Child marked absent from school because he had a doctors appointment

raydator

Hi,

Wonder if anyone could give me some advise.

Normally the following would probably not be an issue but in our case it's a big deal!

My son is just about to complete his sixth year in primary school. His school report was delivered today and it stated that he had a 99% attendance record to date this year. Now 99% out of a hundred is excellent, but what happened to the last 1%. Well I had to bring him to the doctors one morning to get him checked up as he was unwell back in December.

Now I hear you say what's 1%, well if I add in that in the six years completed he's only missed one day back in first class due to being unwell it's a big deal to my son. He prides himself (and so do I) in the fact that his attendance record to date is excellent.

So I went to the school today and asked why he was marked absent when he did attend school after the doctor visit. I had him in the school no later than 11:30am. I was advised that my son had missed roll call in the morning and therefore was marked absent for the day. When I put it to them that he did not miss a school day I was told the system does not allow them to mark my son as present after they marked him as absent.

Surely they could update the system? Why should my sons attendance record be recorded incorrectly? He was upset today when he saw his school report.

What can I do? Should he not be rewarded for school attendance rather than punished?

I'm sure you can tell from the post that I feel quite passionate about this issue, so please no comments telling me to get over it or its only 1%...
We want his school record to reflect his actual attendance at school.

Thanks for any information or help in relation to this...

siobhan08

raydator wrote: »

Hi,

Wonder if anyone could give me some advise.

Normally the following would probably not be an issue but in our case it's a big deal!

My son is just about to complete his sixth year in primary school. His school report was delivered today and it stated that he had a 99% attendance record to date this year. Now 99% out of a hundred is excellent, but what happened to the last 1%. Well I had to bring him to the doctors one morning to get him checked up as he was unwell back in December.

Now I hear you say what's 1%, well if I add in that in the six years completed he's only missed one day back in first class due to being unwell it's a big deal to my son. He prides himself (and so do I) in the fact that his attendance record to date is excellent.

So I went to the school today and asked why he was marked absent when he did attend school after the doctor visit. I had him in the school no later than 11:30am. I was advised that my son had missed roll call in the morning and therefore was marked absent for the day. When I put it to them that he did not miss a school day I was told the system does not allow them to mark my son as present after they marked him as absent.

Surely they could update the system? Why should my sons attendance record be recorded incorrectly? He was upset today when he saw his school report.

What can I do? Should he not be rewarded for school attendance rather than punished?

I'm sure you can tell from the post that I feel quite passionate about this issue, so please no comments telling me to get over it or its only 1%...
We want his school record to reflect his actual attendance at school.

Thanks for any information or help in relation to this...

If they said the system can't be changed then it can't. I had a similar system in secondary school. We were given swipe cards where it would be our responsibility to swipe in before 9 for the morning and at lunch time for the afternoon. If we swiped in at 9:00.17 we were classed as being absent for the morning because it was all linked to a computer. In the end year report card it would that we were absent for that morning,even though we were only late by 17 seconds and attended all morning classes. If we were again late swiping for the afternoon than that would be an absent day.
So a system that can't be changed after the fact does exist.

It does state in Circular 0028/2013

b) a pupil will be marked either present or absent at the time of roll call and there will be no provision for adjusting the Roll Book (Leabhar Rolla) where a pupil subsequently does not complete the full school day or arrives after the roll call;

Page 8/9
Section 3 Arrangements for the Roll Book (Leabhar Rolla)
3.3
Of the following document.
https://www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active-Circulars/cl0028_2013.pdf
Your children missed roll call. Therefore he was marked absent for the day

If you had always planned to bring your child to school after the doctor's. could you not have rang the school in advance to tell them he would be late due to a doctors appointment?
The school could probably have marked him as present had they know it advance that he would be there later in the morning.

Really just tell your son to not worry about it 99% is still excellent. I never missed a day of primary school in the 8 years I was there. It was never done consciously I was just lucky enough to never be too sick not to attend. As soon as I went to secondary school the never missing a day thing went out the window and I wasn't bothered about continuing the record. In a while he wont be bothered by the record.

