Government attendance campaign

[D3LAN3Y]

Firstly I apologise if this thread has already been done. I haven't seen one.

AIBU to think the government's new campaign to improve attendance has totally missed the mark? "Moments matter, attendance counts".... that one.

I first stumbled upon a picture of a happy smiley child running around with a speech bubble saying some nonsense about him having a running nose but look at him now. As if having an NHS logo on the right hand corner magically means this child is cured of whatever ailment he had that morning, his parents are obviously dimwits and he should attend school no matter what.

All that matters to schools seem to be their statistics. Not childrens physical or mental well being. What about the teachers teaching them? What about their class mates? What about vulnerable families? What about SEN families with no provisions?

As parents do you think the government need to toughen attendance? What reforms would help?

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-national-drive-to-improve-school-attendance

All the teachers in our schools were working, the kids had online lessons, keyworkers' kids were in and school was opened more as soon as the government allowed.

Teachers and parents were disappointed the government opened pubs before schools.

Lucky you, my sons school was dire. They just point blank refused to even have a go at it!

At online lessons I mean

It's over now, I suppose. That little room of keyworker kids must have been really well-supported with their colouring-in by the 40-odd staff working with them, full-time all week 😁 But the whole thing has massively affected people's attitudes to attendance and the non-negotiableness of school I think.

Probably and anywhere schools shut, so not just here

There was a bit of recognition by someone talking about social contract broken

Statistics matter to schools because Ofsted have made it a sticking point at inspections.
Schools are made up of humans who in general understand why their fellow humans may not be able to get their children into schools be it because of illness , long term health needs or poor mental health.
The government need to work on mental health provisions on a whole as well as a whole bunch of other things like the availability of good GP care, capping the cost of flights outside of term time and so on.
The government like to Pitt one party against another so is doing what it does best. Teachers against parents but they're forgetting that teachers are parents too.

It's a nightmare. My DDs school have changed their sick policy to 24 hours off for
48 hours. Since they've changed it in September we have had 3 vomiting bugs in the house- she's in Year 4 and up until this year we've managed to avoid them. She has had more time off school this year than the other years in total due to the change in this policy- it makes no sense to me at all.

It’s so illogical I don’t even know where to start 😜 sorry your child has been so poorly it’s not fair.

What a strange world we have made for our children.

I said this on another of these threads but it’s as if many of those working in the education system have got collective Stockholm Syndrome and it’s our children that suffer.

My DC have had more time off this year than any other thanks to campaigns around "send them in regardless". One of my DC has an attendance of 80% right now thanks to chickenpox, covid, two vomiting bugs and scarlett fever all caught from school.

Oh right so austerity never happened, public services were never cut to the bone. Sure start centres never disappeared. There’s no recruitment or retention crisis in social services/healthcare/education.

Must have been a mass illusion eh? 🙄

Yep 100%. I genuinely respected the teaching profession a lot pre-Covid. After seeing what the teachers were saying online during the pandemic about children and how many teachers whined and amplified their own risks, I lost a lot of respect. Especially as an NHS worker working on the wards throughout. I had to keep reminding myself of the individual brilliant teachers we have met, otherwise I would have lost all faith.

I worked on a mental health ward. I did not set out to work out with infectious people. Oh and we did not have full PPE. We had the same blue paper masks that everybody was ordering on eBay.

Yet apparently teachers were at far greater risk. My kids still comment on that ridiculous line taped on the ground in front of the teachers’ desk that pupils were not allowed to cross 😂 Pathetic!

Anyway, back to the OP. I think children should be allowed to take periods of time off for coughs, colds and vomiting without any pressure from government policy to come back and spread germs.

I read this today. Really struck a chord. School is no longer fit for purpose for so many kids and we expect of our kids way more than we as adults would be prepared to tolerate by sending kids that struggle to school.
I am the parent I will decide when my child needs to go to school or stay home. - because I care about my children’s overall mental and physical health as well as their education.
What if I asked you?
You, The Adult.

To hold down a job where you are expected to take regular testing to ensure you're up for the job. Where your anxiety and fear breeds from the very thought of going there, so much so, you're vomiting, screaming and begging. Where you actually dont know whats expected of you or how to do that job but you must still go.

What if I asked you to go, even though you spent most of your days there alone, afraid, confused, distressed, panicked. You just know its not the job for you. But everyone is intent on making you the job for it.

What if I asked you to move past your panic attack and go there every single day even when you tell me your mental health is slipping away from you.

If I asked you to just try harder to mix with your colleagues, even though they've been freezing you out for 4 years and the cold just wont thaw.

Can I ask you, that when you cry, to explain to me why you are crying. Can I ask you to repeat that because it makes no sense to me.

And can I ask you, when it still makes no sense to me, and you're getting angry because I dont get it, that you go to a room alone. And think about how you've got angry.

