Attendance Poster On Classroom Wall

[Verbena37]

Totally fuming!
DS (yr7) has just told me his form tutor has put a ladder of attendance poster up on the classroom wall with stickers showing every child's attendedence!!

Surely this is breaking the data protection act?
Why would the school think this was in any way acceptable?

It's not exactly a state secret when your child is off school. The kids know who isn't in regularly and comment "so and so is never in".

I read out attendance figures to my form. Never had a complaint.

Totally normal.

Err I'm pretty sure it's confidential information about my child?

PBerry has it never occurred to you that people who are ill cannot help it?
Why on earth would you do that? to 'shame' the people who suffer from ill health or who have less than perfect parents?

Normal in my school too. Classes get rewards for full attendance each week so everyone is aware of their percentage.

It's not confidential because it can't be. If your child isn't there, they're not there. Everyone can see. Information is entirely, unavoidably already in the public domain.

Exactly Brat.

It's not likely to encourage good attendance and could be quite divisive for any children with ongoing medical issues who have lots of time off because of those issues.
Confidential information? It's not being sent round to all the parents. It's being seen by the class and the teacher (who already know who's off loads and who's always at school!)

Obviously I'm not an insensitive twat. Genuine illnesses are allowed for, even shit parenting isn't blamed on the kids.

BUT a lot of the time at secondary the kids aren't ill, they just fancy a day off and reappear the next day with nothing wrong.

It can't break confidentially unless your kids is somehow invisible and the other pupils can't tell if they are in school or not.

And I read out attendance figures as it is school policy to do it.

How is it confidential that your child isn't there - the kids can see it with their own eyes

How is it already public information? Exactly?
Unless you're thinking that the kids sit there with their own piece of paper under the desk recording who is off on which day?

"Err I'm pretty sure it's confidential information about my child?"

How can it be? If your son is off school people will notice.

I hate this focus on attendance. DD has had periods of illness and hospital stays that she has had no control over. She isn't allowed to "pull a sickie" in our house.

Schools should be focusing on persistent truancy, not penalising children who don't enjoy good health.

" BUT a lot of the time at secondary the kids aren't ill, "

and a lot of the time they are...

they have (for example) doctors appointments miles away for ongoing conditions or they suffer from glandular fever (to name just two that i know of). or they miss the school bus and their parents cannot afford a car.

Why should these people be shamed in front of the class?

I don't think it's confidential information if your child isn't in school the class will know. Giving out the reasons why people were off would be the breach. Seems similiar to the rewards for 100% attendance and that! personally not a big fan of either method! If some one is ill they are ill and shouldn't be punished but it seems to be they way things are done now.

They may not record it OP but they most certainly notice absence (amount of and any pattern.)
Wouldn't want whole name and picture displayed if room ever let out to general public eg in the evening?
Does your child have a lot of absence?

mine would always be able to tell me who was in and who wasn't on any particular day (tho, obviously, this isn't a major topic of conversation!)

I hate these sort of reward charts for good health; HOWEVER I don't think there's any data protection issue here.

That's how I feel......it's shaming and dividing children. How is it inclusive in any way whatsoever?
DS actually has a friend that gets bullied because he is off due to medical issues. This ladder just exacerbates the issue.

A poster in a class room displays attendence info to every child who had a lesson in that classroom. I think it's shit. Fred in year 10 does not need to know that his neighbour Percy in year 7 is a school refuser.

My son perpetually skips registration. I have no idea if they read out his attendence/ punctuality figures.

so what if they are 'often known' to the other children?
How does that mean that they should be further shamed?

When I worked in a school a couple of years ago one of my weekly tasks was to update the attendance notice boards. Every single student was named and colour coded (Green for +95% etc) . I hated it. So unfair for those who have chronic conditions.

I'm not there. There is no clone in my place. So everyone in that room knows I am not there. Hardly confidential. The only way this would be confidential is if on the poster or whatever - 16/11 teens absent because hangover.

Brat we know about ongoing conditions so would say something like."Jimmy your attendance is 87% but I know you have a reason for it ".

Same with glandular fever (usually requires a long spell of time off). Which if coded medical will show separately on records.

Miss the bus round here and you get picked up by school minibus so no excuses there.