100% Attendance Award

[NewYorkPleasecake]

I have always been vehemently against attendance awards anyway as I have a very strong view that children should not be rewarded/praised for the luck of good health...and there are plenty of cases when parents have not kept their little darlings off school when they should have done (E.g. for 48 hours after D&V).

My DD just told me that her school (early secondary) is giving out 100% attendance awards and her friend has got one.

I am GOBSMACKED at this - in a year where isolation was mandatory for positive Covid cases?!?! The friend in question was 'lucky' that she got Covid over the summer holidays. My DD missed some school because she wasn't lucky enough to catch it in the school hols.

How the feck can this be allowed to still be a thing?!

Wow, that's archaic. Surprised they do them in this day and age when there's a much bigger recognition of health problems and disabilities. I suspect they're on sticky ground if someone challenges the fact that a child with disabilities who needs hospital appointments to manage it is simply unable to get an attendance award compared to an able bodied child. Through no fault of their own. It's sheer dumb luck if you're well enough to attend each day.

I wouldn't bother the school about it tbh, maybe a letter outlining why it's such an outdated and daft idea but personally I'd just use it as an opportunity to talk to my child about the problems with such an award. That it's not really far to award someone for something out of their hands. Especially considering kids who are young are taken to school or not, it's not within their control, so it makes even less sense to award them!

@InLoveWithARockStar I agree with you. Some things just aren't important enough to force. I have one who didn't do some of those things as they weren't right for them. Interestingly as an adult they have actually done more challenging things than their siblings who were the ones who happily went along to everything so I don't think it held them back.

We need to have our children's backs.

I hate attendance awards. Rewarding kids for being lucky with their health and encouraging parents to send their poorly (and sometimes contagious) children to school.

There is always a few people who will say that some children never get awards and 100% attendance is their only chance. Surely in these cases the school can make up an award for something like always having correct uniform/pe kit/pencil case if there are children who never win awards. My dc school give out awards for not being in detention all year which is great for those children who are well behaved but don't shine in either academics or sports.

'Attendance awards are a great idea' – said no parent with a disabled or chronically ill child, ever. That pretty much says it all, really.

I can just about live with a certificate being handed out, I guess, but if there is also a treat such as a mufti day or a prize draw, I think it's pretty shocking, and almost certainly ought to be banned on anti-discrimination grounds.

My school runs attendance awards. Most staff disagree with the whole thing for all of the reasons previously mentioned. However SLT still continue with early entry to lunch, top table, prize draws … It’s just so unfair.

At first I agreed with OP but actually I see this point