Zaph

raydator wrote: »

What can I do? Should he not be rewarded for school attendance rather than punished?

Exactly how is he being punished?

mansize

Even if he was market absent for 1/2 a day, his absence still won't be 100%

He wasn't present 100% of the time.

He was absent

lazygal

If he was at the doctor, he wasn't attending school. That reflects what happened on that day and his actual attendance. What exactly is the issue here?

o1s1n

If all the other students weren't marked as absent when they attended doctors, your son's 99/100% score wouldn't be nearly as impressive as it currently is.

xabi

Id be more worried about what % he gets in exams.

Delphinium

I have another view on the subject. Hope he was well enough to attend school and not likely to pass on a virus or some such. I speak as a parent who had to keep a child in remission from cancer and his siblings out of school for months on end to protect him. He did eventually come into contact with a child who had measles and had to endure four days of injections to help his immunity. So please parents keep sick children at home.

mansize

Delphinium wrote: »

I have another view on the subject. Hope he was well enough to attend school and not likely to pass on a virus or some such. I speak as a parent who had to keep a child in remission from cancer and his siblings out of school for months on end to protect him. He did eventually come into contact with a child who had measles and had to endure four days of injections to help his immunity. So please parents keep sick children at home.

I thought that too.

Avatar MIA

Sometimes schools give out certificates for full attendance. And kids love them, why else would schools do it. At such a young age I can understand the importance for the child.

However, he didn't have a full attendance. His excuse for being absent was a good one, but absent he was.

The system is to encourage people that would be lackadaisical in their attendance, but the school is correct in its policy.

AlanG

It would probably be better for both of you to learn to accept something like this rather than fight it when you are actually short of 100% attendance. He most likely only feels bad about it because you cant celebrate his 99% record.

racso1975

Would love to know how much of this is him and how much is you. Also I would assume he got this obsession from you.

It is great that he is so aware the importance of attending school but given that he is upset by a 99% score what happens next time? He won't want doc appointment or dentist or whatever and when genuinely ill is he gonna be more stressed about his attendance record?

Either way he was partially absent so 100% not achievable

evolving_doors

raydator wrote: »

Hi,

...He prides himself (and so do I) in the fact that his attendance record to date is excellent...

Then that's enough.

Intrinsic motivation is worth more then getting rewarded by someone else. Sure, acknowledgement from someone else is nice, but think in the long term; If he gets the impression that there's no point in attending regularly if you don't get any acknowledgement then your on a hiding to nothing. 80% of success is showing up.

Shint0

Your child's attendance record is laudable and it's great to strive to be the best that we can be. On the otherhand it's not always possible to be 100% perfect all the time or it could set a child up to being afraid of failure or afraid to make mistakes which can often have a negative effect. I think the 99% outcome is possibly better than 100% and perhaps a valuable life lesson. We can't be perfect all the time.

raydator

siobhan08 wrote: »

If they said the system can't be changed then it can't. I had a similar system in secondary school. We were given swipe cards where it would be our responsibility to swipe in before 9 for the morning and at lunch time for the afternoon. If we swiped in at 9:00.17 we were classed as being absent for the morning because it was all linked to a computer. In the end year report card it would that we were absent for that morning,even though we were only late by 17 seconds and attended all morning classes. If we were again late swiping for the afternoon than that would be an absent day.
So a system that can't be changed after the fact does exist.

It does state in Circular 0028/2013

b) a pupil will be marked either present or absent at the time of roll call and there will be no provision for adjusting the Roll Book (Leabhar Rolla) where a pupil subsequently does not complete the full school day or arrives after the roll call;

Page 8/9
Section 3 Arrangements for the Roll Book (Leabhar Rolla)
3.3
Of the following document.

Your children missed roll call. Therefore he was marked absent for the day

If you had always planned to bring your child to school after the doctor's. could you not have rang the school in advance to tell them he would be late due to a doctors appointment?
The school could probably have marked him as present had they know it advance that he would be there later in the morning.

