Unfair Attendance Reward Scheme at School

[AttendanceRewardConcern]

My kids school has low attendance statistics and the school have decided to start a new scheme to try to improve attendance (or to demonstrate to Ofsted that they are taking action). Children with 100% attendance for the entire half term will get to have a non-uniform day on a day of their choosing. I have 2 children at the school. 1 child has no health issues and was given the reward. The other child has a medical condition that meant they missed 3 days of school due to an exacerbation. The school are aware of the condition and have been provided with evidence from the child's health professional to explain the absence. However, the school have said they can't make any allowances whatsoever when applying the reward (including for children with severe disabilities). I think the scheme needs to be drastically changed and have written to the school explaining my concerns. After initially dismissing my concerns, they have now decided to refer to the LA's legal team. AIBU to think they either need to make an allowance for absences related to medical conditions and disabilities or to entirely scrap the reward scheme? Not to mention how this is encouraging children to come to school sick and focusing entirely on presenteeism above all else.

A million times this. The whole concept is farcical.

This is crazy- I’m a mom to a preschooler and I can tell you now I won’t be buying into this. All it teaches is that appearance and making other people happy is more important than resting a poorly body or taking a mental health day.

If I were you I would find other ways to praise your DC for academic achievements and ignore this rubbish.

If you make allowances for some kids then where do you draw the line?

You draw the line by not introducing policies which discriminate against kids with disabilities that are covered by the 2010 Equality Act. It's really not that hard.

As this school is likely to find out, awards which almost by definition a disabled child can never win are illegal. They will be instructed that, by law, they have to make allowances.

Yes and I really wish more parents had this attitude.

Anyone who doesn't like these awards - complain to your school about it.

We did this at dc last school and the head held a meeting with us and explained that she has to prove to the LA that she's doing something to improve attendance. She asked us for ideas of other incentives she could try. (Can't remember what people came up with)

👏

It's not about winning. It's about equality and we as a country have specific legislation to ensure that minority groups are not discriminated against.

It's not about making allowances fgs.

If disabled child is unable to achieve 100% due to their disability then that is illegal. It is no different than making awards only open to white people. Disability is a protective characteristic. You cannot just dismiss the protection afforded by equalities legislation because you don't like it.

As for your last paragraph it beggars belief. Check your damn privilege and stop being ableist.

Honestly the irony in you @Elsiebear90 talking about fairness whilst justifying for an award that is wholly discriminatory to disabled people is likely lost on you.

And as for motivating better attendance.....is it possible for a child to motivate themselves out of a chemo appt?!

Give me strength

Some schools do this, and I honestly think that's even worse, as children who are repeatedly absent will be blamed by their classmates for pulling down the attendance average. It's more upsetting to deal with hostility from your peers than to just not get a prize. And. on the whole, kids who just like to play truant will not be as distressed (as they are less likely to seek friendships with the children who value school prizes) as those who are repeatedly absent due to chronic illness, disability, chaotic family backgrounds, or responsibilities as young carers.

I would suggest to the school that dc with long term medical issues are given a lower target to hit than 100% - that would be a fair way of administering such a scheme

I don't get it at all. They don't want germs and bugs spreading rife yet want 100%.. same with jobs.. WTF

Another big problem with this is that it rewards children for going to school when ill, and thus encourages the spreading of germs to everyone else.

It's my impression that schools often have these awards because they are placed under excessive pressure about attendance by Ofsted and some LAs. Of course attendance is important to learning, but most children who are frequently absent either have health problems or come from chaotic family backgrounds, neither of which will be solved by these sorts of awards.

I'd just explain to my kids that the school have been stupid and to just ignore what clothing kids are wearing.

YANBU. Giving a certificate to those with 100% attendance is one thing. A lot will get it but a lot won't. Giving anything else in the way of a reward is penalising those who didn't have the opportunity to achieve it through no fault of their own.

I can't remember awards in primary school like they have now. I can remember prize day at the end of the year in comp though - I think i got an award in two years out of 7 - both of those were for effort rather than achievement. (They awarded one for effort and one for achievement in each subject).

When in primary DD school had an attendance chart for each class - the winning class got something like an afternoon watching a dvd with a snack at the end of term. I think those with 100% attendance may have got a certificate - but dd never got one as attendance was 95% or above but never 100%. She did get an award in year 3, but that was decided by the teacher based on a number of different factors.

In senior school they send out an email to the parents each week to show attendance for the previous week for each class in the year group. The winning class gets extra merit points, but merit points are also given to each child for attendance each week ( the merit points being given is a recent change).
They give a certificate at the end of each half term for 100% attendance. DD has received one ( out of a possible 7 up to now). Again attendance was over 95% and has only been off school for doctor/dentist appointments, being ill or attending a music exam. She won't make it to 100% for this half term either as she had a day off for a family funeral. She thought that much of the certificate when she got it she didn't even bother to tell me - I only found it getting something else out of her bag a while later.

