.

Original poster

Laughingstock91 · 13/01/2022 20:26

It’s the fact that he leaves school with that on his record- it’s an inaccurate representation of his time at school

OP posts:

sadpapercourtesan · 13/01/2022 20:27

Commiserations OP, it is bloody ridiculous. And stupid, and counter-productive. My DS2's college have the same "policy", with the result that he spent most of last term on some sort of preposterous probationary contract thingy. All because he had Covid and a couple of non-moveable orthodontic appointment. I'd complain but I've done nearly 20 years of fighting schools (SEN child) and I'm just too tired.

MrsHamlet · 13/01/2022 20:27

Schools have very little choice in the matter.

Howshouldibehave · 13/01/2022 20:27

It’s ridiculous, but it’s not the school’s fault, it’s the government making the rules that schools have to follow.

spanieleyes · 13/01/2022 20:29

Schools used to be able to code absences from COVID differently and they didn't count in absence figures. The government stopped that and absences due to covid ( apart from when waiting for a PCR result) are now simply recorded as absences

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 13/01/2022 20:30

Penalising children for any illness is stupid. You would have thought that the last two years would have taught organisations that...

Stevenage689 · 13/01/2022 20:32

@Laughingstock91

It’s the fact that he leaves school with that on his record- it’s an inaccurate representation of his time at school

The record goes nowhere. It doesn't matter in the slightest. And it is an accurate representation - he has missed X percentage of the year.

Cuck00soup · 13/01/2022 20:32

@Laughingstock91

It’s the fact that he leaves school with that on his record- it’s an inaccurate representation of his time at school

Annoying as it is, it won't have any impact once he leaves school though.

Lancrelady80 · 13/01/2022 20:34

We had a special code to use on registers for Covid related absences.

I would check that the absences were properly recorded (I believe it was X). Then request attendance recalculated without those absences if possible.

But I wouldn't worry too much, even if it does go on his record (and I believe the whole point of that code was so absence due to Covid would be taken out before percentages were calculated) there will be literally thousands of kids in the same boat, and future employers will either be bright enough to realise or just need a reminder that it was during a pandemic.

Original poster

Laughingstock91 · 13/01/2022 20:36

@Stevenage689 but it’s not his fault. It’s luck of the draw and he had no choice but to stay home. The whole system should be suspended during covid

OP posts:

AnxiousHeffalump · 13/01/2022 20:42

We are still using special codes, and a proven Covid-related absence doesn’t affect %age attendance.

Stevenage689 · 13/01/2022 20:43

[quote Laughingstock91]@Stevenage689 but it’s not his fault. It’s luck of the draw and he had no choice but to stay home. The whole system should be suspended during covid[/quote]
Its not a judgement. Its a statement of fact. Does it say that it is his fault on his report? That would be bad.

Awalkintime · 13/01/2022 20:54

@Aria999

YANBU

And this is what schools have to contend with - aggressive parents intimidating staff because they haven't themselves learned how to communicate well when there is a problem. Solving issues without conflict is EYFS level.

KrisAkabusi · 13/01/2022 20:55

@Laughingstock91

It’s the fact that he leaves school with that on his record- it’s an inaccurate representation of his time at school

Who do you think looks at that record? Not a single person will ever see it again after he leaves.

MolkosTeenageAngst · 13/01/2022 20:55

What do you mean on his record? I have never had my school attendance shared with anybody since I left school.

Also, why do you think covid absences should get special treatment compared to any other illness? It’s only through bad luck a child gets any illness whether that be flu/ norovirus etc or more serious illnesses such as cancer. It’s an accurate record of your son’s attendance, of course it’s not his fault he got covid but the sane could be said for any illness causing a child to need time off school.

ElBandito · 13/01/2022 20:55

It wouldn't be 'his fault' if he needed surgery and was off school. It wouldn't be 'his fault' if he had a life limiting illness and was off school frequently. No one really gave much of a toss about those children though.

But now that the whole attendance thing is hitting everyone else, suddenly it should be suspended.

llanssannan · 13/01/2022 20:57

The person you should be contacting is your MP. It could be something the school have little choice about, introduced possibly by Gavin Williamson.

Tealightsandd · 13/01/2022 20:59

YANBU

These attendance records should never have been allowed to become a thing and should be scrapped.

They've always been an appalling form of disability discrimination.

Cattitudes · 13/01/2022 21:00

[quote Laughingstock91]@Stevenage689 but it’s not his fault. It’s luck of the draw and he had no choice but to stay home. The whole system should be suspended during covid[/quote]
It's not my dc's fault that they have a genetic condition that means they are frequently unable to attend school and have to go to hospital. It's luck of the draw too.

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