Really just tell your son to not worry about it 99% is still excellent. I never missed a day of primary school in the 8 years I was there. It was never done consciously I was just lucky enough to never be too sick not to attend. As soon as I went to secondary school the never missing a day thing went out the window and I wasn't bothered about continuing the record. In a while he wont be bothered by the record.

Thanks for the information and link. This helped clear this up about the way the system works.

OneOfThem Stumbled

raydator wrote: »

Normally the following would probably not be an issue but in our case it's a big deal!

Now I hear you say what's 1%, well if I add in that in the six years completed he's only missed one day back in first class due to being unwell it's a big deal to my son. He prides himself (and so do I) in the fact that his attendance record to date is excellent.

What can I do? Should he not be rewarded for school attendance rather than punished?

I'm sure you can tell from the post that I feel quite passionate about this issue, so please no comments telling me to get over it or its only 1%...
We want his school record to reflect his actual attendance at school.

Thanks for any information or help in relation to this...

Attendance is the least meaningful method of grading. It means you were there. 100%? 10%? Who cares: what matters is how much you have gained from your attendance, not the fact that you were in a room.

Your son is perhaps 12, will be going into secondary school next year. He will have to get used to far harder knocks than missing out 1% of attendance. A primary school record is literally not worth the paper it is written on. He will probably just have to get used to not always getting 100%, even when it could be argued that it isn't fair: because, that's life, and if school doesn't train you for life, what good is it?

Call me Al

All other things being equal the important thing is the quality of schooling, not the quantity, and this is what you really need to get across to him.

He was absent at roll call so he's marked absent, which is his actual attendance. I know you said not to say this but it really isn't a big deal to be getting so passionate and worked up about.

Moonbeam

I completely understand your issue.
My little one is only in 1st class and has never missed a day her report this year said that she did.
She was 15 minutes late one morning because her brother fell and cut his knees.
That certificate at the end of the year means so much to her and to me.
I feel that we often have to give up stuff to have them there every day and it is not easy so they deserve the credit for it.

lazygal

Moonbeam wrote: »

I completely understand your issue.
My little one is only in 1st class and has never missed a day her report this year said that she did.
She was 15 minutes late one morning because her brother fell and cut his knees.
That certificate at the end of the year means so much to her and to me.
I feel that we often have to give up stuff to have them there every day and it is not easy so they deserve the credit for it.

I completely disagree with certs for attendance and children being expected to aim for 100% attendance. A sibling of mine had to miss a lot of school through no fault of their own and these kinds of 'rewards' are really unfair. It isn't as though going to school every day is an achievement or anything, it is simply the luck of the draw, as your child now knows. There is no reason why attendance needs to be an issue unless it is a lack of attendance for unscrupulous reasons.
Also, what stuff do you have to give up to have your children in school every day? Mine go to school, they get picked up, that's part of being a parent. Not something that shows there's any great sacrifice on any of our parts.

Stealthfins

As a parent I teach my kid that too much pride is as bad as to little confidence.

Roll with it I say,because if one can't handle a bit of disappointment or losing the game,it's going to be a miserable existence.

I think you're looking into this too much,kids need knock backs to help them grow emotionally.

Take a rose in the garden,they need plenty of sht to grow....bit like life really ðŸ˜႒

raydator

Moonbeam wrote: »

I completely understand your issue.
My little one is only in 1st class and has never missed a day her report this year said that she did.
She was 15 minutes late one morning because her brother fell and cut his knees.
That certificate at the end of the year means so much to her and to me.
I feel that we often have to give up stuff to have them there every day and it is not easy so they deserve the credit for it.

It would seem that we are being knocked for valuing our kids attendance.. All I wanted was advice on the system in place and in return we are being told that it's an obsession from the parents.

lazygal

raydator wrote: »

It would seem that we are being knocked for valuing our kids attendance.. All I wanted was advice on the system in place and in return we are being told that it's an obsession from the parents.

Every parent or guardian who's anyway responsible values their child's attendance at school. However, my parents didn't value the attendance of my sibling who might miss weeks of school at a time less than that of the rest of us. It is a sweeping generalisation to make that those who don't send their children to school for myriad reasons (health, bereavements, emergencies etc) value attendance less than those who send their children to school simply to get a cert at the end of the year.

