To be annoyed at this teacher.

[TheChasers]

my dd is never off school. Couple of months ago chicken pox going round the e class and school phoned and asked I collect her and she had come out in spots and it was going around. She had chicken pox and was off a week, as per the guidance.

anyway, parents evening today and teacher says at the end she needs to improve attendance. I said she has only had a week off when school called for me to collect and she had chicken pox. Teacher agrees and then says again she needs to improve attendance. I repeated that was the only time she had off which couldn’t be avoided.

aibu to come away annoyed

If a child has poor attendance and it affects their performance in class, parent's evening is certainly appropriate to bring it up. Doesn't sound like that's the case here, but it's probably more of kill two birds with one stone and they deliberately give out the attendance data at a time when parents will be there anyway so it's a good time to discuss it

For posters saying teachers should use their autonomy and not do things like this which they are instructed to do as part of their job, you clearly don't work in education. There are a myriad of things you are expected to do that you might not agree with. I don't agree with giving out 100% attendance awards but that is the decision of the Head (or the academy trust). I can tell them I think it pointless (although how many of you in other jobs go round telling your boss the things they ask you to do are pointless?) but it's not likely they will listen to me and I'll still have to do it.

In this particular instance, I would probably have delivered it more along the lines of "I'm obliged to tell you this.. ". However, if this is the only time they've said anything to you about it, I would now just ignore and move on as you've said your piece.

Agree, the teacher was being a bit of a nitwit. If thelow attendance figure is from an obvious medical issue or other unavoidable reason then attendance is normal it's riciculous to say they need to improve. I always use the line of "I completely understand that little Johnny's attendance is low because of x y z but I have to make weekly call to discuss it with you anyway, so how about we just have a chat about how he is getting on'

artisanbread

actually I’ve worked in education for 18 years, but not in a primary academy where it often appears that being a mindless, vacuous sheep is a major prerequisite of employment.

I agree that this teacher was being daft, but surely it's a good thing that in general, schools are having to ensure good attendance.

If they don't have this requirement (parents as well) there will always be children who end up missing out.

I know one family (children are adults now) where the mum had MH issues and made her children stay at home to look after her day after day.

Everyone has a responsibility to ensure our kids receive a full education.