Attendance

[BillWagglestaff]

My son's primary school has just started an Attendance Award scheme, where students with 98-100% attendance get a certificate and special assembly at the end of term. My son has been invited to this next week.

The problem is, I am a former secondary school teacher and I have always been really opposed to attendance awards, for several reasons. I think:

1. They encourage parents to send in sick children who then spread their germs around.
2. They send mixed messages - my son's school keeps sending out reminders of the 48 hours off policy after d&v, as they have a problem with kids coming in while still Infectious.
3. They punish children for being ill - it's not their fault they got tonsillitis or whatever.
4. They are focusing on the wrong people - particularly at primary, kids have very little impact on their own attendance - it's the parents who need motivating/helping.
5. Kids who have ongoing health conditions have their poor health used as a stick to beat them with.
6. It's counter to teaching practice in other areas - in a classroom you don't usually introduce a class-wide policy to address problems with a minority - instead, you target and deal with that minority.
7. Kids who consistently truant could have, say, two days off at the beginning of term, realise they have blown their chances of an award for the rest of that term and not be bothered after that. Or, on the flip side, a child could have fantastic attendance all term and then catch a d&v bug which knocks them out of the running for an award less than a week beforehand.
8. It just feels discriminatory - in the workplace you're not allowed to offer incentives to colleagues with 100% attendance and say to the colleague who, say, broke their leg at work, that they can't have the same incentive because of their injury. Or can you?

Does anyone know of any research in this area? I can find lots of school policies and case studies about attendance awards, but none of them give figures for how they actually helped the schools in question. Also, does anyone have any alternative methods that schools could use to improve attendance? The school has quite good parent communication channels and encourages parents to bring up concerns, but I don't want to sound like I am just moaning without any suggestions for alternatives.

Sorry - long post.

I don't for a moment disagree that attendance has an impact on attainment, prospects, etc. What I have an issue with is that attendance awards seem to make the assumption that those off sick are malingering, and that offering a certificate and well done assembly will somehow get them to see the error of their ways.

And I really don't see how saying to a five year old, who has no ability to control their own attendance at all, that they cannot get an award because they had tonsillitis and their parent took the decision to keep them at home, is fair.

I also think that rewarding someone for having good health is a bit like giving extra tax breaks to the massively rich - surely their good fortune is reward enough.

“It is really rare to be so hale and hearty - and is an award that can go to anyone: it isn't dependent on brain power or being teacher's pet.”
Except it isn’t!
Kids with life threatening chronic conditions are often excluded .I worry about the lack of empathy it teaches those children rewarded with regard to those children already dealing with more than their peers and unfortunately enough to be unwell.

Our school has abolished the 48hr rule to increase attendance. All it's done is encourage people to send in kids and spread d&v

The children with 100% attendance do cross a broad spectrum : some of the least able, lots of ASD children, some of the naughties (who actually like school!) plus many average and able students. I have rarely know these children to boast loudly about their attendance!

I agree that the chronically ill fall into a different category and schools do a great deal to support these children. However, unless you work in schools , you probably wouldn't realise exactly how many 'off at the drop of a hat' types there are. My year 10 class has not been a full house since September and - one very ill child aside - it is never the same people in the room. Quite how the parents expect teachers to keep on top of this, I am not sure.

These type of attenders are often the first to say ' well, I wasn't here' about homework, learning and so on.

I do still strongly feel that in a world where there are some children who are rarely rewarded , the 100% attendance reaches some children who are otherwise overlooked : and this is precisely because it is a feat of fortitude! This isn't about good health being 'good luck' : some people are very unfortunate. But many take whole days off for unnecessary reasons, honest. It is pretty common , for example, for some kids to take a whole days off after a 10 minute dental appointment!

And , I can tell you, the problem is worse in the sixth form!

I am now down to one child in my year 10 class on 100 %! I think the issue is attitudes to attendance develop in year R and remain throughout school : so the odd day off may not have seemed a big deal when DCs were 5 or 6 but have huge consequences at 15 or 16. I think we would all agree that those children who sadly suffer from very poor health are not going to perform academically as well as they 'should ' have. There are students I teach who always take off five days for a sniffle or are off a day every week : I often wonder how they will ever hold down a job. Often, I have come across generations of families with poor attendance.

None of the above may alter people's attitudes to reqarding full attendance : but if it is low key (as it usually is : so a letter home or a praise postcard) I don't see the issue. I can totally see why people think a big fuss shouldn't be made but I would say that about most awards and rewards which teenagers, especially, find a bit embarrassing.

butcher is that a primary school?

Oh... and there is no point in denying 100% attendance isn't of interest to employers and so on. I am always required to give a % attendance on references.

I’ve never seen any research findings that show attendance awards improve attendance. I hate them for all the reasons you put forward.

No you're right, I don't think they do and I don't think Is aid they did!

I'm struggling to see why my reasons would lead to hate? rewarding those who are often otherwise overlooked , for example?

Because it is rewarding those for something that they don’t really have total control of. It’s no personal achievement to not be ill. Not being ill is reward in itself!

I do agree and my DS doesn't expect a reward but is nonetheless keen to keep his record going.

I do appreciate the emails I get form his school ate least recognising it though : and they do these every four weeks - so lots of students do have a chance to be acclaimed under that system. In other words you get a congrats email if you manage 4 weeks. I think there may also be a prize draw type thing for 100% attendance throughout the year.

This was a school that was tasked with raising levels of attendance, particularly working on reducing levels of 'persistent absenteeism' and their attendance has improved so these strategies must work...

I don't agree that my DS has done 'nothing'. he has soldiered on and gone into school at times when others might choose not to. He is a determined individual.

But I do think, unless you are a teacher, you don't see what impact sporadic attendance genuinely has - not just on an individual but on whole classes. Sometimes there will be six or seven away and this does affect the work ethic of the rest of the group and/ or makes a teacher change their plans . It is a genuine pita. if someone is chronically ill then we work them into our plans : it is the on off / will they won't they types who we can't plan for.

I’ve taught for almost 15 years

They’re either not successful in raising attendance OR they encourage people to go in when they should be resting and not spreading it around. Either way - not useful.

In a secondary school?

To be honest, we obviously aren't going to agree but I am never off either and have the most cast iron constitution of the whole department : because I have been in and been subjected to all these germs, I guess! It builds up your immune system...

Schools only do it because they get shat on from a great height by OfSted if their attendance figures don't come up to scratch. Yet another instance of the tail waging the dog in our current education system.

In any school (or work place). No one benefits from people coming in with D&V.

Well, it's sort of to do with Ofsted but it's also about encouraging positive attitudes to attendance for life?

I really am not talking about people. Obviously we don't want them in - that said, I am not sure the 48 hour 'rule' is necessary in a secondary school. People can have upset stomachs for all sorts of reasons and not all of them spread.