What if I asked you, The Adult, that despite the way your boss talks to you with a patronising, dismissive attitude, you must still respect them, listen to them and be guided by them.

What if every attempt you had made to fit into that job, didnt work out because the colleagues, the boss, the work and the hours had exhausted every corner of your spirit. And what if I told you, you didnt try enough. And then I asked you to sit in front of a psychiatrist to be diagnosed with a mental disorder because you just wont go to work.

What if your next attempt to try at that job caused you so much distress, that you became suidicial.

And Still

The psychiatrist
The boss
The others

All convinced you that its because you need to work through your resistance to go to work.

I think I'd never ask that of you, though.

#anxietybasedschoolavoidance

The Government give no shits about our kids welfare. They will not update the education system so it better suits modern society nor will they fund it adequately. They do however want to be seen to be doing something and this stupid little campaign is the cheapest, least effort way of looking like they are doing something without actually doing something.

As a parent I will decide if my child is well enough for school, the end.

My 10 year old came home complaining of a sore throat and has rapidly gone downhill this eve with a temperature and body aches.

I am dreading calling in sick for her tomorrow. You always get the third degree and pressured into bringing them
in so the school can decide if they are well enough to stay in school or be at home.

Shes had 100% attendance since September and all of the last school year (and the year before actually, we’ve been “lucky” that any illness she’s had had fallen in school holidays), but they will still get arsey with me if I refuse to get her up and bring her in so they can decide if other parents stories are anything to go by.

Good analogy.
It never ceases to amaze me how as a society we hold our children to much higher standards than we hold ourselves. As a society we have become a school fixated society where ‘school’ and ‘learning’ have become synonymous and we have moulded their entire childhood around this outdated, highly pressured model.
No thought is given to whether this is actually best for our children, or if this idea of learning Is actually a myth. We’ve inherited these ideas as it is what we did, what are parents did, but clearly this myth is starting to be dismantled.
I for one am glad to see so many parents up in arms and advocating for their children and teens.

They’ve lost the plot, nevermind the mark. This one issue makes me want to vote Labour. Our kids have more Sen needs than ever and parents are under more pressure than ever. Our kids are more stressed than ever. Our teachers are more stressed than ever. Fines and threats won’t make the slightest bit of difference to this educational disaster.

So what do we get on a Friday night after school? Attendance threats. I now have more admin on top of day job. Kid is having medical appointments, anxiety and school refusal due to it being under staffed and no Sen support there. It’s not rocket science that the system is broken. And nobody in gov is listening. Least of all the education minister.

Show me how you’ll fix that, I’ll vote for you.

Meanwhile, an autistic child needs a special school place and County Council won’t pay for it. So they cannot attend school. Double stinking standards. It. Is. Wrong. X million.

Why do they have the NHS logo on? School attendance is nothing to do with the NHS (well, I suppose it could be if the child's on a waiting list but I doubt that's why the logo's there!) Is the message of, "Send your slightly ill kid in, dosing them up with Calpol if necessary," really being endorsed by the NHS?

The problem is all the knee jerk reactions to attendance have never fixed the problem.
Fines for missing school unauthorised... The most (not all) serial long term absentees are from poor families with likely poor education themselves... They do not find themselves fined because school policy and knowledge of the background will identify its likely to be a child in need and instead resources are thrown at assisting (probably referred to as educating) the parent - so they don't get fined because they are being helped and any attendance is seen as a bonus and an opportunity to address safeguarding (which is incredibly important because it is actually very true). Meanwhile Mr and Mrs Jones get fined each for Jones Jr missing the last week of school which is just a pedant of school fete/seasonal activities/no actual learning.
I do strongly believe school is very important (and I loved it as a child) and get my child there each day. I am quite able to decide if my child is actually ill or if it is an attempt to pull the wool over my eyes. Would I consider a holiday during term time due to cost - absolutely - but it wouldn't be a frequent option and never considered if there was an indication my child was behind.

Oh and it annoys me schools do not seem to acknowledge long term health conditions / medical needs as a factor attendance is not perfect.

They try to make you bring your unwell child in & they decide, what is their medical qualification? Are you serious?
Bloody hell, we just text on the school app that they are unwell.
Don't even need to speak to anyone.

Yup.

Failing school in a terrible area, the attendance is shocking. Out of 750 children, only 25 had above 96% attendance the first half term of this school year (so 6 weeks) according to the letter the head sent out.

Many parents here just can’t be arsed to send kids to school, so they are up against it. they were taken over by an academy two years ago and a new head brought in, he’s heavy handed as his reputation and bonus depends on it.

So in one way, I do understand. I cannot describe what a shithole place I live in. But dd has only just gone to sleep after hours of restlessness - I will not be getting her up and dressed at for 8am and making her walk 15 mins and then 15 mins home again when they can see she’s very unwell. She not had a day off for illness or any other reason since year 2, she’s year 5 now, I will be making that clear if they push it.