School attendance dropped from 100% to 98% after early morning GP appointment, is this normal?

[monywilliams]

Just looking for some thoughts from other parents.

My son is in Y2 and had 100% attendance until last week, when he had a GP appointment first thing in the morning. I let the school know beforehand, he came in straight after, but because he missed the register, they’ve dropped his attendance from 100% to 98%, even though he was in for most of the day.

I asked the school about it, and they said that’s just how the system works. If a pupil misses the morning registration, even by a few minutes, it is recorded as an authorised absence for that session, which counts as half a day absent and affects the overall percentage.

What’s a bit frustrating is that last year I picked him up an hour before the end of the day for a GP appointment, and it didn’t affect his attendance at all. So leaving early is fine, but arriving late (even for a medical appointment) isn’t?

He never misses school or arrives late, so it feels a bit unfair to have that drop on his record. Has anyone else had this happen?

Yes, the system is completely inconsistent.

i used to book orthodontist appointments for the afternoon after they’d been registered as that way no attendance issues.

We could talk about this for hours, but that’s a whole different topic. Still, I totally get what you mean, it’s so frustrating how often children are sent in when they’re clearly unwell. It’s one of the things I hate most, especially when it’s a stomach bug. Just so unfair on everyone else.

I know a child who continued to attend with chicken pox beneath their clothing. The staff found it.

Yep had this happen in both primary and secondary. There is very little wriggle room my son received a late arrival mark, for attendance when he reported his bike being stolen on the way to school, to the police with the deputy head at the school gates - but because he wasn’t in the room for registration he was given a late mark, it is really pedantic and infuriating.

You’re literally the only person who cares about 100% attendance which, by the way, is not sustainable.

If you miss the register, you’re absent. So when you come in late, you miss it. When you leave early, register for pm has already been taken after lunch so it’s not missed. It’s really really simple.

Intrigued as to why his “record” is so important. Will you send him in sick to maintain that? What exactly will you use his 100% attendance record for? Will it go on his CV when he’s job hunting?

It’s illogical but standard. I was once asked if I could move a dentist appointment from 0905 to later in the morning so that DS could be there for registration, even though more actual school would be missed. LOL, no.

Yes that’s correct, it’s a percentage of the number of sessions missed of the academic year so far. They’ve been back six weeks ish, so not even 60 sessions, so one session missed will look like that.

The attendance officer isn’t going to be on your back for missing registration to go to the doctors, stop worrying.

It’s normal, if they miss registration it’s counted as an absence even if they arrive at school 5 minutes after that 🤷‍♀️

And the absence statistics are all a bit skewed at the start of the school year.

DC2 missed half of the first week last year after taking ill in school, and I got an automated message from the school telling me that his attendance rate for the school year was only 30%, and lecturing me about the perils of poor attendance 🙄

And then I kept getting the same automated messages for weeks, until the school year had been going for long enough to make that first week’s absence a suitably low percentage of absence for the school year so far 🙄

I think if you dig into one of her earlier responses the answer is in there:
"Some children are simply healthier or get over things quickly."

Its a competitive/pride thing.

Yes. The trick I found was to book the appointment for early but not super early morning. Take to school, let her go into the classroom for registration, walk straight around to the office and say 'I've come to collect DD2 for an appointment'.

That way, she had registered, I was able to take her to the appointment, and then she was back in time for lunch time registration.

Have you noticed as well most are always off sick ironically on the day of the awards, catches up eventually, "Ooo, what a shame Evie is off today for the first time." I never forget one little girl when she went up for the award for 100% attendance all year; she had a bug and almost threw up in the middle of the hall.
Dc's school has literally told the kids "not to catch bugs." I'll get my magic wand out!

You went all the way to school just for that?!

I think that’s a reasonable assumption. I don’t think there’s a year that’s gone by that one of my DC hasn’t had an illness that requires staying off school. They’re healthy, they get over things quickly. I don’t send them in when they need to stay home. On the other hand, there’s kids throwing up in the classrooms who are sent back in the next day and before you know it, everyone’s infected.

I think you need to get over the attendance statistics. Agreeing with other posters, I don’t agree with rewarding anyone for 100% attendance. And clearly it’s not accurate.

This made me laugh!

Had she actually thrown up while receiving the attendance award, that would have been priceless - and very illustrative of the point!

I just think it is genuinely very warped to teach children that getting sick is something to feel bad about - as if you have "failed" in some way and can no longer get an award.

How does that feed in to treatment and self-image of children with long term or chronic illness or things like cancer?

It also discourages the development of healthy practices around not spreading germs - as if it's somehow heroic not to keep them to yourself and come back when you are free of bugs.

I just disagree very much with the attitude. At best it's luck, at worst it's selfish.

My DS is one of these kids who rarely gets sick (he also loves school so between that and the messages about attendance I've quite often had to overrule him dragging himself in) and is now year 9. He's had two year since he started school when he had no days off sick, and one of those he didn't get his 100% attendance certificate when he missed one afternoon registration because, I kid you not, he was at an interschool sports event representing the school.

It really doesn't matter. I can't believe you wasted the schools time questioning it.

I just wouldn’t give this a second thought…it really doesn’t matter.

Registers are taken at the start of the morning and afternoon sessions e.g 9.15am and 1.15pm. If pupils are in when the register is taken they will receive the session’s mark, if not, they are marked as absent. If you collect during the afternoon, or mid morning for an hour, then they will still be marked present when the register was taken. As it’s near the start of the academic year the % is more affected, as the year progresses it will even out.

It's frankly robotic and stupid.
But that's how the UK is now.

If it makes no difference, you may as well not take them in until lunch time.

If there's a reward for high attendance isn't this an equality act issue?

Which it won’t.

Wow- if only we all had your ‘problems’ in life!
from working in a school office, please tell me what would the solution be to this? There is a deadline when the register needs to be taken by- it’s a safeguarding issue. Because if at that point a child isn’t in the school & the office haven’t been informed why, then they will investigate why. 99.99999% of times this will be because of illness/appointments etc, but imagine a year 6 pupil has walked themself to school & hasn’t shown up, the office alerts the parent & then, if the child is still unaccounted for, the alarm is raised.
registers can’t just be open all day. & you shouldn’t amend them, as that isn’t a true reflection when they were taken.
relax, chill out. No one cares. your child will still get through school ok without their attendance being 100%!

Thats why a lot of graduates can’t find their first job, it’s these pesky primary school attendance records!
I feel so superior now as I always booked DD late afternoon appointments 😉