How the fuck do you improve attendance

[Merryoldgoat]

I’ve had the delightful LA attendance officer letting me know my son’s attendance is 85%.

I KNOW. I’m the one looking after him.

How am I supposed to stop him getting ill? I’d love to know.

I’m just sick of it. We’re juggling two autistic children, a full time job and I get this officious letter implying I’m keeping him off under false pretences.

It’s such a stupid blunt instrument.

I’m angry and tired and just sick of it.

I have no AIBU. It’s just the rant of an exhausted parent. DH is also exhausted in case anyone is wondering.

I'd just see it as a formality they have to send and you have to receive.

I guess it's intended to make people think twice before letting kids have days off when they're not really sick, but your child was sick. The absence was justified so don't think twice about it.

It’s frustrating but your best bet is to be factual because facts are all they will look at.
Make a list of illnesses and dates plus any gp appointments.
Point out that you are as concerned as they are over the attendance and are hoping for a healthier spring and summer.

This really winds me up too, I have one robust ds (9) with a cast iron immune system, and one ds (12) who gets ill regularly, catches every vomiting bug going, and takes an age to recover. Yes school, I'll just send him in!

85% is very low, so he must get sick a lot. Have you spoken to the GP about the possible underlying causes for this?

My dd's immunity has been terrible over the last year and she has been more sick than in any previous year. Her attendance is at 95% which is the lowest it has ever been. To be at 85%, he must be ill almost constantly?

It's horrible to feel as if you're being accused of not doing enough, and I'm sure that you are of course doing your absolute best to keep your child healthy, but that level of absence is quite concerning so I understand why they're raising it. Of course it is a blunt tool that doesn't necessarily take into account individual circumstances but presumably there will be opportunities to demonstrate what action you're taking to try and address the problem? I get that it's stressful but I think they're right to check if I'm honest...most parents will be doing their best like you, but there will always be a few who are failing their kids by not making an effort to get them into school, and the schools have to go through some sort of process to identify which ones are which iyswim.

Keep as much evidence as you can - photograph and submit every piece of medical evidence so you can show they are ill/ at appointments. Try to arrange appointments around registration, so if they do the register at 9 and 1.30 make the appointment for 10am rather than 8.30am. They will miss more school lessons that way but that doesn't seem to matter as much. If they perk up a little during the morning then send them in for a couple of afternoon lessons. I realise that this is influenced by the specific needs of your dc.

It really sucks. We are counting down the days until my yr11 is no longer being monitored on attendance. And yes I do worry about how they will hold down a job but at least they might have part time or flexible enough to work around frequent illnesses. Fortunately my dc is very motivated so grades are not affected too much.

Also 'fortunately' dc often is ill at school - migraines and injuries so school is well aware of the severity and impact which I think helps.

There's a huge correlation between below average attendance and lower attainment levels so it is right that someone is keeping tabs on this.

If you are struggling is it worth speaking to the school and seeing if there is anything they can do to help and support you. It is in everyone's interests that your children benefit from schooling to the maximum possible. If it is not possible because of appointments then maybe they can help you change the times/ be better accommodated.

It is also true that post covid schools are seeing higher absence levels. Whereas in the past students may have been off for a day with a cold it is more normal for parents to keep them off longer.

I don't know if any of these scenarios are relevant to you but the best thing is to start a dialogue with the school.

There are 195 school days per year.
85% attended = 166 days
15% absent = 29 days, or less than 10 days per term
It's easy to see how someone could be ill for ten days out of three months.

Just going through this with my 15 year old DD, she has frequent migraines and often the school sends her home. I had a meeting and we have a plan of sorts. I was reassured that it's not that they don't believe me but, apparently OFSTED look at these children and ask the school what they are doing. I have been asked to supply evidence though.

I literally have no idea how to stop him getting sick. That’s the only reason he has time off.

I had to cancel his birthday party when he had Noro.

He was SENT HOME twice.

I don’t understand what they want me to do.

He has no underlying issues other than ASD which as we know can affect immunity.

I had this with ds2 at 94% Unfortunately since covid he seems to catch every bug going and they wipe him out! Weirdly enough the day before I had them call I had his report where he was exceeding expectations in every single subject so bewildered why we needed a meeting with attendance officer, head of House, head of year AND form tutor.
It's things like this that make me heavily eye roll at schools.

Has it been a lot of illness in a short space of time? We had one from DDs school as hers had dropped below 95% but in November and December she had 4 bouts of illness. She’s not been ill since so it should balance out over the year but looks like a lot of absence as it’s all been over a short period of time. I was a bit annoyed as she had 2 sickness bugs, hand foot and mouth and conjunctivitis in 2 months, so it’s not as if I was keeping her off just for a cold!

I have to say, my children have been getting ill way more than they did before covid. And by ill, I mean really ill.

as have I!

So until this government takes seriously the fact we are a sicker population overall they can fuck off with their attendance bullshit.

I’ve had to drag my daughter into school this week while she’s clearly unwell because her attendance is so low. It’s helped no one as she can’t concentrate at school so is just there for registration purposes.

She wouldn’t get so ill if schools weren’t such a cesspit.

85% is definitely low enough that I’d hope there was done kind of formal acknowledgement. Doesn’t mean you’re being accused of lax patenting but it’s right that there are follow-ups.

SAMBUCOL and good vitamins
Get that vitamin D right up there, double dose it for a short while (as stated on the sambucol bottle before anyone tells me off!)

Then send him in, let him get sent home rather than you keep him off. They can then see he's ill and wont take things any further. I'd only keep him off with d&v but otherwise send him in dosed up with calpol and nurofen if it's just a temp/cold etc.

Although bear in mind @NoCatsToday that correlation does not mean causation. If my dc performs badly it will not be due to not being in lessons it will be because of their disability or a migraine on the day (and very disruptive other pupils throughout the year which mean that catching up on the weekend is sometimes more effective than being in a lesson).

I'm not disputing that someone could be ill for 10 days at all. However, we're already more than 6 months into the school year so we're not just talking about 10 days during a single 3 month block, we're talking about a high level of absence over a sustained period. I'm not suggesting for a minute that the OP's child isn't genuinely sick, and if there are underlying health issues that are contributing to this, then the OP has my sympathy.

I'm just saying that that level of sickness absence is, on the face of it, concerning, and the school need to ensure that appropriate actions are being taken in order to address any underlying issues.

Appts don't count towards sickness absence, at least not at our schools.

The NHS is on its knees.Good luck trying to pick hospital appt times when most people can't get them in the first place.

OP if your children have additional needs diagnoses they are protected under equalities legislation. I would be tempted to tell them to get stuffed. Politely.

Meanwhile in the school my GC are at, vulnerable children who are under CIN plans aren't being followed up. In all cases it's because the parents can't be bothered being a parent. Like in other situations, the authorities go for the easy targets.

What a nasty response

I think (hope) this was sarcastic.

85% means 30 days away out of 200 school days, which is a huge amount missed, of course they have to alert about these things.

They are form letters, it's not personal, and schools are trying to address the massive chronic attendance issue in some families that is nothing to do with sickness and affects the most vulnerable kids.

Appreciate he's sick, but it's unusually large, especially for a child with ASD who is likely to benefit from a really regular routine. Has it been the same in the past or is this term a blip? Have you looked into underlying issues?

Surely this is something that is sent to every parent once attendance hits a certain rate, so it is not personal as such. They are letting you know his attendance in 85%. If this was another child perhaps their parents might not know. Essentially this not personal and your child is just one of several hundred in the school, and the policy is to send the letter when attendance hits a certain rate.
What do you expect the school to do?