To hate this ad from the Department of education about school attendance?

[KarenNotAKaren]

Seriously who is in their marketing department? Aside from the fact I think this child model probably did not have a runny nose this morning, it’s so fucking patronising! A runny nose can be an indicator of a viral infection or bad cold. I hate that parents are treated like they aren’t allowed to be in control of their children or know when a child is ill. And if you are the type to have something like Munchausen’s By Proxy, and persistently keep your kid off for no reason, a patronising Facebook ad is not going to cut the mustard

Also the ‘little moments in their day’ are absolutely shit moments if they aren’t feeling very well. I feel like the DfE is also coming from a place where every school is wonderful and empowers children with the ‘little moments”

It’s another clanger by the government. Who are absolutely clueless and ableist, the list goes on.
Next I predict that they’ll tell schools to reduce their sickness policy so we’ll have to deal with kids coming in still fevery, still feeling feeble after a virus…because the stats need to improve.
Have also heard that in school toothbrushing is going to make a comeback!

The people this is aimed at are using any excuse to keep their kids off, not all runny noses require you to keep them home. Most of us know the difference between an ill child and mild self limiting illness but it's obvious that not all do based on attendance figures. Try being on the other side and you will quickly learn that not everyone values sending them to school

Have a look at twitter under #NotaSchoolSkiver, there are loads of us who are extremely unhappy about this campaign.

Particularly as most kids not attending school are out due to unmet needs/lack of support/funding for their SEND, which is all thanks to the government cuts. To improve those attendance figures the Gov need to increase funding, not blame the parents for their child being out of school.

I’m not saying that these kinds of parents aren’t a problem. But do you really think this advert will actually have any sort of impact?

I think they're right about some parents keeping children off for the slightest sniffle so YABU to jump from runny nose to but it can be the sign of a viral infection or bad cold. If a child has a bad cold, they're actually unwell and should be off. That's not what this image is about.

The wider campaign is problematic and ableist though. I'm far more concerned about the images that minimise and downplay SEND and the number of children with unmet SEN needs and not being given appropriate adjustments for their SEND which means they cannot attend school.

I'm annoyed that this campaign doesn't (deliberately) differentiate between cannot attend school and won't attend school/would rather not attend school.

They only really care about the attendance of some children, too.

I applied for home to school transport for my daughter in October for her new SEN school - 45 minutes away - beginning this January.

No taxi arranged so far, we've only been able to get her in on the days we have so far when my DH has been able to drive her in on his days off (I can't drive). She'll miss Monday and Tuesday this coming week.

If its not sorted by the end of this coming week, she'll only attend the Thursday and Friday of the week after.

She is 5, so CSA and legally entitled to a full tome education!

Prior to this, my daughter had been out of education for over a year - now suddenly the government have the bums rush about attendance rates?

Well the PP who said about ‘parents keeping their kids off for nothing’ - I wonder how many are actually like children you describe and schools are so very ‘computer says no’ that if there isn’t a tick box on a sickness form for a complex need the parents are labelled as ‘keeps their kid off for nothing’

I’ve just seen the other one.

WTAF.

Tell me you know nothing about child anxiety without telling me you know nothing about child anxiety.

Also can people call the DfE if they send their ‘worried’ child to school and she has panic attacks rather than ridiculous grins?

The advert is awful ! strange thing to use a runny nose. Prob cost the Government a lot to come up with the slogan moments matter attendance counts.

Jesus I'm so glad to be home educating.

Why do the kids all have eyes shut with exaggerated smiles!

Well campaign officer for government departments get around £50k per year to come up with this drivel

We got a letter about Covid and flu cases at our school.
In the SAME letter we were told not to keep a child off with a cough and fever and just give Calpol in the morning.
It's a) extremely patronising to act as if school knows better than parents when their children are ill, b) pointless as ill children can't learn effectively and will take longer to get better, and c) fucking idiotic in terms of transmission.

I wasn’t sure for a minute there, he looked like he’d stubbed his toe

^Also regularly get pass agg letters about the number of children with 100% attendance. Who gives a toss? Children aren't robots.

I’m so lucky my DC’s school don’t do attendance awards and I’ve never had an issues on the very few occasions (maybe 2 each, they’re 7 and 10) they’ve been off sick.

I had a friend who had family D&V and while she was being sick the bloody headmaster was banging on her door! Because they had been off for 3 days!

And this attendance at the SEND funding debate shows how much care there really is!

It’s awful. Very few absences will be due to over cautious parents. Most will be due to real illnesses, parents who struggle to parent and children who struggle with school. A couple of adverts will make no difference, what is needed is funding for NHS, especially CAHMS, for appropriate support in school and many more family support workers.

I don’t really care about the ad either way but I did hear numbers had dropped loads since Covid which is no big surprise.

There is a population who need to be reminded of this message.

And it needs to be part of a bigger campaign around the importance of regular, consistent school attendance (not 100% attendance, that’s not sensible) that doesn’t get thrown off course at the smallest thing.

Although it’s clear that lots of posters here don’t need it, I believe this advert has its place.

I am bloody livid about this. Been on a call this afternoon with 200 plus parents who are also cross about this bullshit. Many of us have kids with SEND who find school tricky due to needs not being met.

It ableist. I really wish those people who create these things could live our lives for a while. My daughter feels guilty when she cannot (not won't) attend school and desperately wants to be there. This is more like it. https://x.com/teamsquarepeg/status/1744483445164671386?s=20

Hate schools and the government, I'm considering taking my two primary school children out and home schooling. The power that they have over parents is disgusting. Before Xmas they insisted my 7 year old was well enough to come into school with tonsillitis and sinusitis after she had been home for 2 days, I sent her in on the 3rd day to shut them up and they called me at 11:15 to come and collect her. I'm just waiting for a fine to hit my doorstep for taking them on holiday for a week. First time they have ever been abroad or been on holiday ever in term time. Makes me sick!