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

Because they attended 100% for reasons entirely outside of their own control?

Is it though? My child got a certificate and voucher. He loves school and has had minor colds over the year but he has never asked not to go to school. I don't push it, if he wanted a sick day fine .. tbh I feel it's all a bit meh does anyone really care that much to begrudge a child a small award.

Your school was letting her down. The four (yep!) primaries I’ve been a parent at have all had variants of the personalised award. Yes, they only get one once a term, but it’s something meaningful to them. And no one is getting awards for any other reason. And it definitely happens. They keep records. Our current one has a house system and every term the house with the most points gets a non-uniform day, and every year the houses are mixed up. Another school had pebbles in a jar and the kids were given a pebble to put in their jar and a reward for when the jar was full. But again the pebbles were personal to them and their development.

No primary needs to be giving out awards of any sort that some kids have no chance of winning, whatever they are. There’s time ahead to learn that you won’t win them all. At this age it’s all about incentives to be their best self. Even secondaries given out awards for effort throughout the year now.

Yes, of course kids will need to get their heads round the cosmic unfairness of life. I think many know about that from an early age anyway. But a small reward for making a tangible effort is also a good life lesson.

Disgusting idea.

I used to keep my DCs off on the days when I knew there were attendance certificates being given out - the irony of this was totally lost on the twat of an HT.

But those who attended 100% also didn't
. ask to stay home every time they felt a little off colour but not obviously ill
. mess around in the mornings meaning they were late
. get to go on holiday to Disney World in term time because it was cheaper for the parents and then come back and tell the class all about it

As I said, I'm in 2 minds.

Schools recognise/reward all sorts of things, sports achievement (unfair on the dyspraxic ones), pen licenses (ditto. I don't think my DD2 ever got hers), completing times tables charts (DD still doesn't have instant recall). These things are often not in the child's control either. DD has put in way more effort into learning times tables than I ever did, yet I knew all mine age 6/7.

This is an extreme example and quite sad but there's a child in my son's school with cancer. So there's no way they'd get 100% attendance but still have to go to the assemblies and watch other healthy children be rewarded for attendance.

I celebrate every little certificate that comes home and make a fuss of my child if he gets reader of the week or whatever but not the attendance awards. I just really don't agree with them.

I would really like to see school staff address the issue of unintended consequences from attendance awards. Do schools even consider the impact on the spread of disease and learning time lost by other students?

There was a whole class award thing at my sons primary unfortunately one class had a child with cancer this particular class never made the rewards list they turned on and bullied the child with cancer to the degree that her mother had to attend the school and ask for her absence to not be counted the school pratted on about resilience etc the mom got apocalyptic about it but the class still didn't win the end of year reward

They can be damaging

But those who attended 100% also didn't
ask to stay home every time they felt a little off colour but not obviously ill

They should have their effort recognised, but so should the child whose attendance was 75% and they came in tired, or when they felt a little off colour, but couldn't come in when they were in hospital for surgery or when they were having chemo.

Especially in schools where the recognition isn't simply a certificate and a clap in assembly.

I hate it, always have. It won't be truancy at primary, it'll be illness (or, OK, holidays which I didn't do) and they can't help that. When my (primary) pupils come in with a badge for 100% attendance (wtf to give actual money for that, by the way?!) I say how lovely, aren't you lucky not to have been ill? Then change the subject. It's not in their control! I praise them to the skies for effort and attitude to learning. The end.

Literally all those examples are down to the parents, not the child though. The child with 100% attendance may have done both the first two things and got firm nos and have a family with plenty of money to go and enjoy Disney in the school holidays.

Would be better to reward the child who has battled cancer and only attended on the last day of term - this would be worth celebrating.

Maybe all children should have their own target attendance. So for children with regular appointments they might have a 90% target excluding appointments. Someone with Cancer gets a certificate regardless. Someone who had 82% last term might have a target of 86% for the following term or whatever. All getting somewhat complicated though.

My DD had 0% one year. But then she wasn't in to see certificates being given out either.

At DS school (secondary), they put everyone with above 90% attendance in a draw and they can win £10 vouchers or (one year) bacon sandwiches.
It's not the perfect solution but it takes in a lot more people.

Right up there with my disdain for pen licences

I detest anything that rewards attendance. I volunteer with a uniformed organisation and the previous group I worked with awarded perfect attendance with a certificate. When I took over as the leader, I dropped it. We had a child in the group who lived in the middle of nowhere and the mum didn't like going out after dark so if the dad was working away in winter the child couldn't attend. Another child was neuro diverse and a young carer so wasn't always able to attend. Children can't help being unwell or being brought up by a single parent who falls ill.

As are rewarding those pupils who strive day in day out.
come and work in a school if you are such an expert.

You think rewards for attendance are reasonable adjustments?!

I was a kid Its hard when a teacher stands up infront of a class and goes on about how amazing the majority of the kids are for having 100% attendance and how others have to try better and if we did we would get something next time for it, i knew i would never get a certificate or a prize. I just wanted to be a normal kid like everyone else. As an adult I wouldn't give a shit but your talking about young children. I already missed out on so much stuff. This was 30 years ago so the teachers weren't exactly diplomatic and kind about it.

I work in a large comprehensive. Therefore attendance certificates kind of have a different meaning. We don’t actually give them out like Op has said, but they get reward points. We also reward for no unauthorised absences, a very different thing. This means that even if you are at school for 50% of the time, if your absences are authorised you are no way penalised.
i have been the school nurse for 17 years and we have never had to call an ambulance for an asthma attack, so sorry about your child.
And for the record we actually get pupils who get to the end of year 11 with 5 years of 100% attendance. That surely is pretty impressive….

So you’re talking in many ways about a totally different thing? Why defend a different system that would penalise many of the kids you work with unfairly?

This. DS's school used to have rewards for being on green (I know this has its own issues but at least targets were set individually to reflect children's needs so it was not a one size fits all approach). It's now been replaced by attendance awards. I have complained because each of my kids has/has had issues that need hospital, appointments etc meaning that they are set up to fail. Seeing others being rewarded for the good fortune to not be ill or have additional needs is horrible and demotivating. DS1 gave up bothering with school, he knew he would never meet their expectations and it was not worth trying. This works the same. Stomach bug in October, your award for the year is gone so might as well bunk off right? Also for younger ones it's never their fault as their adults control attendance ultimately. Rewards/sanctions should not be applied to things that are out of a child's control.

Seriously, you’re not coming across well here.

It's not impressive if they've brought their germs to school and made others ill. That's just irresponsible on the part of their parents.