To not understand the fixation on attendance?

[Gardenschmarden99]

Or at least to the level it currently is…

New education secretary and based on her speech to the association of school leaders it seems her focus is on attendance.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m an ex teacher with two primary age children who go to school whenever they aren’t unwell. Broadly I’m in favour of children going to school!

But I don’t think I’ve met many teachers who really think the current fixation is helpful. For those with deep seated problems, they would benefit from intervention. For those families that were unlucky enough to catch covid and a sickness bug in one school year the rather officious computer says no letters just erode the seriousness of actual attendance problems.

When children are unwell, they shouldn’t be in school even if it makes the attendance dip below 97%.

SEN children without support don’t have an attendance problem, they have a support problem (and I know this is because central government don’t fund local government well enough to pay for it but the kids can’t help that!)

I also think it would be such a crowd pleaser to allow 5 days authorised holidays at the discretion of the headteacher…. And yes, I’d also be in favour of my child’s teacher being able to go to a family wedding or see their child on sports day or (God forbid) have a day out with their spouse a few times a year.

My family live in a European country (not especially known for being ‘progressive’) where all this over focus on attendance is just not a thing. They outperform us in league tables for academic and mental health of children.

AIBU?

The issue isn’t 97% attendance. Or pupils with health conditions.

The issue is the huge number of pupils who are under 90% or even much lower who get a cold and stay off two weeks, or those who just don’t feel like coming in some days.

Covid has made school feel more ‘optional’ to both parents and pupils. A bit under the weather? Stay home. Tired this morning? Stay home. Weather is shitty? Stay home. Pupils with 80% attendance or less are not uncommon any more. Even 50% is far too common.
Yes there are procedures but they take a long time to progress (years).
It’s one of those things that each individual absence feels like no big deal but when you’re heading towards exams and you’ve missed the equivalent of 1 day per week all year it has a huge impact.

I don’t think anyone is advocating a lack of attendance and I appreciate that in general education enhances your quality of life etc and long term future.

Currently the way attendance issues are being dealt with is counterproductive, discriminatory and unreasonable.

We need to understand if there are cohorts who are not presenting at school and do not have anxiety/EBSA/SEN issues. We need to discern whether there are mental health issues here.

It's so different now to pre covid though.

Pre covid 95% used to be the benchmark for good attendance and this was the measure schools were aiming for. Now it's just not attainable for many schools. Surely you see why this is a problem?

The social contract between parents and schools has been broken and some parents just don't see it as essential that students attend every day unless they are ill. This has a toxic effect on a child's education.

Many dc are cut out of education by year 4 at school because they can't read well and they can't engage and they are bored.
We ate draconian in our schooling.

I would be interested in stats if you school refusers or those that hate it. I would be surprised if they are the high achievers

97% isn't the issue, it's the numbers dropping below 90% for no significant reason, not even due to mental health, just aren't made to go to school. Been at the front line and parents don't care about education

I was a school governor, for three primary schools, over a 20 year period. At the beginning of my time, attendance was rarely an issue, at the end very much so! We had parents whose children attended for less than 50% of the time, often citing needing a holiday, deaths in families, emergencies you'd not believe, but these were the same children struggling with the basics. Education is often not seen as important by some parents and it is generally in those whose children need it the most and get the least at home. It gets so you make blanket rules, to stop the arguments and yes, it does and can penalise genuine requests and for students often well beyond their fellow classmates in terms of their education, but you can no longer use discretion because this results in accusations and arguments, legal threats even, so you penalise all! It is rather like the workplace, where an edict is issued, because the management is afraid of addressing the issue with the few, so all have more draconian terms imposed on them to avoid hard conversations and more difficult HR legal threats down the line!

@IkeaMeatballGravy

One of my dc managed 4 years of juniors with no time missed, i personally managed the whole of secondary! Not everyone gets ill

My dc all have ‘terrible’ attendance. To me though it’s fine. 2 are home educated as it became clear the school system was making their medical issues worse.

The ones in school- I keep them off if they are unwell, not push them in on medication like the school advise. If they are struggling mentally we have a day to relax and reset (to avoid autistic burnout).

For all of them in reception year we did half days only for the first 2 terms as they still needed a nap to process all that overstimulation and information.

We’ve had meetings, been told to sign contracts to improve it (I declined), had to get drs letters to prove illnesses etc etc.

My dc that are now 18+ did extremely well in GCSEs / A levels. One in full time employment one in PT. I truly believe had I forced them and had 100% attendance as the short term goal they’d be burnt out would not have achieved what they have and not be able to work. I chose to focus on the long term and continue to consider this for my younger dc still in the school system.

I’ve also got a bright asd child. We had a bad time at mainstream but he is now in a fantastic specialist school which is meeting his needs, and his attendance this year is 99%. If he was still at mainstream it would most likely be 0%

I've just lodged my 4th complaint with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman regarding lack of education for my Sen children (2 previously upheld, 2 currently under investigation).

I've also just lodged my 9th Specialist Education Needs and Disability Tribunal appeal. The Gov/Councils only care about attendance when they can parent blame. They don't abide by their own statutory duties to provide education. Hypocrisy at its finest.

