Attendance reward fail!

[QuickTraybake]

My son has ASD and recently got taken out of a rewards opportunity. The key was all students over 97% attendance got an ice cream cone. My son had 96.9% and guess what? He didn’t get one!!!
The other students were supposedly sympathetic like “damm that’s bad (you deserve one but don’t get it)!”
He was absent because of an operation!
Why are we rewarding those who don’t have health problems? Why do we punish those who physically can’t be in?

I agree with you. When I was a TA in a reception class I remember one little girl being very ill for a week in hospital. Fortunately she bounced back as quickly as she got ill so the next week she was back. That school had a thing where the attendance was looked at weekly and if you’d been off the previous week an adult rounded you up to do special work with you about attendance and the importance of coming to school. Every day. So this little girl, who had previously had 100% attendance, got rounded up with the rest, once a day for her attendance session. The class teacher and I both thought it was absolutely ridiculous and so pointless. She was off because she was ill, was now better so was back at school. What was going to these sessions actually going to do? It wasn’t going to transport her back through time and prevent her from being ill in the first place!

Also they're 4 or 5. Absolutely ZERO autonomy over their attendance whether ill, on holiday, sleeping in, parents cba etc

Meh. I've directly told our head that their attendance rewards is mean because there's no allowance for those with chronic conditions. Nothing changed

Schools can’t win. If they didn’t do this, they'd be penalised for not having strategies to improve attendance.

Then that needs to change.

I'd love to know what the evidence base is for the things schools commonly do around attendance. They should only be doing things that are proven to have an impact, not just things that "make them look like they're doing something ".

My DDs are fortunate not to have been ill a lot. I also believe that regular attendance needs to be the default for us as a family.

But we've had issues with family funerals - DD1 didn't want to go to her great-grandfather's funeral because it would ruin her 100% attendance. "Luckily", she tripped at school and put a tooth through her lip and was sent home. So her 100% attendance was already ruined. DD2 lost her 100% attendance by attending her grandfather's funeral. I asked for some leeway, but apparently that's not a thing.

This has made me rethink attendance and that I've perhaps been a bit hardcore in sending them in when I'll in the past. I also now realise that my autistic DD's resilience plummets when she's not well and maybe the threshold for her to be off school needs to be a bit more relaxed.

If you don’t like them ignore them and tell your child to ignore them. Plenty of parents do like them, even parents of children who don’t get anything.

@WoollyandSarah So what should schools be doing?

I hate attendance awards with a passion but I don’t think arguing that poor attendance isn’t a problem helps. Missing school although sometimes unavailable does have a knock on and leaves gaps in education.

I am am Attendance Officer too and we try and reward the class with the highest attendance so no one child feels singlad out. On the last day of the summer term, l do a certificate to all the 100% ers but that is usually only 2 or 3 children and there are no special treats like ice cream or anything. Bottom line is, a lot of parents at my school don't give a toss about attendance - can't really offer support when they are taking them on holiday or giving them a day off for their birthdays etc.

We need to follow what evidence there is and thoroughly evaluate the methods that are out there. Education has become more evidence based over the past couple of decades, but needs to continue that journey.

There are some things on EEF, but it seems like there is little UK based research.

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/leadership-and-planning/supporting-attendance

It's fairly obvious that a 100% attendance certificate is unlikely to impact those with poor attendance as the first absence makes them pointless. It is also obvious that they are unfair on various groups of children. If there isn't any evidence showing that they increase attendance then continuing them just seems cruel.

One of our local schools gives the whole school the day off for both Eids and they then make them up at the end of term. I think that's a good idea. Every Muslim child I know always takes the day off for Eid.
I think attendance certificates etc should be for 100% attendance and authorised absence not 100% attendance. If a child has missed school for a medical appointment or can provide a doctor's note, that shouldn't count towards their absences. No parent is going to worry about taking a day off for a birthday if they know their child has already lost the rewards due to a sickness bug last month. They might hesitate if they know those days off don't count as absence and their child will miss a reward.
I also think the government should give up on fines. Parents do the maths and the amount you're fined is much less than the amount you save on term time holidays. No wonder term time holidays went up after they were announced!

We hate them, one of my sons has a medical condition meaning when he’s sick he cannot attend school could be something as simple as a cold. If he has ketones, the school cannot look after him it’s literally in their care plan as it’s life threatening. They authorise it… but still goes against his attendance. 🙄 like what is the point in authorising a day off if it still goes against them ughh.