Attendance incentives...here we go again

[Anastasie]

I've just had a letter in DS2's book bag (he is 8). Basically saying his attendance is at 92.2% (how many sessions is that? I don't know) and that if it's up to 96% by Dec 4th, he'll get to go to a pantomime for free.

I'm reluctant to support this strategy as I feel it is unfair, counterproductive and irrelevant as I make the decisions about his attendance, not him.

It seems so short sighted. I'm not even going to tell him about it - imagine how he will feel if he doesn't achieve it due to illness?

WHY do primary schools do this? Secondary, where there may be a problem with truancy, then sure - good idea. In some ways.

Primary - I totally don't see the point, unless it is to provide a useful carrot for parents whose children don't want to attend, and who give in rather than try to address the causes of this?

If that's so then they are presuming rather a lot in sending it to me.

If not, then I can genuinely see no point to it at all, except to get their figures up?

[user789653241]

"Routine medical appointments can be organised during the 13 weeks holiday."

We try, but when your child has 3 different consultant and 12monthsly/ 6 monthsly /3monthsly check ups, it's not that easy.

My child never had 100% attendance award.

[TwllBach]

I'll tell you why... Because schools are penalised for poor attendance. In my county, schools are expected to have 95% attendance. Attendance is part of an inspection. We were inspected last year and attendance is a weighted part of the well being key question. We are good at caring for our children. Our children are happy and cared for... Except our attendance is below 95% so we were awarded an adequate. If it had have been over 95% we would have been awarded good.

We have to be seen to tick every box. We know it's stupid, we know 4 year olds have no control over whether their parents bring them to school, but we still have to have attendance awards because that's the box the government want us to tick.

It isn't the individual school thinking it's a good idea because we all know it isn't.

[howtorebuild]

It is discriminatory. I did challenge the L.A. here over being threatened with fines and prison over a chronically ill child's attendance. I refused to pay and told them to take me to court. They backed down, apparently they had no intention of sending me to prison. so why send bold text threats then.

Bullies!

[howtorebuild]

I do blame schools, Emperors New clothes. You bully the vulnerable, it's low life behaviour. You could petition or strike you don't. Parents fear a SS referral so it's hard to stand up to this for many.

[Groovee]

I think it depends on how the school record the absence. Dd needed surgery last year and she was marked as medical as she had to be off for 48 hours post surgery. When she developed a blood clot and we needed emergency treatment, they marked it as medical too. Her orthodontist appointments which are becoming a pain as her orthodontist has changed her days again meaning trying to get the timings which suit are hard as she only works until 2.55pm but they don't open until 9am!

Yet my friend's dd at another school was marked as self certified.

[Sirzy]

A good school though will work WITH families not against them though. It should be a partnership.

Ds school is ofsted outstanding, they have had attendance problems in the past too, but they work closely with families to get to the root of any issues rather than angering parents, isolating children further and making sticking plaster efforts to say "look how good we are"

[RoseDog]

"Routine medical appointments can be organised during the 13 weeks holiday."

Dds orthodontist charges £400 for an after school appointment and it's not feasible for her to just go in the school holidays, she will be missing school!

[Anastasie]

I'm not entirely sure how many sessions he has missed. I did look back through my diary but it is a bit of a state and I didn't look thoroughly.

I know he had one day off about 2 weeks ago, because he had a toothache the night before and had barely slept. We had one morning off before half term to go and look at another school, as he was being bullied and we were seriously considering moving him (all sorted now)

Would that have counted as authorised? I have no idea.

I don't recall if he had any other days off befre half term, but if he did it was for a genuine reason and was likely only one day.

I don't know how that could equate to 8%, exactly.

[Anastasie]

Oh yes and we have an SLT appt in December too, which is a something like four month waiting list...I'm blowed if he is going to miss that.

[Sirzy]

School should be able to provide you with a list of the dates he has missed

[Anastasie]

Oh just checked again. He had a monday and tuesday off in September because he had a bad cold.

So that's three days this term, plus the half day I mentioned.

Is that 8%? Surely the more days he attends from here on in, the lower that percentage will get.

Which is why they are wanting it to be 96% by the 4th.

Ho hum. Just have to see if he manages it, I suppose.

[IguanaTail]

The thing is that people on MN in general bust a gut to make sure their kids are in school every day possible. I am looking at this through the prism of the large swathe of parents who take their kids out of school at the drop of a hat and lie about appointments all the time. Some have dental appointments (they actually laugh as they tell you because we all know it's a lie) every other Friday.

[RoseDog]

Eeek dds dental appointment is on friday! I am picking her up at morning break and taking her back at lunchtime!

[MrsHathaway]

I do think it's daft that this is calculated per academic year rather than rolling year.

A child with a tummy bug in September could hit 40% attendance but average out to 96% over the year. Who gets to take credit for that "improvement"?

Actual attendance does correlate with attainment, whatever some holidaymakers like to claim. Measuring attendance is therefore a good indicator of where additional input may be needed - whether it's adjustments for children with chronic illnesses, social support for the mother who can't get the child out of bed, or a bollocking for those who don't care.

What matters is the ridiculous one-size-fits-all response to the absence, not the measuring of the absence.

