To want schools to drop attendance incentives?

[Sophie632]

So my son has a medical condition and has to attend hospitals appointments - sometimes not locally. Our school give out certificates for 100% attendance and he rarely gets these. There is now talk of starting a scheme where the whole class is rewarded each day everyone is in. I don’t think this is fair to children who have disabilities or medical conditions that may make them need to miss school, totally outside of their control. Also - should we really reward children purely because they don’t catch any nasty bugs? Hardly seems fair!

YANBU attendance awards are ableist

You need to tackle the government policies that drive this, not the schools.

Good attendance it vitally important in schools so it is worth rewarding. Can you not just explain to your son that this is one award he is unlikely to get but through no fault of his own?

Completely agree OP. Our school also sends out arsey letters if they dip below 90% attendance. My DC also has a lot of appointments, is still top of the class and very very rarely gets any sort of acknowledgement for that, but able-bodied kids with parents who don’t care about sending them in when they’re ill (thus making everyone else ill), gets certificates! Stupid system.

Yanbu op.

Aside from what you've mentioned these prizes encourage attendance at school when infectious with something.

If you're unwell you shouldn't feel guilty about staying home.

I'm with you. They are non inclusive and essentially punish children in a round about way for things which are out of their control. The primary school mine attend used to go all out with a yearly celebration including bouncy castles followed by dominoes pizzas. While all the other children who'd been unfortunate enough to be ill or have appointments had to look on. Schools should work with individual families where needed.

Well, yes, this is what all parents of children with medical needs do - but when attendance incentives are based on whole class attendance, it paints him as the weak link to his classmates. It's a dick move. Schools aren't forced to do this.

So when Ofsted come in and judge the school against other schools for its attendance, what do you suggest the school say?

When directors and governors and Ofsted ask what incentives do you offer for those that do attend 98% and above, what do you think they should say?

If schools say nothing governors and directos moan at them, if they do reward with certificates parents moan.

It's an impossible fucking job.

I was hoping this would die a death in Covid when people learnt something about disease control...
100% attendance is mainly luck. Most of childhood illnesses ate caught at school (then given to parents!)

Long term conditions can't be helped either.

You need to direct your ire at government policies and ofsted, that is where the pressure on schools re attendance and being able to show that a school is trying different ways of improving and maintaining good attendance comes from.
In your DCs case I would tell the school your thoughts on the matter, especially as the proposal isn't up an running yet.

Ofsted will want evidence of what school does about attendance. That is where you need to direct your anger. I'm sure schools would rather just focus on genuine cases of missing school but they don't get that flexibility and have to show the praise for full attendance

I think it'd be nice to have a reward for >96% attendance. It's enough of a buffer that it allows for some illness, but is still good attendance. Students with disabilities that means they aren't in school as much could have a lower threshold through medical exemption.

I can't stand attendance certificates. They are rewarding children for something completely outside their control. My son does a sport with another kid who has never missed a day of school. He has also not missed one training session. This is not because he has done anything amazing. It's because his mother sends him in with stomach bugs, fevers, and when the poor mite should be in bed. The rest of the class and his training buddies subsequently catch his nasties and so does everyone else. She said recently after a race - "oh "Freddie" was sick in the toilet after that race just now.." while laughing. As if that was funny or something to be proud of?

If my DC catch a stomach bug they are off school out of consideration to others. If they have a hospital appointment, they attend so as not to DNA and cost the NHS money, and so they can get the treatment they need.

One of my DC was awarded a certificate last term for good attendance. The other didn't get one as he was in hospital and later had flu. He was sad to have missed school for those reasons. Sad to have had to go to hospital when he'd rather not. Sad to have had flu. And then now he has to watch his brother get a certificate and he misses out.

Ridiculous system

Yanbu.
My dt school are currently having a big crackdown and as an incentive every time they do a full week at school they get a ticket for the easter draw. The prize is an expensive tablet.
Dt1 has been at hospital for the last 6 school weeks at least once (has long term disabilities) so has not received one ticket yet. Dt2 has no disabilities and has 100% attendance. If dt2 wins (I'm hoping not) I'd feel so sorry for dt1 because actually dt1 has to put more effort in than dt2 just to be present at school and goes to school often after having a difficult night.

Completely agree with you OP. It is abelist to reward children for attendance, especially in primary school when it's the parents' responsibility to either get them to school or keep them at home anyway.

Don't message the school and moan, moan to Ofsted and the government they are the ones applying the pressure to do such things.

It's a backwards system. It decreases the overall value of being in school - x goes in with a bug, makes several people ill- do you think ability to learn increases or decreases when someone is ill? Do you think increased teacher absence through illness is helpful or detrimental to a school. There are ways to tackle attendance without these certificates - and for kids in the OP's position it is a beyond shitty thing to do to kids.

Dc's secondary has 2 clubs the 100% attendance club with rewards but they also have a exceptional circumstances club for those who can't make the 100% attendance. The exceptional circumstances are for things like a religious observance which includes attending the wedding of a family member, to attend medical appointments for a life long condition or to grieve for a family member or attend the funeral of one.

But you have to keep it at 97% or above. Each student is assessed on a case by case basis and still gets rewards. The pastoral care at the school is incredible and they bend over backwards to accommodate specific family circumstances.

I do disagree with 100% awards for primary. Ds2 had noro as did 3/4 of his year group of 90, there is no way you could attend school with that.

It’s an awful thing, kids are being told that you can be rewarded just by being lucky enough not to get ill. Awful!

Our school did this just before Christmas, saying full attendance in December would mean no homework for January. Just while winter flu, colds and bugs are really hitting school children.

Tell ofsted that then. It's ofsted penalising the schools with poor attendance. How many times do people need to be told?

Thanks so much for these replies, and the reassurance that I’m not being unreasonable. I guess my first step is to establish whether the school has good attendance. If it does, they have less justification to let ofsted put pressure on them (they were marked as needing improvement at the last ofsted but I have read the report, and attendance isn’t mentioned - as far as I’m aware, children generally attend at a good level). So maybe a two pronged approach alongside contacting ofsted/DfE? Any more advice or reassurance at all would be helpful. Thanks again.

@BiggerBoat1

your comment indicates you have no understanding of what it’s like to have a child that needs all this hospital treatment

i can guarantee they won’t feel happy about the appointments, wont want to go because sometimes it means horrible tests, and they they get kicked by the school with no hope of getting an achievement award, when they have had horrible invasive tests. The icing on the cake is that they then have to catch up with the work in their own time with little teaching support, because an illness meant they couldn’t attend

School attendance awards should not be given out, it’s as simple as that. Why are they being rewarded for something they should do anyway! Far better in my opinion that awards are given for those that attend despite adversity, to encourage them

@Tinkerbyebye YES to this!!! A big factor! My son has to cope with these feelings about his condition and hospital visits which is enough without additional and totally unnecessary guilt. And even as a parent, it’s a process accepting a medical condition and doing your best and trying to find the best consultants and treatments. You don’t need anything making your child feel worse or yourself.

YANBU.

THIS.

dick move, isolates the child with the medical issue, disadvantaging them socially…
It worsens the stigma and it really pisses me off!