To dislike school's attendance competition

[PostmanPatAlwaysRingsTwice]

Our primary school's latest newsletter contains the usual lines about attendance at school being important, which it is. It then goes on to show the attendance statistics since the beginning of term, I think, for each year group. A year contains one or two classes. It's titled 'Attendance Race' and congratulates the class with the best attendance that week.

AIBU to think this is ineffective, unfair and discriminatory? In primary, it's down to the parents to get their DC to school - the children have little to no control over it. If a child is reluctant, it's up to their parent to deal with that and ask school for help if need be (I've been there). Most kids are off because they're ill. What are they expected to do about that? Others are off because their parent didn't get out of bed to take them. The child can't change that. Why make the children get in a race they can't compete in?

Also, it means that children with long term conditions who are more likely to be off may be blamed for their class not winning the race - 'we're not going to be the best because X is in our class and she's off a lot with her diabetes/asthma/Crohn's disease'. Or 'why is your class the worst, Jimmy?' 'because Y is off all the time. We'll never get it because of him.' It's none of the children's business to talk about why one of their class is off. I have skin in the game here - my DD was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes this year and was off sick for a while. Sorry for losing the race for the class 😒Some children will be worried that they're ill and losing their class's position.

Children are off because of health (temp or longer term) that they can do nothing about, or because of additional needs leading to difficulties at school (that the school have a responsibility to help with), or because of difficult family situations such as being refugees/EAL, domestic abuse, mental health or addiction. Those families need support, and are not going to suddenly change because of this attendance race.

School need to focus on children who are persistently absent and work effectively and sensitively with families to support them to get their children into school. Not do this.

AIBU?

No one cares. It's an Ofsted requirement.

I would be astonished if parents even bother to read the newsletter in the first place 😂

I remember handing out tins of quality streets to the children in my year 10/11 tutor group who had 100% attendance(school policy). It felt very strange that among those who didn't get them was a child with sickle cell and a child with asthma who had both been in hospital. If anyone deserved a tin of Christmas chocolate, it was them.

Plus tbh if these children aren't also getting then"most improved" certificate or the best grades certificates then it just goes to show that that increased attendance doesn't directly correlate with academic performance (my son for instance has always got top grades despite a lot of absences for hospital stays, because we value education outside as well as in school)

Because it is a mandatory competition

Also because, unlike marathon running, it is not an individual competition but an enforced team competition where ill and disabled children are put under pressure to compete in something that is impossible making it discriminatory.

How would you like it if your employer announced that you, and all other employees were automatically enrolled on their "marathon team" and that participation was compulsory?

One of my main concerns with this , is parents not sticking to the 48 hour rule for d&v because of them .

It's not a mandatory competition at all.

Most of the kids will have a day or more off as a holiday/ unauthorised absence. Stop obsessing about it and stressing your kids out, if you don't care, they really won't care. I guarantee you a primary school child is more aware of their friends going to Disney/ Football match/ party and missing school to have a good time than the friends having "perfect attendance".

What an odd thing to care about if you are not the headteacher....

but that's all it is.. a chance..

There is a chance they won't get ill, break any limbs, have parents who couldn't give a s*it whether they attend or not, have a chronic condition, get bullied and be frightened to go to school, have a parent die.... etc. etc.

Its not as if they can work hard to improve those things is it?

Of course it's mandatory if the whole year group is automatically competing without adjustments or the option to opt out - it's obviously not voluntary is it?

I mean I actually don't care personally because I don't have kids in this sort of authoritarian system. But my DD had a serious medical condition that required weekly treatments for 3½ years once a week at a hospital over 30 miles away. She would have been very upset to have had the school implying that she was "letting down the class" by being absent for medical treatment. It was hard enough for her to cope with the bullying from some pupils and a few staff for a different disability that required minor classroom adjustments.

After the teacher strikes and covid-closing the local authorities and schools can fuck off with their righteouness over school attendance.

It's not voluntary to care about taking part and see it as a competition!

What primary school child will be stressing about the attendance nonsense, and fight his parents who want to give him a day off, or go on holiday mid-week?

None of the kids who are missing school around half term because the flights are cheaper give a monkey about "letting down the class". If there's a competition between them, it's about who is doing to Disney on their birthday, or who is buying the best Prime abroad.

The whole thing is utter nonsense, but it's depressing if parents force their kids to care.

But choosing a termtime holiday is a choice whereas being ill or undergoing medical treatment is not.