[AnneElliott]

I do blame the schools. They could refuse to do the tick box nonsense, and if enough of the did so, no doubt OFSTED and the adept for Education would think again.

Nothing annoys me more than schools bleating that "there's nothing we can do". Either tell the parents this is the schools policy and they will enforce it, or don't.

[WombatStewForTea]

I do blame the schools. They could refuse to do the tick box nonsense, and if enough of the did so, no doubt OFSTED and the adept for Education would think again

Well you clearly don't work in a school!, If schools were able to stand up to things like you suggest education wouldn't be the shit storm that it is at the moment. As for the pp who said to strike?! Can't see that going down well with parents can you?

No it isn't effective for everyone but when you've got children who stay off because of the slightest sniffle it can be worthwhile. I aways praise children who come in and tell me they have a sore throat/cold/headache etc because they've made the effort to come in. Plus often the children stop the parents for keeping them off needlessly.

[MM5]

AnneElliot...
Seriously, you blame schools? Stand together. We did that back a few years ago re SATS and that did not one bit of good.

Attendance is important. But,the only people being held accountable is the school.

This can equate to a bad Ofsted, that equates to parents taking their children out of school, that leads to a drop in funding, that leads to redundancy of staff that leads to parents upset about lack of support, that leads to more children leaving and....

Yes, all the schools fault. Obviously.

[spanieleyes]

And teachers are barred from striking over issues such as this ( or indeed over any issue at all except pay!) so there is little the teaching staff can do.

[user789653241]

I know it's nothing to do with school/teachers.
We always receive threatening letter about attendance along with letter/memo from school saying "don't worry about it, we know the situation."
Now I got used to it, but first time we received that letter... it was horrible.

[IguanaTail]

Irvine - that's because you care.

Lots of parents couldn't give a shiny shit.

[TwllBach]

Nothing annoys me more than schools bleating that "there's nothing we can do". Either tell the parents this is the schools policy and they will enforce it, or don't.

We have a policy. The parents frequently ignore it. How would you enforce it AnneElliott? Genuine question. Would you go to their houses, break down their doors and physically take their children to school for them?

[Anastasie]

Thanks for all the replies.

I spoke to someone from the school yesterday and they explained that it was as I thought - the government makes it their issue to 'do something' about attendance, and to cut a long story short, there are parents and children for whom waving a carrot can be helpful, but they have to apply their incentive to all who fall within the category and that means we'll get the standard letter when we fall in that percentage.

They were keen to assure me that they know I understand their position and they also know I am sensible and don't keep my child at home without good reason. Also they said they had tried to do it as sensitively as possible and no, the children were not informed by the school of this incentive, but I am sure some are informed by their parents which means other kids will find out anyway.

The thing it left me with was that I can't think of a better idea either. You have parents who are supportive and on board, you have others who are not. I do think it would be better to focus on the reasons why some are not, and actually, this is not the school's job, it's down to parenting, but the government clearly doesn't see it that way.

Focusing on attendance rather than the reasons behind it, or the lack of it, is treating the symptoms without addressing the cause.

As for this: I aways praise children who come in and tell me they have a sore throat/cold/headache etc because they've made the effort to come in

I'm sorry to criticise but I think that's really silly. You have a sick child who should probably be at home as they will be unproductive, unhappy, and probably contagious, and you are praising them for coming to school.

Can't you see how counterproductive that actually is? How many others are they infecting, who will then probably take days off?

[Anastasie]

Twll, I don't think it should be up to the school to enforce attendance.

They simply can't take it on. It doesn't make sense.

It's parents who make these decisions. If a child is unfortunate enough to have parents who don't want them to go to school or be educated elsewhere, that isn't for the school to sort out.

It's probably a social services matter. Schools are there for those who do wish to attend. They can flag a serious concern about a child or family but they should not be put in a position of incentivising attendance.

Only, obviously, to make school an exciting and sympathetic place to be for those children.

[undertherug]

I too have had a bizarre letter about poor attendance of DD2 and offering incentives for her improved attendance (book tokens). Aside from the fact I would rather the school spent their money on other things than book tokens for random children, she has had not time off sick (or duvet days) this academc year and only missed one afternoon last year when she was bitten by a classmate. We have however missed 2 days and three afternoons of school because her teacher last year decided she had a hearing problem (we did not see any problem at home, but followed it up as requested) and we have been running about between various audiology appointments, aborted MRI scan, pre-op appointments and an actual MRI scan and a follow up consultant who declared her hearing to be pretty spot on. I don't particularly want DD to be off school - I can't work when I am ferrying her about from appointment to appointment. So to get a letter slamming us for wrecking her education and offering incentives to bring her to school was a bit much.

And how many children with poor attendance get any choice in the matter?

[WombatStewForTea]

Well I disagree with you OP. You can't keep a child off for a slight cold which is what I meant in my original post. Equally a bit of a sore throat (not talking tonsillitis here) or a headache isn't the end of the world. You certainly wouldn't take time off as an adult for such minor ailments.
As for them not being able to concentrate/be unproductive/unhappy is nonsense. If they're that ill we send them home (very rarely have to).
The world doesn't end with a cold!