Absence stats - is this a new thing?

[pointythings]

So today I got a shirty letter about DD1's absence - she's had flu, it happens, I was all set to bin it as per usual.

Except that her absence had been calculated over the past half term rather than over the school year to date. Which made it look horrible - 79%-ish because she was ill for 6 days.

DD2 also had flu, but hers (same school but not the 6th form) was calculated over the school year to date, putting her at just under the magic 95%.

So why would a school do this? It's blatant distortion, but some parents would find it very intimidating - not everyone understands statistics. The cynic in me thinks it's to scare people into sending their kids to school no matter what, but what's the point in that?

Is this something schools are being directed to do by the government now, or is DD1's 6th form just manipulating stats for no good reason?

FWIW up until now, DD1 has had 100% attendance for the past 2+ years, DD2 for 3+ years.

DD’s school works it on an ongoing rolling basis.

So if today was the 100th day of school in this school year so far, and you’d had 5 days off you’d be listed as 95% attendance.

Likewise if you’d had 20 dats off it would be 80% attendance.

They don’t narrow down to last term only. Neither do they project ahead since that can’t be guessed at.

I think it’s fair the way they do it.

Rewn I agree that is a really fair way to do it - gives kids who have a bad spell of health something positive.

Doing it over a term is just stupid. I sent the head a polite email asking her for her rationale of doing it this way, especially since the non-6th form doesn't. However, the school is part of a MAAT, so I wonder if this has come down from them.

Ours is part of a MAT too so not all work that way.

I’d tend to say to the school that unless they are showing accurate stats that are not skewed by incorrect dates, you can’t be expected to respond or take them seriously.

It’s silly as it makes people instantly distrust the school thinking they can even get basic sums right.

I have a feeling that when a school makes a referral to MECES (missing education & child employment service...?) they have to evidence it with x number of unauthorised days off in the last half term which may be why they pull the data up that way for the letters?

It isn't unauthorised though. The accompanying slip shows it as authorised because I followed rules and called it in each day. I am like that.