Children left out of attendance treat due to illness, including medical.

[ralphlauren]

My DS has Asthma and another condition which sometimes stops him attending school (or school have called for him to he collected)

Do you think that he and other children with medical conditions be given any special allowance so they do not miss out on treats/special events because they have not reached the % required?

I teach and my school do not follow this reward system. I would just like another perspective on this.
TIA

[BlossomTang]

Our school does this all the HT cared about is attendance not falling below 95% as a result you get dcs who are ill and should be in bed dragged in by their parents .

[thetroubleis]

Honestly? At the risk of getting my head lopped off, I keep my DD off for a day for her 'trying hard' treat from me. She'll never get 100% attendance due to health reasons, school doesn't care so this is my big two fingers up. Also DFS 1 and 2 have that many appointments they won't achieve it either, and they will be getting the same.

[sanfairyanne]

doesnt chronic asthma count as chronic illness for disability purposes?

for paed appointments, if you make them after school registration they should still get 100% attendance. i dont bother but we have a trip out after the appointment instead - once the attendance is lost you may as well make the most of the day

[ralphlauren]

The, if he is excluded (yet again) I have every intention of taking him to get the precious mark and them bringing him home for a play on his x box only to return for the afternoon.

And that's coming from a teacher!

[DustBunnyFarmer]

Er, we don't get to choose. The hospital gets a list of kids that need follow ups from the consultant at the end of the clinic and the clinic co-ordinator organises it/sends the letters. We can express a preference, but rarely get that because the clinic is so oversubscribed and books up well in advance. This isn't the US, you know.

[DustBunnyFarmer]

And once I've dropped my son back at school, I have to rush to work to make up the time. Special outings to make a day of it are not an option.

[Sirzy]

DS asthma appointments he is generally on a 6-8 week check up at the moment. Most people are on 3/6/9/12 month check ups so by the time it comes to booking his appointments the "best" slots are well gone. We take what we are given!

His other appointments the waiting lists are so blooming long that unless you have no choice you don't start changing things! I had to change an audiology appointment and it was a month before he could be seen again - I'm not doing that just to have a time to please a school!

Thankfully DS school is sensible and realise we don't go to these appointments for the fun of it!

[sanfairyanne]

oh, we just choose the time we want, altho its a different condition. thought everywhere did that these days?

[snowmummy]

Schools care about attendance because Ofsted do. Simple as that! They don't care about the special circumstances that mean that a child might be absent for very good reason. Let go of the idea that the UK education cares about the individual child and you'll be less bothered!

[Sirzy]

You can only choose the time you want from the times available though! When I booked DS next appointment last week they had 3 times left so not really much choice to be had!

[chickenfuckingpox]

our school has sent out a helpful letter about school absences apparently i can only attend appointments outside school hours i have to provide a sick note for absences there will be no holidays authorised in term time

i have to keep my child off for 48 hours if they have D/V they also expect my doctor to confirm that he has D/V and write a note accordingly

we laughed there are few and far between appointments outside school hours and no doctor will give us a sick note for D/V no doctor wishes to see a child with D/V!

[sanfairyanne]

fair enough. we must have always been pretty lucky with ours. i've never had to have one that went across registration time if i didnt want one at that time.

[sanfairyanne]

anyway, i only mentioned it for those who didnt realise you literally have to only be there at, eg, 9am and1pm (or just one of them at my kids school) to get the 100%

sorry to annoy

[DustBunnyFarmer]

No worries sanfairyanne. It sounds like you have more flexible appointment booking where you are, but it's not the case everywhere.

[Sirzy]

Not annoyed. Wherever possible I do try to get appointments which don't mean missing registration but it's rarely an option.

[PringleLicker]

We had this first year of secondary school. We (and several others) asked to see where in the school's constitution it said that they were allowed to discriminate against sick children. It suddenly turned out that they could go after all and it had all been a big 'misunderstanding'.

Rules were changed the following year to 'make things clearer'

[ralphlauren]

Attending school late will still incur a mark, just a late one (obviously not minutes before lunch).So sometimes early appointments are the best impossible to get though. I guess every LEA is different and goal posts are moved to suit.

