To ask what you think to attendance assemblies

[Sunshine193]

DD school did certificates in assembly for those with 100 % attendance. And they all got a £10 voucher too. What do you think to this? Heard some parents complaining about it to each other

Certificates are pretty standard.

ten pound voucher less so, I’m surprised the school thought it was a good use of money.

Depends if I’ve had them out on holiday or not 😂

I've never liked the lauding of attendance that is out of the control of a child. There are so many reasons why a child might not be able to attend school and children who achieve 100% attendance are usualy just lucky. Lucky not to be ill, have long term health issues, disabilities or chaotic family lives.

My DDs usually got 100% attendance certificates at primary school, but one missed out due to attending her grandfather's funeral. I thought that was callous.

A certificate is fine but rewarding children for not being ill always seems unfair on those who have the misfortune not to have perfect health.

I’d personally prefer school awards to be kept to things like effort & achievement.

They’re discriminatory to say the least.

I would love to see evidence that this actually worked as a strategy for dealing with persistent absence.

My gut feel is this makes people who already have great attendance come in when sick if they are close to the year end and the award is in sight.

But as a society dont need people with great attendance to get 100%. We need people with shit attendance to hit 95%

Discriminatory and abliest.

Considering if a child is sick or has diarrhoea there’s a compulsory 48 hour exclusion, I’m surprised anyone has 100% attendance!

Aside from genuine sickness, my DS is in every day but woud never reach a 100% attendance in primary (especially with a pre school sibling) because they catch anything and everything at that age!

Totally agree. Ours did away with attendance certificates / awards. It’s not fair for those who are ill, funerals etc - and I know that’s not the problem schools are trying to solve, but it all gets caught up with the same measures. Ours reward “attitude to learning” with reward events termly, and do an end of year awards that’s a mix of ability, effort, values etc. Not attendance.

As a parent I dislike it. I don’t think most school staff love the focus on attendance awards and the like either, but when Ofsted and the LA come sniffing around the school has to be able to point to things they’re doing to try and improve attendance. What mechanisms do you suggest the school use, with a budget of a few pounds and very minimal staff time?

I think they're absolute bollocks. Kids lose out through no fault of their own, it drives bad behaviour in sending them into school when they shouldn't be there for their own good or that of others, and it has zero effect on the parents who don't send their kids in. In fact it's just another bit of crap for kids who are ill or badly parented to put up with.

Absolutely fine. Parents on the whole have no idea how bad attendance actually is - so many children missing school so incredibly regularly!

Desperate times call for desperate measures. This will negatively impact the children who do have general good attendance and only miss the odd day through no fault of their own, but on the whole this type of initiative can improve performance.

Like the locking of toilets, it is the minority of terrible parents and unruly children who cause all these issues. The good kids always lose out somehow as a result.

Attendance awards encourage students to come to school sick. They spread disease to other students who in turn miss school. Sometimes those students are vulnerable and end up missing large amounts of school because even a cold can make them seriously ill.

the awards are counterproductive and harmful.

It’s a form of discrimination and should not be allowed

the standard is 100% so why is someone who achieves the basic standard being given a certificate and voucher

Lots can’t help being ill, would the school really want someone suffering from d&v to attend just so they meet the basic standard and get a certificate/voucher .

I think not but if I was a patent now I would be tempted to send the child in and tell the school why, ie I am not prepared to have my child discriminated against

I understand the arguments against it - that some children have chronic conditions that inevitably lead them to miss school, and it will make them feel left out/bad.

But to be honest, schools by theor very nature often reward things that aren't totally in students' control. Prizes for those who do best in their subjects for example, or sports awards. Those who aren't very academic, or aren't very good at sport, or whatever, are automatically excluded from these prizes - no amount of effort would have earned me the victrix ludorum, or whatever it's called, at sports' day because I simply couldn't run fast enough.

There will always be situations, both at school and in life in general, where some people are excluded from prizes and rewards through no fault of their own.....

Our job as parents is to explain this to our children, and make it clear that, while they can't win every prize, that doesn't mean they can't win any..... And help them to focus on what they CAN do.

I like rewarding attendance, personally. At the school I work at only à handful of students in each year group manage 100% attendance, and I actually do think it's a massive achievement and it shows real resilience. It is usually lovely, hard working, committed kids who earn those rewards, and it's nice to see their grit and determination (coming in to school even when they have a headache or had a really late night then night before or whatever) recognised.

When I speak to my form group about attendance I always make it clear that there are some students in the room for whom 100% attendance won't be possible due to chronic conditions, or other events beyond their control such as caring responsibilities, bereavement etc etc. But for those lucky enough to not encounter those issues, 100% is a great target to aim for! This should be made clear in attendance assemblies too, and has been in the ones I have attended.

We don’t have them, not sure if primary’s usually do. I’m glad I haven’t had to explain to DD that other kids got money but she didn’t because she’s had a couple of hospital stays and nearly died during one of them.

I dislike it greatly, yes some children's parents need to get their act together and not have them off for every sniffle, but you cannot help getting poorly or having a loved one die so you have to go to their funeral etc.

Hate them with a passion. Because those kids have likely been unwell at some point so come in and infect others. Everyone has vulnerabilities with some people getting sicker than others. Then what about the kids who are ND or have medical appointments? What about funerals? Or anything really. It’s an unnecessary reward and meaningless because it’s so divisive.

Hate them. Especially as DS missed out last year when he had half a day out for a school sports event ( not sure why that was flagged as authorised absence not education off site but as he wasn’t fussed ( it was only a mention in assembly) I didn’t complain). This year he has no chance as has regular orthodontist appointments.

How do all the kids in your class who know on day one that they won’t be getting this recognition feel? How do the kids who know their parents just don’t care enough to help them get to school or notice whether they do feel valued by this, or the ones who’d desperately love that 100% but can’t get it?

Our school doesn’t do this, as a deliberate decision. They hold weekly celebration assemblies which reward the individual achievements of children through the year. They work (as a primary school) directly with the families of children with poor attendance. They got Ofsted Outstanding last year.

My DDs have had these awards a fair few times.

There's no grit or resilience to it. They are lucky not to get ill more frequently. They come from a family where attending school is the norm - they didn't create that culture, we, as parents, did. We aren't giving them the choice to stay home after a late night or with a headache.

They have plenty of other opportunities to be recognised for things they have done. They don't need this one for something beyond their control.

Well as parents complain about everything, I guess this comes as no surprise. What about those who get bonuses at work, is that fair? How about rewarding those pupils who consistently strive to do their best and come into school even when they are feeling below parr? They are often ignored. But they are the ones achieving their best. Driving up standards. You know the schools you MN users look for.

I would go even further than this^ and argue that rewarding certificates for attendance is a very poor practice. There are lot of things children can be rewarded for. Those of them who have good health are rewarded already so no need to rub it in those parents whose children have poor health.

I just can’t see how it’s truly something in the child’s control.

My son had 100% attendance this year but that’s only because he’s been lucky enough not to catch norovirus or any of the other bugs that regularly do the rounds in infant schools!

The ones who come in to school feeling below par are very often the ones passing on bugs and viruses to children whose long term conditions mean they get hit harder and end up missing school.