This is one of those posts that could be seen as slightly controversial but I’ll say it anyway. Lately on twitter I’ve been reading lots of tweets and threads from people who are very upset about giving attendance awards to children at the end of the year. The main reason cited is that it’s unfair to children who have medical problems and will never be able to win this award. Well as harsh as it sounds, life is actually very unfair. It’s a lesson we have to learn in life. We can’t remove the reward for all children because some can’t participate.
I am an Assistant Head at a special school in Blackpool and many of our cohort are profoundly poorly. Every day brings major challenges for our children. For some staying alive is the challenge they face on a daily basis. They are that poorly. I’m talking about children who are oxygen dependent, some who suffer from short bowel disease and many who are dependent on adults for their every need. Yet at our school we still have an attendance award to encourage the children to come to school. Let me explain.
Many of our children have to live their lives in very poor health. They can’t turn it off for a day, or have a day off from being unwell, there is nothing they can do about it, it’s the reality of their lives, sad as that is. They just have to accept it and get on with it. With that in mind we encourage the children to face each new day with a smile on their faces and to come to school if they can possibly make it. Why? We do it because it’s good for their mental health to be around others rather than being at home and becoming anxious, depressed and potentially lonely. Everyone feels better when they are in a routine and our very poorly, special children are no different in that respect.
Our reasoning is that we get them all in (unless it’s a sickness bug) teach them and help them to battle through the pain and come out the other side with a smile on their faces. If we let them stay at home we aren’t doing them any favours at all and may even be contributing to their illness.
I accept that the people who are tweeting against the idea of attendance awards are talking about comparing children with SEND against able bodied children. However, it’s wrong to deny all children the chance of a prize because some can’t compete. The answer is to move the goalposts for the children who are poorly. At our school we personalise their attendance target thus giving each child a chance to win an award. For example, a child who has been in hospital and then recovering at home might have a target for the year of 65%. For that child that target will be challenging enough for them and may see them win an attendance award. For able bodied children the target is obviously 100% or as close to it as you can be.
This seems like common sense to me and works well for our school. Apart from anything else children with special needs do not want to be treated any differently from other children. They want to win awards too and they don’t want to deny others the chance to be award winners. So, controversial as it may seem I am in favour of the attendance awards, with a little tweaking.
Thank you for reading.
teresa mcilroy said:
Hi – given it is always the parents responsibility to get their children to school, couldn’t it work if you offered rewards/praise to parents? In most cases where children’s attendance is low, isn’t it because parents don’t understand or value good school attendance?
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cherrylkd said:
That’s something to be considered. I’ve never heard of a school giving incentives to parents. There could be something in that. I’ll give that some thought. Thank you.
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teresa mcilroy said:
letters acknowledging maintained or improved attendance – email me if you want templates. Local businesses sometimes will support initiatives. Chip shop I know provides chippy tea vouchers as prizes. Money off uniform shop, family tickets for school performances (if that’s a thing at your school). Book vouchers, vouchers to be used at school fair… things that benefit the parent and supports involvement in the life of the school work well.
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cherrylkd said:
I love it! Thank you very much. I’ll put your idea forward at the next SLT meeting. Thank you.
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Christopher Waugh said:
We gave an award to the mother of 4 sons, all of whom had perfect attendance records – it was great fun.
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cherrylkd said:
What a fabulous idea. Thank you 😀
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DJ Lud said:
Our Gemma got 100% and I never got anything. Apart from my child’s education and future, what’s in it for me!?
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cherrylkd said:
Knowing you’ve got here there on time and given her a cracking opportunity at getting a good education. Well done Gemma 👏
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governingmatters said:
Reblogged this on Governing Matters and commented:
This is a must read blog. It shows how thinking about a policy and adapting it to suit your context can mean that you have a policy which works for you, your students and parents. I’d urge governors to read this, especially if your school has attendance awards.
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phillipjberry said:
Individual targets are absolutely necessary. My daughter has a recognised health issue and has to attend hospital appointments. A copy of the hospital letter goes to the school on each occasion and she has no other time off. Still this counts towards her attendance. Should I not take her to appointments in order to get 100% attendance? In truth my child’s health will always come first regardless of any targets.
Although I agree life is hard I don’t agree with portraying this to children. Encouragement and praise is what is needed to ensure children do the very best they can. Telling children that life is not fair could result in them giving up and having low aspirations. Shouldn’t we be putting our energy into make life fair for everyone rather than accepting it isn’t fair?
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cherrylkd said:
We’d never tell the children that life is unfair. It’s just our way of encouraging the children and taking account of those hospital appointments so they don’t spoil their attendance.
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Pingback: Can we all be 100%…100% of the time? – Mrs. Educate
cherrylkd said:
Thank you. I know what you mean, I’ve debated it long and hard over the last few days so I thank you for a balanced comment.
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teachingbattleground said:
Reblogged this on The Echo Chamber.
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