[Jemimapuddlemuck]

It's ridiculous, especially for children with chronic health problems (and discriminatory on the grounds of disability - unfair treatment like that in a workplace from an employer would not go unchallenged I think) but it's also unfair to any child who's been sick and had to take time.off through no fault of their own. For example this year my son had chicken pox and had to take 4 days off school, and a sickness bug where school policy dictates that he can't be in for 24 hours after. What would it be teaching him to say, you don't get this treat because of something you could have done nothing to change? You're rewarding children for being fortunate to have enjoyed good health that's all! I'm a union rep and have always argued against attendance bonuses in work for this very reason - they are entirely unfair and divisive. Seriously, put in a complaint to the governors to make sure this doesn't happen again. And give your DS a much nicer treat of his own!

[Muddlewitch]

Totally agree with previous posters.

My daughters both had 100% attendance all year until a few weeks ago when they got a sickness bug over the weekend, and because of the 48 hour rule had to have the Monday off. Now they won't get the reward.

When DD2 was 4 and in reception she was really poorly, with an infection doctors couldn't find the source of, she could barely stand and missed three weeks of school (was ill for a month, one week was half term.) She was sobbing that she was "letting her whole class down" by being off ill . She couldn't even walk across the room without collapsing. Then when she did go back, because of her 'concerning' attendance I was sent a curt letter telling me any further illness during her time at the school would require a doctor's certificate. Despite her being my third child at the school and they knew full well there had never been an issue with attendance with any of them. I was fuming about the whole thing. (Not at that school now.)

[sanfairyanne]

yes, late is no good for registration purposes. you have to be there at precisely the time registration is done, then you can leave and it is as though you have 100% attendance. whereas if you are late and arrive at 9.05 you lose either a half day or full day attendance for registration purposes. so we either do

appointments after 9.30 (depending on travel time) = 100% attendance

or 8.30 ones and take the whole morning off as we may as well (i see it as compensation for shitty appointments constantly but yes it does involve booking time off )

anyway, my schools have changed policies in the last few years because it is discriminatory to give out attendance awards that those with chronic conditions wouldnt be able to meet. they should adjust their percentages for them so they are able to achieve 100% on the same grounds as other pupils eg if they get chicken pox, tough, but if they need rrgular time off for their condition then it doesnt count as absent

[sanfairyanne]

you have to point out to your schools that it is discriminatory though! too many are still unaware

[JustWantToBeDorisAgain]

Chronic health conditions are considered disabilities under the disability discrimation act, this means that allowances have to made.

I challenged dd2's headteacher last year as dd2 had attended every day she could baring hospital appointments for her condition. They don't make much fuss but give out 100% attendance certs school did give in ( not much at stake) but then didn't hand it out in assembly. Think it means more to me as she may never get another one...

[cruikshank]

Schools care about attendance because Ofsted do. Simple as that! They don't care about the special circumstances that mean that a child might be absent for very good reason.

Yes, I realise that. But it's all back-asswards. Yes, for some families, there is a problem with getting their kids to school on time or even at all that has nothing to do with illness or health conditions. And the children who grow up in those households will have their education negatively impacted. However, that will not be addressed by shopping trips for children who do make it in every day. And if that is the only way that the school can think of to address the problem, then it is a piss-poor situation.

[cornflakegirl]

Our school does 100% attendance certificates, and I think it's wrong. I asked them to change to 97%, but apparently every other school in the area does 100%.

I don't think that rewarding kids for not getting ill is useful, but I seem to be in the minority at our school.

[PurpleAlert]

I work with hearing impaired children whose parents, with the best will in the world, can't always get appointments in the school holidays( you can't exactly wait another two weeks if you need a new ear-mould as that means two weeks without being able to hear...)

I remember one lad with HI and significant additional needs (CP and aspergers) sadly saying he could never get the attendance prize. My pupils also never got stickers for the "walk to school week" as they were on transport to a school outside their catchment.

Not fair...