School Attendance

[zafira63]

Can someone put my mind at rest please,
My daughter went into 6th form in September and today she had her attendance letter saying it was 92% and she is really worried that they are going to ask her to leave!

I have tried to reassure her but thought i would ask and see if anybody else knows if they can do that, She is a brilliant and hard working student she always has her homework in on time and she is a lovely polite girl who is never rude, This attendance is based from September so thats 6 Months so a week in 6 months i don't think is that bad concidering she has a younger brother with Aspergers who hates her leaving him everyday, But she always goes and the times she has had of was for genuine reasons. Any response would be gratefully received and much needed Thank you ;)

Tell her to stop worrying, the attendance formula is flawed. If she was off for one day in her first week, the attendance would be 80% but by the end of the second it would be up to 90% and would continue to rise. She has half a year of school left, hers will creep up too.

If she is really concerned get her to speak to her Year Tutor, explain the flaw in the formula and I am sure they will reassure her.

She sounds lovely

Her attendance to date is 92%. That isn't a flaw in the formula. It is fact. If she does not have any further absence in the year her attendance percentage will rise. If she continues to have absence at the same rate it will stay at 92%.

I agree she should talk to her tutor but don't try to explain the flaw in the formula. There isn't one. But I'm sure the tutor will reassure her.

Hi LatteLady,

Thank you for reply so if they call her in what should she say to them.
Its all over my head this attendance stuff!

And bless you thank you for the kind comment. ;)

If they call her in don't argue about the formula. Contrary to LatteLady's assertion it is not flawed. She should explain the reasons for her absences and discuss what she can do to avoid future absences.

I think it is unfair she works harder than most of the 6th form that are there. ;/

I'm sure the school will take that into account when making decisions.

I hope so because they didn't take my son who has Aspergers into account she he was there in fact they let him down big time i had to fight to get him were he is today and he is 14 now bless him one of those schools were you have to be either 100% attendance even if your naughty as long as you turn up thats ok! My friend has a really naughty boy there and they treat him to days out at thorpe park and pictures and swimming all paid for because they say he needs to be encouraged to do well!! I am so angry ;)

My daughter just told me that the attendance is from back in september to now i thought they re set after each term?

Attendance is monitored over the entire year and is not reset each term.
If your daughter has no further days of then her attendance over the year will rise, and there will not be an issue. Attendance is linked to performance. It is much easier for a pupil to keep up with work covered if they are in class. It is much more work for them to have to play catch up.

Her tutor should be able to give her a good idea of how much of an issue the school are going to make of her attendance. If they call her in, all she has to do is account for the illnesses that have kept her away from school. The school HAS to record and challenge attendance, so please bear in mind the tutor will just be doing their job, and she should not take it personally.

Your sons aspergers should have no bearing on your daughters attendance. I have a much younger brother who suffers very badly from this condition (ended up in a special unit), so you have my sympathy. However it would be unfair for her education to be affected adversely by a brothers special needs, and you may need to be quite strict with her to ensure this does not happen and help her see the big picture.

Your comment about her working harder than the rest of the 6th from is also irrelevant. Firstly you can not know how hard all of the other students are working, no one gets good A levels without working incredibly hard, despite what the popular press would have us believe. Secondly if her attendance is poor she may well have to be spending more time catching up on missed work. Well done her for keeping up, it is not an easy time for youngsters.

You do not sound at all confident in the school you daughter has chosen as 6th form. Is she happy with her choice of 6th form or do you think she needs to start making plans for a different college/6th form for A2?