A rather angry rant!!! I make no apologies..........School attendance

[alcyone]

I received a letter today from our County council informing us that 'The County Strategic Attendance Team' will again be working at the school for 1 week.
Quote"The school day begins at 9oam Prompt"
The letter states the folowing..."I shall be GREETING children at the school gate periodically during the week"
It then goes on to tell me about parent's responsibilities and punctuality.

Last year i let it pass without comment.
Two smiling ladies standing in the playground while flustered mums checked their watches and pushed their children through the gate.

I wonder how this promotes attendance and punctuality?
Granted, some children have regular attendance issues, but quite often this is linked to other issues,not really resolved by Attendance assistants.
My dds are rarely late,BUT it is ALWAYS a mad rush in the mornings.
Children have always been late for school and regardless of the cc policy,will always be late.
What a waste of tax payers money and resources.
The letter is patronising, Isn't it hard enough being a parent without chucking more guilt in our direction?
What evidence is there, i wonder, to suggest that this kind of scheme actually produces LONG TERM results?
My children....my responsibility.
If i want help i'll ask for it.

Also agreeing with califrau on sickness issue.

oh for the love of god! I've never known a school which registers before 8.50 at the earliest- it's hardly the crack of dawn. If you can't get your kids there by then, there's summat wrong. those of us who've found the socks from the night before, dressed the kids,dropped them off at childcare and got ourselves to work by then are pissing ourselves that anyone can seriously take offence at this.

Not offended
Bored with being patronised

Sadly as already been said it not you they trying to target. The other parents won't care!

Don't feel patronised alcyone. If you're punctual then the letter isn't aimed at you. Bin it!

OK saggars,
gonna do it,
let it go

lol!

There is no one perfect way to tackle attendance problems effectively. Yes it is important to focus on the individuals who are habitually late or don't attend but you do have to promote the importance of attendance and time keeping to the whole school aswell and this ALWAYS leads to some parents getting the arse and finding it offensive. If you know that your child is rarely off or late then don't take it personally and the reasons for it are genuine then chill out and don't take it personally.

Also you make thing it is a waste of resources but it costs a lot more in time and resources to deal with individuals. These little initiatives aren't really for the main offenders either they are more a gentle push for those who are slipping into bad habits to realise that it doesn't go unnoticed and yes it can be a very effective way of getting them to buck their ideas up before they become a real problem.

I'm a mum of 4 and have never been late to school. I don't see what the problem is with getting them to school on time on the majority of days, and I agree that this letter is wrong for the VAST MAJORITY pf mothers who make it on time or early either e of very day or most days..

However, at my school, and I'm sure you will find that there are parents at yours who are almost never on time, and in one case, I became good enough friends with one of these parents to discover that after dropping her eldest daughter off at high school, she would go for a cuppa at her mother's before dropping her other kids off at primary school. She has about a 10 minute drive in the morning traffic to get from high school to primary school and about 30 minutes between eldest daughter needing to be in school, and the younger ones needing to be in school.

This particular parent doesn't get the kids there late as a result of things out of her control... it's her own fault. It's simply a case that she is late for the vast majority of things because of the fact that she sees other things as needing to wait for her... not the other way around...

Now most parents probably feel rightly aggrieved by this type of letter, but it's not directed at you if you are rarely late, it's directed at this sort of parent....

The thing is, if I knew that the school was 'relaxed' about arrival time, mentally I would be a little more relaxed about it too ('oh they aren't that bothered if we are 5 minutes late'), because I tend to be the kind of person that keeps thinking I can do just one more thing. I am also a contientous person who highly values the education system (just as well as I am a teacher!) and so definitely make the effort.
They aren't there to help you, as such, they are there to ensure that your child, and every child is there on time, and that parents understand the importance of that. It sends a very loud and clear message to all parents of what is expected of them. Obviously I am sure that the ladies who stand there are also human, and have a very good idea of the 'regulars' and the 'rarelies'.
It is clear that you are mindful of being on time, acyclone, unfortunately, many parents are not.

It's gone.
Thanks to those that supported my mad ranting,and thanks to those that do not but have spoken words of wisdom!
Feeling happier now.

