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

My child was born with a condition that requires them to have regular hospital admissions. It really upsets me when certificates for attendance are given out. They do discriminate. My child couldn't help being born with their condition!

How about the kids with chronic illness who manage to come to school every day possible, despite possibly being in pain or undergoing treatment, but have no chance of a certificate because they simply can’t be there 100%? Don’t they deserve recognition?

They are dreadful and penalise many children through no fault of their own. My child had time off for a major op and recovery this year, so that is them out for the ‘prize’, and incidentally the kids themselves know it’s really daft and monstrously unfair. I know schools are under pressure to get attendance up, and I have a lot of sympathy for that, but this takes things too far.

I think schools with 100% attendance awards shouldn't be allowed to have an excludable illnesses policy.

Chicken pox? In you come.

D&V? Welcome!

Fever? No problem.

It should at least be theoretically possible for all kids to get it, and that means no kids being denied admission to school for getting sick.

It is 100% WRONG in principle and is fuelled by OfSted as one of the judgements of a school is about attendance.

Why should the child who is fit and well be rewarded with £10 for it? Why should the child who has a chronic illness, or who got the flu go unrewarded? Why should the child with parents who care about their education and get them to school each day get rewarded? Why should the child with drug addicted parents who have no interestein their education go unrewarded?

It is all just plain wrong ..........

Can’t bear them, and I’m a teacher! Good attendance is obviously vital, but rewarding kids for coming into school unwell I’m not a fan of. I had horrendous flu all over Christmas after one of my class came in poorly. And little kids especially need to be home when they’re ill.
DD’s Brownies also reward for 100% attendance, with huge chocolate bars 😡 for an entirely non-essential activity. Sad for those who had a sickness bug one week or other illness!

They are a huge boost for the children receiving them. And it’s right they are recognised

Yes, and it’s right that a child with exactly the same attendance apart from a 2 day bout of d&v, which they then caught up lessons in their own time, isn’t rewarded? Or a child who has 100% except for attending a grandparents funeral for one afternoon isn’t rewarded? Or a child going through cancer treatment? It’s a crappy thing to recognise for. So many instances are out of the child’s control. Sure there are some kids who need to come in more and could do. It’s a real problem. But this is a rubbish way of doing it. Maybe reward the poor attendance students if they manage to increase their attendance?

Ah, yes, the Congratulations on not having a Dead Dad Assemblies. Also known as the Well Done for Not Having Cancer Awards.

Many staff absolutely despise them, especially the ones who have a moral centre an understanding of both Statistics and common decency.

As I said ,I think the child who has achieved something should be recognised.

I remember being that kid who used to get the certificate most years (bar the years when I lost Grandparents and Uncles). I always felt bad getting them. I was lucky, I had a really good immune system and never got sick. One of my best friends lived middle of nowhere. Her mom could not drive and if her parents rowed her Dad would punish her Mom by not dropping my friend to school. My friend was a much more hardworking student than I was but I was the one getting a certificate.

It's a prize. People who don't get the prize aren't missing out, they just didn't get the prize. Kids need to learn that not everyone can win prizes.

How do we distinguish between the child who has attended 100% despite all the odds and the one who has had absolutely no barriers to attendance and just got up and gone to school every day without even thinking about it? Which is the deserving one that we can pick out from a blunt statistic?

Those kids get support from inclusion, Welfare, pastoral, SEN. They get free allowances and can reduce their timetables to help with their medical conditions. I should know because I manage a very busy medical room in a Comprehensive and some of these pupils are with me several times a day. We form very close relationships and they do get rewarded, but in different ways. They don’t get attendance nagging at them - we are happy to see them at school when they can manage it.
they get free passes to leave a class, no questions asked, they get priority passes to jump the lunch queue, they get rest breaks in all tests, they get priority for school trips… I could go on. Every single day I try to make their time at school as smooth as possible. They will be awarded different certificates, it’s an all inclusive school and everyone matters. Everyone.

I HATE them and it encourages parents to ignore 48 hour rule and spread sickness to everyone else.

Excellent love them.

It's the child who has two days off when they would be well enough to come in after one that I think is the low attendance that needs to be tackled, as an example. No idea how though.

I’ll pass that on to the child I know who came home in tears from her school attendance assembly because she didn’t get one. Her constant presence in the SEN hub didn’t make up for feeling like she’d failed.

ah, this again. There will always be those who complain. Why a child who attended 100% shouldn't get at least some token recognition?

As the school nurse I am exposed to all those nasty bugs and viruses. Especially from all the pupils who travel overseas in just about every holiday. But my immune is pretty good now and it’s very rare for me to take a day off. The classic line from a pupil is ‘ I have Covid and feel awful, but my parents made me come in’. You would not believe how many times I get told that.

As a teacher I loath them. The only child in my class who will have 100% attendance this year is the child who frequently comes in with coughs,.colds and feeling rundown. That's not something we should be celebrating and even for those who don't come in unwell then it's just rewarding them for being lucky. It's not an achievement and most sensible schools no longer hand out certificates and prizes round here thankfully.

Absolutely hate them. To the point it has influenced my choice of schools. It’s discrimination, it encourages unwell children to come to school and tells me that a school is not inclusive.

Attendance awards are appallingly discriminatory toward children who live with chaotic or abusive parents, as well as the obvious discrimination toward children with disabilities and medical issues.

Only poor HT's are still sanctioning such awards now imo - all of the decent ones I know (20+ years working in education) have awards that actually reward children for achievable things without discriminating against some of their pupils.

You do that if that makes you feel better. Why is your child off school? We have pupils with really debilitating conditions and they try their best. What made you choose your school because you obviously don’t like it?

If the only thing a school can find to recognise in a pupil is their attendance then it's a pretty poor school tbh.