I really don't understand it. We are supportive parents who take our children to school daily. This year, my youngest has had a tummy bug and temperature which required three days off school to abide by regulation. He then got another virus and temperature, so another two days, and had two days off to attend his grandfather's funeral at the other end of the country. I've had two statutory attendance letters to let me know that at those points of the year his attendance was inadequate. we have now had a referral made for an ASD assessment and the referral reports his attendance as poor (at around 95-6%). Apparently he would need to secure over 96% to be adequate and over 98% to be excellent. TBH, it's all made me quite dismissive of the process, and more inclined to take him out for holidays etc - we can't hut target anyway, so why bother.

I agree, my son was diagnosed with type one diabetes and had to take 6 weeks off (and further more days for appointments if you have a type one then you know it's appointments all the time!) I got a letter stating his attendance had dipped below 87 percent and he couldn't have more time off... problem was he nearly died and couldn't of functioned in school at that time.

To much emphasis on attendance than actually checking schools.......

My kid has ASD and manages best if he can pace social interaction.
When we were HE we would alternate "going out" days with "chill days" at home. (We didn't just chill. He'd do maths and writing. But the crucial thing is he'd not need to deal with people)
He's now going into specialist provision and I'll be keeping a careful eye on how he's coping. If necessary I'll be advocating for a part time timetable.
With DS there is no correlation between attendance and academic progress.
He can attend every day in a state of near dissociation and have all his work differentiated downwards.
Or he can come in less often and do higher order thinking.
So far teachers have preferred the first option but I'm hoping specialist provision will be more understanding.

yanbu it’s ridiculous and discriminatory to children with conditions and disabilities

The social contract has changed due to lockdown, as other posters have pointed out. Not to turn this into a should we shouldn't we have discussion, but it's done now. Turns out attitudes to school attendance is yet another thing that we can't just switch back on when convenient.

And I think we can see it at all levels. Mine are always over 95% despite SEN, which is as much a matter of luck as anything else. They don't get ill much, don't school refuse as yet and so I can save the sick days to go on holiday a couple of days either side of the school holidays. And the odd mental health day. One is even getting an attendance award this year even though we've been away twice!

But even as someone whose DC would be unlikely to be picked up on by attendance focus (disclaimer- not heard the speech) I'm still just not buying into it. I'll be the one to decide whether it's appropriate for my DC to go in, I'm better qualified to make the assessment than anyone else and I'm completely uninterested in the views of a state that fucked my kids education off for months at a time whilst others were allowed proper education with better ratios.

I'm a teacher and don't care about attendance. If there's a few missing, my job is easier. The person who suffers in the long run is the child, not me. If they don't achieve what they should at the end of the year. I'm off the hook if they had poor attendance.

But there is a correlation between attendance and achievement so there's a moral obligation to at least try to get them in, so the school does what it can. Parents don't like it of course. They are outraged that their judgment might be called into question.

This is the reason. And it's a good reason. More and more parents don't care about their children attending school regularly.

And what about SEN kids who are being failed by the school? Do you give a shit about them?

It really isn't that black and white.
My child had a serious health issue which meant they couldn't attend school for large periods of time. The LA should have provided a home tutor during these times but they did not.
Child also has additional needs which have never been adequately supported.
Both those reasons have resulted in child being so far behind that this has caused mental health issues and child has developed school based anxiety.
School still didn't support with anything close to what child needs.
Meanwhile the stress of being unable to work, the stress of being blamed for not getting child to school, plus the battle to try and get support. Left me thinking everyone would be better off if I was dead.
When I forced child into school, child became suicidal.

The issue is that schools can not meet needs and the pupils (and the whole family) are being failed while been gas lighted to believe we are to blame).

It's because we're slowly discovering that a huge chunk of British kids are feral, horrible and thick as shit.

And the parents are rough, just as awful and will argue till blue in the face that there is a list of reasons that their darling is failing and not one of them is theirs or the kids fault.

What buttered toast said.

The issue is there are clear stats that better attendance = better results and the post covid drop in attendance has a huge impact on attainment.

Huge numbers of people are taking term time holidays and its absolutely not all people for whom cost is an issue.

This doesn’t apply to everyone. When my dc were in burnout they were learning absolutely nothing.
We withdrew two and home educate them . They are now doing amazingly well and will go on to pass GCSE’s / a levels as their older siblings have.

Younger dc in school have what is classed as persistent absence yet are also doing well academically as they are not mentally and physically exhausted. If they aren’t right I’d much rather they skip PE day for example rest well and get back in the next day than push through, get exhausted and then be burnt out and off for 2/3 days ! It’s just common sense if you have a child with any kind of medical issue or SEN they need to have more considered than a % as an indication of their chance of success in life.

Attendance is a safeguarding issue. If students aren’t in school, what are they doing? This isn’t necessarily “our” children who are ill, or engaging in wholesome family activities. It’s those who are spending days on line, hanging around doing drugs, selling drugs, dragged into sex work, exploited otherwise. If these students are in school, they are safe between say 8-4, they are getting positive messages, choices. They are fed, warm, safe. Schools can’t distinguish between “those” students who are at risk if not in school and “our” children whose parents are looking after them.

Schools have been told they have to offer suppprt to low attendees but families who book skiing or safaris in Africa hardly need suppprt!

"And what about SEN kids who are being failed by the school? Do you give a shit about them?"

I don't know any SEN kids who are being failed by the system. They are well supported at my school and every school I've worked at, and that's all I can talk about really.