Call me Al

raydator wrote: »

It would seem that we are being knocked for valuing our kids attendance.. All I wanted was advice on the system in place and in return we are being told that it's an obsession from the parents.

I value my child's school attendance. I also valued the medical advice that said he required his tonsils removed or that he needed to attend his grandparent's funeral.
Despite what you appear to believe they aren't mutually exclusive choices.

njs030

Has your child never been sick in all his time in school? I hope you aren't sending a sick child to school to pass on his bugs to everyone else.

Unfortunately he was absent and will be marked as such, even if he was marked in for the time he was present it would only be 99.5%.

_Whimsical_

Moonbeam wrote: »

I completely understand your issue.
My little one is only in 1st class and has never missed a day her report this year said that she did.
She was 15 minutes late one morning because her brother fell and cut his knees.
That certificate at the end of the year means so much to her and to me.
I feel that we often have to give up stuff to have them there every day and it is not easy so they deserve the credit for it.

That's really disgraceful if she missed out on a certificate. As you say it takes a lot of effort for both the parent and child to make a record like that and it should be rewarded. We should teach 6 year olds that if they strive for something over the course of a year that it will count for something. Similarly there should be a big congratulations given to a child in 6th for never having missed a day. There should be a bit of discretion in these things, they are only children after all. We should be raising kids who take pride in their commitment to something and everything should be done to encourage it.

lazygal

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

That's really disgraceful if she missed out on a certificate. As you say it takes a lot of effort for both the parent and child to make a record like that and it should be rewarded. We should teach 6 year olds that if they strive for something over the course of a year that it will count for something. Similarly there should be a big congratulations given to a child in 6th for never having missed a day. There should be a bit of discretion in these things, they are only children after all. We should be raising kids who take pride in their commitment to something and everything should be done to encourage it.

Hold on now, what 'effort' exactly? What achievement is perfect attendance, anyway? I consider myself a diligent parent and we've vaccinated our children against everything possible but if they are sick, they should not be in school and them not being sick is not possible to control.
Perfect attendance is not an achievement, it simply means through accident or design a child has been sent to school every day.

silverharp

Every kids has to learn about " the man" at some stage :pac: , my own son had his own brush with an unsympathetic marking system recently, he normally gets his math tests perfect or with one error , this one he had 7 points deducted because in each question in the working he added area sides without using the unit of measurement even though he used it in the final answer. we all thought it was a bit unfair but its a lesson in following instructions.

byhookorbycrook

So the school should ignore DES rules? Roll call has to be done by a particular time- should a child who appears at 12 be marked as present? 1? 2? Where does it stop?

Should the children with measles in Kerry all struggle in for the sake of perfect attendance? I think you need to consider this as a non issue and move on.

I vehemently disagree with certs for attendance, by the way. Many children with chronic illnesses are doing well to be in on any given day , never mind all 183

bucketybuck

raydator wrote: »

so please no comments telling me to get over it or its only 1%...

But sometimes that is the only correct response.

Tasden

notjustsweet wrote: »

Has your child never been sick in all his time in school? I hope you aren't sending a sick child to school to pass on his bugs to everyone else.
.

Mine isn't quite as old as op's child but she hasn't missed a day due to illness since she started school. She rarely gets bugs, had two common colds her whole life (one as a young baby before school and one over Christmas holidays) and just one antibiotic as a baby. Shes had her own health problems but some kids just genuinely don't pick viral/bacterial things up. I, on the other hand catch every cold going and make sure to stay off when possible so as not to pass it on.

_Whimsical_

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

That's really disgraceful if she missed out on a certificate. As you say it takes a lot of effort for both the parent and child to make a record like that and it should be rewarded. We should teach 6 year olds that if they strive for something over the course of a year that it will count for something. Similarly there should be a big congratulations given to a child in 6th for never having missed a day. There should be a bit of discretion in these things, they are only children after all. We should be raising kids who take pride in their commitment to something and everything should be done to encourage it.