Glad your anger is all gone

If you can bring yourself to smile at the attendance assistances that would be nice, believe me it's a thankless job

Tubismybub........smiley ladie

ooops, lady

attendance awards - ridiculous

inthegutter i think you are completely missing the point.

rather its not the odd person who who is late that needs to be targeted - and i'm glad your so organised btw and never late - good for you.

therefore the argument from where i stand is to do with the stupidity of the smiling ladies and their presence at all. becuase the children who dont get to school on time are not at fault.

a good parent values education, therefore if we all know parents who regularly dont send their child to school or send their child in late - they obviously need more help that a pair of smiling ladies tutting at the gate. Maybe the parents could do with some real help

maybe some investment - that would mean money - which would mean it comes from the taxpayer. therefore its easier to placate whomever with these flimsy and worthless measures - whilst doing it through an already overstretched education system.

them when the child gets to school the child is made to feel embarrased

the parent doesnt give a shit

the kid ends up not wanting to go to school

the parent doesnt cre either way

the child ends up having little education

however its better to fine these people - whom i assume are not well educated themselves and probably sleep at the poorer end of the financial spectrum - helpful not

its the 'be seen to be doing something yet affecting nothing' public servant bollocks that annoys me

The problem with schools is that you have a very narrow time slot that you can drop them off in. At our school the gates open at 8.50 and registration is 8.55. Either you are locked out of the school and standing on the pavement in the rain or you are late. Thankfully my son is lucky and house is in the same street. He can literally leave the house at 8.50 and there is no question of him getting wet and old.

I think it would be a better solution to allow parents to drop their children off a bit earlier. It would not cost much to pay a few dinner ladies to supervise the kids. There could even be the option of parents paying for breakfast if they wanted to drop their little ones off early enough.

Good idea frances, then i might be able to get to work on time.
Glad you responded custardo,....to chilled now to be cross any more

woah! custardo! sorry ur so wound up! I just couldn't help giggling about anyone getting so uptight about getting kids to school by 9 o'clock. I'm not superwoman, I just know that in the real world ur not doing urself any favours if u can't show up on time. That's life! I can't roll into work half an hour late just cos i can't find me friggin tights!

Yeah but, inthegutter, .....

imho this isn't about the rights and wrongs of being late.

It's about appropriateness of the tactics being employed. They are patronising to say the least.

As a parent who always got her kids to school on time I would resent the implication. I might even come over all childish and be deliberately late.

!

Crossed my mind...
Briefly

But not cross any more

I am a yeat 7 form tutor and had kids regulalry turnng up late for school, as we tend to have lots of families at our school who are chaotic and from families who one would assume did not value education I made enquiries about why the kids were late, I found out they were mostly late because they were at the shop. I told them that for every minute they are late they will do two minutes after school, surprise surprise they are on time. This is secondary and it may be different on primary kids who are more parent reliant.

Lateness is a huge issue at our school and lots of parents do say well it was only form does it matter and I think we ahve sent s similar letter home from oure school to the one alcyone describes and it has had an effect but has been a precursor to members of staff knocking on doors on occasions going to get kids and bring them into school to emphasise how important it is that they are in school on time.

We are a school who rewards attendance and it does work, but we do not have your avaerage intake of families.

TBH the letter you have described would not bother me and I would be glad that the school was addressing punctuality and attendance.

IMO the head or teachers greeting kids at the gate is a good policy and is to do with more than just punctuality.

Hi twinset,
I agree that the head and teachers greeting the children is an excellent thing.
I admit that i did take the letter personally. I think that it is rather patronising but understand that it needs to be sent to all of the parents.
Custardo really sums up what i was trying to say, however tub and saggar have made me see the bigger picture.
I hope it works but have reservations.

Was joking by the way. Meant to say 'feel like being deliberately late'

Am actually almost obsessively punctual. Though that's not strictly true - I am early for everything.
Probably stems from the automatic detention we got if not in the form room by the second bell or if we forgot our homework. We were told that rule on the first day and we all accepted it. No excuses, arguments, exceptions to the rule but no stigma or shame either. It just concentrated the mind wonderfully in getting to school on time! That was secondary school though, I guess you can't do that at primary.