I really don't know what to say if you don't understand the difference. But of course kids are going to care when schools hand out prizes for these competitions or exclude kids from treats and events if they don't achieve a certain attendance %

I agree it’s not ideal however as a parent I definitely want my dc incentivised to go to school. I was down £2k last academic year due to having to take unpaid leave to cover teachers strikes and illnesses. Whilst some illnesses did necessitate staying home there were definitely occasions where they behaved like they were ready to keel over at 7am and were fine by 9:30. Once you’ve notified school/ managed to get someone to cover at work.

Everyone hates a competition they are t going to win

Spelling competitions aren't fare on dyslexic kids

Arts and crafts not fare on parents who work full time / struggle to get time to do it for their kid

Sports competitions aren't fare to the non sporty

However, some kids are really motivated by them, and life is competitive, life isn't fair and getting them used to not always winning is actually a good lesson

In my opinion

I genuinely don't understanding posters insisting that they know everything in the entire world, they know how every school on earth is run (and anyone who says their own school isn't run like that, is wrong or lying), they know what every single child on earth thinks and feels.

It's astonishing arrogance.

I don't know why you're on MN, surely with such exceptional psychic powers you should be running the CIA or enjoying your lottery win?

Very obviously, some schools DO make it mandatory, unless you're accusing loads of posters of just making weird lies for no reason.

And so rude and dismissive to come into a thread full of personal accounts of children being bullied for causing their entire class to miss a major treat, and steadfastly claim that you know what every child on earth feels and there's no way any disabled child could possibly ever be upset about being bullied or excluded.

Really, people are who aren't disabled or parents of disabled/seriously ill children, you don't actually have to flap your jaws every time someone speaks about something you have no experience of and no idea of. You can keep your mouth shut, it won't kill you.

I'm unsure with this one, some kids never win any awards, sports days etc.. but they have a chance at this

Right because disabled kids traditionally are the ones who really clean up on sports day and other awards.

Sports competitions aren't fare to the non sporty
You really genuinely don't see any difference at all between being losing a race because you're not sporty, and a disabled kid being actively punished for being disabled (or being bullied because the entire class is punished for their disability)?

Jesus, what is the world coming to.

it is a choice for the parents BUT NOT FOR THE CHILD anyway.

It is also a choice for the parents to teach the kids not to care about this nonsense. If your kid miss out on a "treat", give them one yourself instead.

I don't agree with that ofsted bollocks, but I can't see why anyone would make a big deal or care about it all, especially not a kid.

BEING IN HOSPITAL IS NOT A FUCKING HOLIDAY.

You clearly hate disabled people and are deliberately trying to be as goady as possible.

Oh and I don't have kids, since I am profoundly disabled and can't have them. But sure break out the dime store psychiatry, attacking disabled people for posting in a thread about disability definitely doesn't make you sound like a goady bigot.

If an entire class loses a major treat because one pupil is in hospital, then obviously that leaves them open to bullying.

Comparisons to sports day etc are insane - no school forces kids in wheelchairs to compete in sports day, yet profoundly disabled and unwell children are still forced to have their attendance included in "class attendance" rates.

PS you don't need to make three posts in a row screaming abuse at how much you hate disabled people.

My children had excellent attendance, they weren’t poor kids sent in no matter what to get out of the way and they never went in if they were contagious. They were in school because they were well enough to go. My DDs school phoned me one time to pick her up because she told them she was unwell. It was very evident within half an hour that there was nothing wrong with her and if it had been the morning I’d have taken her back after lunch. I read her the riot act about basically skiving from school. She told me she did it because her friends did it all the time. My children have been very fortunate that they very rarely are unwell, myself and DH are the same, I haven’t been off poorly since 2021 and before that 2017, I’m just not susceptible to coughs and colds. But as far as school attendance goes it’s not the child’s fault if they’re poorly but likewise it’s not their fault if they’re well either and if the school reward attendance in a way other than a certificate then as parents we need to be telling the head, governors, PFTA or whoever arranges prize day to save their money for something else.

I agree. I also think it is unfair on those who attend to be blamed somehow for the non attendance of their peers. Attendance should be a private conversation between school and parents. I do also think that many parents allow days off for all sorts of ridiculous reasons.

It is a health issue. Encouraging those with Covid to ignore it and attend. Or any other health issue.

In addition to the other reasons given.

I would have done this @EineReiseDurchDieZeit but in fact the school backed down when I said I'd spoken to the relevant authorities about whether this constituted disability discrimination, and they abandoned the practice of handing out attendance prizes. They still gave out certificates at an assembly and I simply kept DCs off on that day. The irony of this being marked as 'unauthorised absence' seemed wholly lost on the HT.

I recommend anyone start quoting the 2010 Equality Act at the HT (and the governors if necessary), it does give them pause to think. And @PostmanPatAlwaysRingsTwice if you didn't already know this, T1 diabetes is covered by the Act.

Discriminatory, surely?