What effort does it take by the parent & child?
I'm genuinely interested to know

Congratulations? For never being sick? For never having a relation die? For never needing any appointments during school hours?

Sleeper12

Student wasn't there for roll call due to genuine illness. What is the big deal.
You need to sit your child down & explain that this is perfectly Reasonable.
Any teacher will tell you that the pupils with the near perfect attendance record is usually the child where both parents are working & there were plenty of days when they should have been at home due to illness.

Trimm Trabb

I'm pretty sure that all attendances are submitted to dept of education electronically by 10am - that gives latecomers an extra hour to get on the system.

Sometimes a school might make an exception and mark a kid in if you know they have an appointment and will be in later - however sometimes kids say they will be in and don't come in and school are over a barrel then. The school is just compling with the law.

Good school attendance is commendable but is a minimum expectation for any child/parent who has reasonable expectations of themselves in my opinion - not worth a second thought and given the amount of issues of real importance on teachers/principals plates I wouldn't push it.

siobhan08

notjustsweet wrote: »

Has your child never been sick in all his time in school? I hope you aren't sending a sick child to school to pass on his bugs to everyone else.

Unfortunately he was absent and will be marked as such, even if he was marked in for the time he was present it would only be 99.5%.

Both my brother and I never missed a day in 8 years of primary school. so it can happen. We were lucky to never be too sick that we couldn't go into school. Both got the chicken pox during the summer and if we ever did get colds. it always seemed to be when we were on holidays

byhookorbycrook

Trimm Trabb wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that all attendances are submitted to dept of education electronically by 10am - that gives latecomers an extra hour to get on the system.

Primary rolls certainly don't get submitted to the DES day by day, but within the school, the roll has to be called within a certain time frame.I know of schools pulled up for not calling the roll in this time and at least two times where the schools were pulled up for having left a space when a child didn't arrive until later.

Trimm Trabb

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Primary rolls certainly don't get submitted to the DES day by day, but within the school, the roll has to be called within a certain time frame.I know of schools pulled up for not calling the roll in this time and at least two times where the schools were pulled up for having left a space when a child didn't arrive until later.

Roll books are obsolete since September - as far as I know attendance is submitted daily online.

KatW4

Trimm Trabb wrote:

I'm pretty sure that all attendances are submitted to dept of education electronically by 10am - that gives latecomers an extra hour to get on the system.

This is the case in my school. The roll has to be filled in online by 9:50 and it can't be changed once it is done. There's nothing the teacher or the school can do as they are following the rules from the department.

neris

if the biggest problem your child ever has to deal with in life is missing 1 days school they,ll have lead a very cosseted closeted life

njs030

siobhan08 wrote: »

Both my brother and I never missed a day in 8 years of primary school. so it can happen. We were lucky to never be too sick that we couldn't go into school. Both got the chicken pox during the summer and if we ever did get colds. it always seemed to be when we were on holidays

What qualifies as not too sick though? Who makes the decision that it's reasonable to go to school with whatever illnesses and pass it on to someone who may be less robust?
In my opinion children in anything less than perfect health should stay at home and not pass their germs onto others.
I say this as a parent of a child with a low immune system- what might be a mild cold in one child who would only need 1 day off can be a severe cold and a week off in someone else. Thinking of others is also a good lesson for a child to learn.

Edited to say I don't mean you in particular Siobhan, of course it can happen that a child never gets sick, it's just more common parents send sick children to school because they have to work etc with no thought if the affect that sickness has on the rest of the class.

Cork Lass

As someone who had unbroken attendance for 13 years I can honestly say it's not an achievement, it's just bad luck. Every sickness I ever had was during school holidays. My siblings were more fortunate than me and got the occasional/normal sick days. I would have loved an occasional duvet day but no such luck.

byhookorbycrook

Trimm Trabb wrote: »

Roll books are obsolete since September - as far as I know attendance is submitted daily online.