The school trip at the end of the year ( parents pay/contribute to) isn't based on attendance, but having a minimum number of merit points. Merit points are also given for behaviour, achievement, effort etc in class so everyone gets the opportunity to attend.

My dc never received an attendance award and they didn't care. Fortunately the award was just a certificate and a mention in a newsletter so nothing fun.

A friend's dc received an award last term for 100% attendance and then he was off last week with a chest infection and now the school are saying his attendance is so low she'll need to go in for a "talk" 😂

Bloody ridiculous 🤦‍♀️

Exactly. Dsc mum sends them in even when they are clearly ill and contagious because she is obsessed with 100% attendance. Result - they spread their bugs around and they hate school as they see education as something they have to do rather than a privilege

Even aside from the unfairness to kids with health conditions (I've got one who week never get an attendance award), is there really any benefit in reviewing kids who are feeling grotty but not absolutely awful in?

There's little benefit in attending when you feel so rough your only aim is to make it through the day, when you are dosed up on calpol to begin with, where you feel achey amd brain foggy with cold. A kid's ability to learn and retain with that will be pretty much zero and all they'll have done is spread around their gems.

Perhaps schools could look at implementing a 'work from home' system for the huge number of children that are well enough to attend, but either cannot because of school rules, or because of physical ailments like a broken leg, where a child is likely to feel well enough to learn.

My elder child was on for 100% attendance this term, until she got chicken pox. It was so mild, she felt well enough to attend throughout but obviously was not allowed to do so.

Last year her and her friend both came down with sore throats on the same day. The friend was diagnosed with scarlet fever, and was able to go back to school 24 hours after starting antibiotics. They didn't think my daughters was scarlet fever, but took a swab to check first. The school confirmed that my daughter could not return until the lab results confirmed negative. By the time we got the results her friend had been back at school for several days. My daughter did not have scarlet fever.

I have no issue with them taking a cautionary approach, but if a child is well enough to attend, they should not be punished for not being allowed to attend.

YANBU!!

Most English schools now have attendance reward policies that are shamelessly and deliberately discriminatory against children with medical problems. Parents must stop putting up with this cruelty.

Keep writing letters to the school as everytime you do this the school is supposed to write back and keep copies of both letters on file for Ofsted. If all parents did this, schools would soon realise that Ofsted is not impressed by large numbers of angry parents.

I’m very passionate about this issue as my child has a medical condition too and when he was four, his teacher gave an attendance reward to every child in class except him. He was four. He was shaking with grief when I picked him up so badly that he couldn’t speak, and he didn’t understand what he’d done wrong as he always tries so hard to please others.

I think your reading of the Equality Act is slightly off.

It doesn't say you can't discriminate at all, it says that discrimination is permitted if it is a proportionate way to achieve a legitimate aim.

In this instance, you acknowledge that the school has poor attendance. This is being monitored and judged by both the regulator and department of education as the school have a legal obligation to take steps to improve attendance.

The aim of this policy is to encourage all children who can attend, but are in homes with a lackadaisical approach to attending or appreciation of education to use pester power on their parents.

While disability protected characteristic is discriminated against, the positive impact on those of other characteristics such as sex, race, and even disability could be considered to out weigh the negative and be justified.

YANBU. In my opinion they are discriminating against those with disabilities/medical conditions. In the workplace they would be expected to make some sort of allowance to their sickness policy to cover the fact some may need longer off for certain conditions.

I disagree. A proportionate approach would be an award scheme that reflected the fact that children with disabilities/chronic conditions would be unable to meet 100% attendance.

Crap. You are reading the Act incorrectly

its discrimination clear and simple and adjustments should be made first. So as someone suggested, xx number of days allowed due to the medical condition. If they then exceed those then yes they fail at attendance

yanbu but a lot of schools are the same. Children with 100% attendance are either lucky to not get sick often or being sent to school when sick to spread it.

I have a disabled son. His attendance has dropped to 80 percent. Not had any contact from anyone yet but when I do, I’ll give them a mouthful! he is in secondary school. They also reward good attendance.

my daughters primary school have seemed to have stopped attendance awards luckily!

I agree.
A child with poorer health gets discriminated against.
How morally right is that !

That is horrendous. What a shame for your poor little boy.

I absolutely agree - all parents should fight back against these draconian reward systems.

@Willyoujustbequiet it’s not ableist to point out the wider implications of what you’re proposing and that this could be applied to almost every award. For every award there’s going to be kids who have no chance of ever winning through no fault of their own, if a child has dyslexia they won’t ever win a spelling award, if a child can’t walk they can never win a race. So what do you propose to do about that? Ban all awards? Allow every child who could never win to be awarded as well? Or do you only care about the awards your child can’t win?

If you think schools are breaching discrimination laws by awarding for 100% attendance then take that up with the department of education, but I think you’ll find they’re not.