Upset about absence letter from primary sch

[cultkid]

Hi can anyone please tell me what the trigger point is to get an absence and close monitoring letter from school? Is it the norm to not have a chat or a phone call first?

I'm trying not to get very upset but I am blown away

There's a 0.8% difference in sickness v "unauthorised" both not recorded accurately
And a 2.03% on the other child

Is it the norm to send out these letters without talking? Thanks

My son received one of these letters, followed by a phone call to talk about the absence ( sickness/ hospital appointments).

it wasn’t anything to worry about as such and they explained that they had to send them to everyone below a certain level of attendance and the majority of time it was down to illness but they follow up to make sure everything is okay and If we needed help with anything.

I am not sure what you mean by your figures but I would say it’s pretty normal. These letters are just sent out to anyone with absence below a certain amount. Just keep notes of exactly why your child is off each time, keep the school informed and throw the letter away.

It's a "computer says level reached" letter that schools send out to show OFSTED they've ticked that box. We got one in reception as DC was more susceptible and picked up every bug going. Ignore it - if you're worried, you're not one of the parents it's aimed at. I've been tempted as ask whether I should send my DC in early from a vomiting bug, rather than keeping them off for the full 48 hours, but decided it's not the fault of the reception staff.

Please don't fret.
As pp said keep a note in your diary of when and why your children were off school then if asked, just refer to your diary.

If they aren't recorded accurately then contact the school and have them corrected. We got our DD attendance record last year and there were days she was marked as family holiday when she had been in school! They'd obviously marked the wrong child's attendance. It was sorted and not a problem.

The school are obliged to send them by the LEA. Feel free to ignore the letter if you're happy with the reasons they have missed school. Those letters are horrendous and often completely tone deaf. If your school is sensible they will follow up with a chat about what's been going on. Our head used to ring up before she sent the letter to tell us not to worry about it 😂

Auto generated letter.

When my eldest started school, chicken pox did the usual rounds (she'd already had it). The parents of those that were off all get the letters. The difficulty is that the earlier in the year the bigger the impact, most children will have evened out by the end.

I'll admit I'm an anxious over worrier but the tone of the letter is disgusting

Signed by deputy head I walked past 40 times already this term, I'm literally so so approachable I'm gentle and I'm involved with the school as much as possible. I literally brought in 20 pairs of gloves last week! So I can't understand why she wouldn't have raised this with me and let me know I'll get a scary letter and I already know I'm going to get a fine.

When I rang the office very upset about it as the wording implied court proceedings could be what happens next plus the shaming of a very close eye.... it stings!!

I've got to walk past her now and I have been trying to get hold of her all day

I'm so not ok with this

These letters are scary AF

And I'm not justifying my kids absences but this was Christmas party Christmas jumper Christmas play Christmas Carol week

I've asked her to share what was missed in lessons so we can catch up.

To add if this is a computer generated letter the head may not have seen it or physically 'signed' it. A lot of places will have electronic signatures and letters ran off automatically once you hit x criteria

They have had 5 days off for holidays on the last week of school which was all party stuff as far as I can see. Baring in mind all the illnesses they have had which they fully caught at school!!
I have received 8 letters in 10 working days roughly of school? I'm so upset

Yes to fine no problem but what im getting at is that they authorised the absences before We are talking like 5 school days total since September that were missed!!!

My boy is 4 too so not even legal age to be at school ..

It's not personal. It's an automated letter and your relationship with the deputy head and provision of gloves is irrelevant.

It's meant to be scary because it's meant to make people who don't care about attendance care about it. Doesn't mean further action is inevitable.

No need to be upset about it. If you think the absences counted is inaccurate then raise that.

You are massively overthinking this. It’s a standard letter, the deputy head is not going to warn you ahead of time that you’re going to receive a standard template letter. You’ve been trying to get hold of her all day?! It’s not going to be her personal idea, it’s a local authority and ofsted expectation.