The roll may be called on a system such as Aladdin, this is not submitted to the DES daily.

snickerpuss

I had a chronic illness as a child and missed c.30 days every year. I remember the teacher telling the class how many days I had missed and how I had the worst rate of attendance and being embarrassed about it. It wasn't as if I enjoyed my hospital stays or missing class trips etc. Perfect attendance is great but a child with illness is unfortunate not bad! You should be glad your child is well enough to have 99% attendance.

retro:electro

Op you should have been cuter and sent him in for the roll call then collected him after it for his appointment. You'll know for the next one.

_Whimsical_

snickerpuss wrote: »

I had a chronic illness as a child and missed c.30 days every year. I remember the teacher telling the class how many days I had missed and how I had the worst rate of attendance and being embarrassed about it. It wasn't as if I enjoyed my hospital stays or missing class trips etc. Perfect attendance is great but a child with illness is unfortunate not bad! You should be glad your child is well enough to have 99% attendance.

I totally agree with you. I was that kid too. I missed a full 6 months once. It wasn't fair, it deserves greater reward for hanging on in there despite great odds. I bet you had to do school work at home while sick like I did too. However giving to one child for attendance shouldn't have to take away from another.

Personally I think that it is an achievement to be there every single day for years. We are creating citizens, there is a whole hidden curriculum we learn at school, that being on time matters, that meeting deadlines matters, that turning up every day regardless of what's going on in your life matters. If we want to encourage those values then we should reward them and where small kids are concerned we shouldn't withhold reward over petty things like being 20 mins late or going to the dr for an hour once.

I do think there's a level of effort involved too to never once be late, to never once have a day off after a holiday or a wedding etc, to face in with hayfever or a headache or whatever. If someones never turned in late or missed a day up until the end of 6th that will have required some commitment in my opinion.

Does that cast an ugly shaddow on every child who has ever been sick or had a lousy thing happen that caused a school absence? It shouldn't and as adults we should be teaching them that not telling them at 6 that petty rules trump what's fair.

tele2

There is a lot of misinformation in this thread.

First off when a child is absent for the roll call he/she is absent that day and the excuse given by the parent/guardian is noted amd kept on file.

Schools are required to call the roll usually within the first hour of the school day.

Schools must keep a record of all attendances and quarterly must submit to TUSLA the details of pupils who have missed 20 or more schooldays and the reasons if any given which are categorised as unexplained, illness, urgent family reason, other - this is done at the end of Sept, Dec, March and June and pupils who have missed 20 or more days must be resubmitted to TUSLA.

Schools were given the option to keep paper roll books or use electronic roll books such as Aladdin or use both from Sept 2015. However, if a school chooses to use just an electronic roll then that roll must conform to Dept of Edn guidelines - for example if a teacher calls a roll later than setup in Aladdin then Aladdin notifies the teacher the roll is being called late and requests the teacher to document a reason for the late call. If a teacher calls a pupil present and subsequently attempts to change the attendance record to absent then Aladdin again prompts the teacher to enter a reason for the change. In the OPs case the fact that the pupils was attending an appt with a doctor is not a justification for changing the roll. Altering a roll for reasons not allowed is considered a falsification of documentation and is considered a serious offence by the teacher and the school.

Aladdin rolls and similar packages if they are the sole method of recording attendance are not sent to the Dept of Edn daily, weekly, monthly or ever but are required to be available for inspection should an inspector so request.

I would imagine a requirement in the future for all school attendances to go live to the department. It would allow the Dept, TUSLA and other agencies involved in child welfare to know at any given time who is and who is not present in school.

Finally, 100% attendance can only be given in cases where a pupil has full attendance. I would suggest that the OP contact the school and request that an exception is given in this case and that the child receive a similar merit award for near full attendance.

siobhan08

notjustsweet wrote: »

What qualifies as not too sick though? Who makes the decision that it's reasonable to go to school with whatever illnesses and pass it on to someone who may be less robust?
In my opinion children in anything less than perfect health should stay at home and not pass their germs onto others.
I say this as a parent of a child with a low immune system- what might be a mild cold in one child who would only need 1 day off can be a severe cold and a week off in someone else. Thinking of others is also a good lesson for a child to learn.

