To complain about attendance rewards as (Sen kids are already disadvantaged cause of medical appointments)

[whylie]

Hi
So I am thinking of putting a formal complaint into DS (Sen ) school.
All children who receive 100% attendance get a day trip out with ice cream.
The problem with this is those children who have (Sen needs, or medical problems e.g asthma, allergies) have to attend medical appointments, paediatrician, Physio etc.
In his school when you attend an appointment during school time this is deducted from your attendance.
E.g) Physio appointment at 9:00am get back to for 10:15am DS (Sen) had 100% attendance, DS attends school for rest of term, receive attendance sheet it would say 99.5%(can't remember exact percentage)
Cause he attended Physio.
So therefore he will not receive the award, I understand he won't have got morning mark as a point was at 9:00am but it was a medical appointment that he must attend!

AIBU to this this breaking the equality and diversity act?

As cause he has (Sen) needs he is already disadvantaged in getting this award!
As would other children who have asthma as the need their asthma check up by the nurse yearly.

Attendance rewards at the school I worked at didn't count authorised medical appointments against them. So if your child had 100% attendance (apart from medical appointments) then they would receive an award.

Asthma nurse could be booked after school or in holidays.
It is the hospital appts that cant be picked/moved. And tbh a bit of flexibility when booking these by the nhs would be much better.

Tbh attenandance awards are rubbish.
3 kids i know of have been sick in school classes this year. Maybe thats what schools/parents should focus on - making sure kids know the feeling and get to the loos in time.
The whole 48h is completely pointless if other kids have been sick in the classroom.

Naty how do you expect the nhs to fit all school age children who need seeing in around the school day?

Ds School only does certificates but if they did any more I would have no qualms about challenging them on the discrimation of these things.

Our school doesn’t include medical if you bring in appointment letter.

Do they include when cjildren with chronic conditions are off with the condition?

Doesnt sound inclusive to me.

I would ask the Head to consider discounting medical appointments. My kids school is another which doesn’t count them. His friend has SEN and got his 100% certificate dispite numerous appointments

I don't think it's right, also sometimes it's the school who insist on waiting 48 hours after D&V for example.

When I worked in paediatrics we constantly had phone calls from parents begging for the 8.50 or 16.15 slot because the school was bullying them over attendance.

I’ve bern saying for years that these awards are discriminatory. Children with chronic illness or disabilities are disadvantaged. Can’t believe they still happen tbh.

I fully agree.

Everyone has something that they can be rewarded for. Academic achievements, sporting achievements, effort, behaviour, being kind or helpful , or most welcoming to new children etc

A reward for merely showing up is just so impersonal.

Attendance is largely out of a kids control anyway.

And yes medical appointments can't be helped. I've had to take dd1 put along side dd2 for eye appointments cos I wont be able to get back in time.

Some kids don't stand a chance if ever getting 100 percent and rewarding someone for being a dickhead and sending in their infectious children whilst penalizing all those the child infected seems counterproductive tbh

We missed both rewards (99/100) this year as we had two days off as a Ds had diarrhoea and was off school in June. Is pretty stupid as I was only following school procedure.

I have twins, one who’s healthy and one who has complex medical needs. We are a few years away from school yet but I’m already wondering how I’ll explain to a five year old that his brother is getting a special treat because he’s not sick. You don’t get it because you are.

As if he doesn’t already have the shitty end of the stick. It’s absolutely discrimination and it’s disgusting. But hey, at least disabled kids will learn from the earliest age that the world will treat them like shit so they’d better get used to it

My DDs attendance this year was 79% mainly due to a kidney condition she developed just after the Easter holiday . DD had hospital admissions, follow up appointments and blood tests, time off as she was too unwell and half days when able to attend. Thankfully her school don’t provide treats for those with 100% attendance as she would feel like she was being punished for being unwell.

Oh and with regards to rearranging appointments.

Round here if you cancel and rearrange 3 or more in a row u face getting referred back to the gp.

So no you can't just change them

I think attendance awards are discriminatory and very unfair for exactly the reasons you have stated OP.
Sick and disabled kids have a hard enough time as it is.

@SinkGirl not all attendance awards are annual and not all involve trips.

In my daughter's school they get a star for 100% termly attendance. So this year my daughter got a star for the summer term and not for the autumn (tummy bug) or Winter (tonsilitis)

And she had medical appointments as well, but i was lucky to have managed to book them at times like 11am or 3pm so she would go to the morning session and i would pick her up early, and same for the afternoon...

My ds's school only does certificate, so my ds isn't bothered that he will never get it. But if they start rewarding 100% attendance with special treatment, then I think I would have an issue.
But yes, I totally agree, they should exclude authorised medical apps absenses from % for reward purposes.

but even if you are ill a child cannot help it, better than being in school spreading germs

I wonder if anyone has ever tried to challenge this legally?

The schools should discount authorised absences in the calculations for attendance and some religious reasons too. To ignore these is discriminatory. It should be unauthorised absences that are not rewarded.

Only certificates and housepoints for my DC's schools, but DS1's form teacher (secondary school, new to school this term) did comment in his report that his attendance had to improve next year. He missed 5 days - in and out of hospital, having surgery for a badly broken bone...

I know of one parent who was told they only allowed 48 for concussion. Fact the child was still in hospital was apparently irrelevant.

Government targets gone mad.

Bloody ofsted too.

My dd5 has 2 different genetic conditions.

Her attendance is at 78% due to medical appointments and illnesses relating to her conditions.

I have sent her to school and they've sent her home because she's not eaten her lunch... at times, she eats as much as a mouse, she has sensory issues relating to food and sometimes, she just refuses to eat for varying reasons.

I've had the attendance officer for the school phone me, threaten me etc.

The only time she's had off for a "frivolous" reason was for a study into her condition and a link to autism and sensory issues. The study is run by the charity that deals with her condition and a major university and will help many families get access to diagnosises and treatment for sensory issues. That was classed as unauthorised.

Also, as a note to those suggesting appointments can be arranged outside school times, my dd has 9 different specialists involved (paed, ent, eyes (2 different specialists) endo, play therapist, ot, physio and salt) it's just not possible.

I very politely objected to the policy of rewarding kids with 100% attendance at my DC's school. It's easily backed up by DfE guidance (though sadly no specific prohibition on this), and I also rang the Equality Advisory and Support Service, who agreed that this sounds like it constitutes indirect discrimination, and that parents should be asking the school how it will provide reasonable adjustments to ensure that the policy doesn't indirectly discriminate against kids with disabilities (and indeed, I suspect also kids of faiths where they need time off for religious festivals).

It's also worth noting that the coalition changed the persistent absentee threshold from 80% to 85% in 2011, then the Tories changed it to 90% in 2015 - so many of us fall within that arbitrary threshold who wouldn't have done a few years ago.

I've been meaning to write to my MP, and this is spurring me to do so. While our school is wonderful and has really taken my comments on board, not every school is so sensible, and it breaks my heart to think of kids with disabilities being discriminated against because of this ridiculous push to full attendance.

Anyway OP - check out para 43 of the DfE guidance on supporting pupils at school with a medical condition, also paras 4.9, 4.13, 5.4, 5.6 and 5.7 of the guidance for schools on the Equality Act.

Then ask the school how they feel the rewards scheme squares with these guidance provisions, and what reasonable adjustments they plan to make to a policy which quite clearly is indirectly discriminatory as it's likely to negatively impact kids with disabilities more than those without. If we all do this, we could get the ball rolling on stopping these bloody schemes!

Also, hospital physio appointments in our area are only available Monday to Friday, 9am until 3.30pm. Handy!