Calm down. Ask them to correct any mistakes you have noticed in child’s record, then just carry on with your life. Assuming child has been absent for good reasons (ie genuine illness) they really aren’t going to do much other than send the letter.

If they won't do anything why send the letter

Gloves are relevant in the way that I'm saying I'm there all the time and they know me so why not have a chat first like PP have said they experienced

I'm not a dragon who will breathe fire on them if they tell me!

We are talking like 5 school days total since September that were missed!!!
5 days is 10 sessions. It's not clear if this as authorised or not. You say it was for holidays which can't have been authorised. The head telling you they don't mind is not the same as it being officially authorised which for holiday they can't do.

Mine older one had 5 unauthorised sessions in year 1 because we got caught up in flight cancellations and were 3 days later home than planned. They weren't angry or blaming me but they have to log it as unauthorised. Such is life.

@cultkid - how many days in total (holidays + illness) did your children have off last term?

Your DC is not yet compulsory school age. If the absences are correct, just ignore it. It is a standard letter that will take no account of individual circumstances (including in your case - you say it mentioned potentially being taken to court but this simply cannot happen for a child not yet compulsory school age). My DC's school used to be able to suppress these letters on a case by case basis, but then the LEA started insisting they send them to everyone below a certain absence level, no exceptions. DCs school just said sorry they had to send them now and I was told to just ignore them. I suspect the school are so used to the wording that they don't realise just how worrying they can seem for someone new to the system.

It will be a standard letter but tbh term time holidays are not a great idea.

Honestly, holidays were silly.

If the HT was expected to stop and chat to every parent whose child had missed school they'd never get any work done. You'll be one of 10s of parents in the same boat, they're not going to remember you in that way.

I've worked in attendance, these letters are designed to be factual and to get a point across, they're not scary. I think you're being a little oversensitive. But not to the extent of not taking your child out of school? 🤔

Because they don’t have time to “have a chat first” for someone who’s actually by the sounds of it taken a load of time off for holidays and in any case the process has to be fair and the same for everyone, not special for parents they know well. Schools send loads of these letters, I can’t imagine SLT has time for a scheduled chat with each one. I would understand expecting a chat first if your child had been in hospital or something, but you took them out of school on holiday - what did you expect to happen?!

The whole point is to make it a bit scary and unpleasant to put people off from taking term time holiday and to improve their child’s attendance. If they’ve been off sick then you have nothing to be concerned about and should just carry on as normal, if it’s unauthorised holiday then the letter was bound to sound a bit threatening, that’s the point. They are only interested in your child going to school, not your anxiety or relationship with the deputy head.

It's a standard letter that they have to send. I got one a few months ago as my child had been sick and her attendance went under 90% which was the trigger to send. It's not personal. If you take your child out for a holiday you will get letters about the attendance. However my understanding you can't be fined if the child is under compulsory school age.

This is not a gentle 'oh by the way, Ms XX, I just notice your child absence. Sadly I have to raise the matter but don't worry'....this is an official letter attached to a legal matter that could result in court proceeding.

Totally missing the point @cultkid

They have to send them, it's required for a certain level. Then they have a record.

Government attendance expectations don’t care if it’s Christmas party week, so neither do schools when looking at attendance records. Officially anyway, obviously what the HT says informally may differ.

And asking for work doesn’t make it better - the teacher has 30 kids in a class, they have more than enough work already without having to pull together catch up material for your child, plus everyone else who thinks it’s a good idea to take term time holiday. Indeed my children’s school bans teachers from doing this to protect their workload. You take your child on holiday, it’s all on you to catch them up, or not.

Ofsted won't accept a Deputy Head saying 'Oh yes, she's lovely, I had a word with her after she'd dropped off some gloves for children who don't have any' as evidence that they are monitoring and acting proactively to address school attendance, though. But being able to show that all parents whose children's attendance dropped below 96% were contacted through the letters generated will be accepted.