Edited to say I don't mean you in particular Siobhan, of course it can happen that a child never gets sick, it's just more common parents send sick children to school because they have to work etc with no thought if the affect that sickness has on the rest of the class.

If I had a mild cold/cough/tummy or head ache I went too school and it wasn't my parents wanting to send me, it was me wanting to go to school. Kids lie about about being sick to not go to school. No point in teaching a child that a mild illness is a reason to stay of school. It would better off teaching them to cover their face if they sneeze/cough, throw away a tissue if they use it etc.That way they are limiting the speed of germs. School help prepare them for the later life. They are not going to be able to take a day off work whenever they feel a bit rough. If that was the case than most work places would be down staff every few days and productivity would suffer.

I work with children and it's shocking that some haven't been thought basic hygiene to cover their face if the cough or sneeze

_Whimsical_

Rallycrazygirl wrote: »

I totally sympathise with the child and parent. I have three children, the oldest just about to finish 6th class. Out of the three of them they have never missed a days school. I know that they too would be upset if 99% was on there report when they had gone in for the remainder of the day. This child should be applauded as they still had the mind set to go in when plenty of other children and parents would say why bother.
There are plenty of parents and children too lazy to bother getting up in the mornings to get to school. However a lot of these are on social welfare payments and getting every hand out going that the rest of us dont get. And are just leading there children down the same lazy paths they have taken and will never have any ambition in life only to go on social welfare as well. These are people who are too lazy to hold down jobs and think it's also ok to skip work. There teaching there kids from an early age that attendance for school doesn't matter and as they get older that the same applies to work and college.
When my children weren't in the school system I had to pay childcare when me and my husband worked, we got no hand outs. We still had to pay childcare if the children were sick or on holidays. We were paying 480 euro per week in childcare at one stage. I couldn't turn around to a crèche and say I won't bother today and won't pay. It's the same with school your legally obliged to send your kids to school so why are so many parents and kids so lazy and useless. I can guarantee you that the majority of the moaners to this topic are the people who never paid for childcare and are getting hand outs and are not dedicated to anything in life only being layabouts. But see nothing wrong with missing school for no good reason.
My children take pride in there attendance but also have achieved the top grades in all there subjects in school from junior infants up. I am not a pushy mother my children take pride in everything they do and I think that this other patent and child have every right to be upset. And I too would be.

Right to be upset, I agree.

Right to tar a whole section of society as lazy bludgers, absolutely not. Loads of people are on social welfare for very varied reasons, most of them legitimate, particularly in the last 8 years or so.It has nothing to do with this conversation though.
A dreadful pity to teach your kids important lessons about attendance and at the same time pass such a biased,unfair,unfounded attitude like this onto them.

Second Toughest in_the Freshers

There before the leaving cert started there was a typical-private-school-head interviewed on RTE news who had a 100% attendance record all through primary and secondary school, I think he was under the impression that it would help him get a top job in one of the big 4 accountancy firms, or something...

audi12

raydator wrote: »

Hi,

Wonder if anyone could give me some advise.

Normally the following would probably not be an issue but in our case it's a big deal!

My son is just about to complete his sixth year in primary school. His school report was delivered today and it stated that he had a 99% attendance record to date this year. Now 99% out of a hundred is excellent, but what happened to the last 1%. Well I had to bring him to the doctors one morning to get him checked up as he was unwell back in December.

Now I hear you say what's 1%, well if I add in that in the six years completed he's only missed one day back in first class due to being unwell it's a big deal to my son. He prides himself (and so do I) in the fact that his attendance record to date is excellent.

So I went to the school today and asked why he was marked absent when he did attend school after the doctor visit. I had him in the school no later than 11:30am. I was advised that my son had missed roll call in the morning and therefore was marked absent for the day. When I put it to them that he did not miss a school day I was told the system does not allow them to mark my son as present after they marked him as absent.

Surely they could update the system? Why should my sons attendance record be recorded incorrectly? He was upset today when he saw his school report.

What can I do? Should he not be rewarded for school attendance rather than punished?

I'm sure you can tell from the post that I feel quite passionate about this issue, so please no comments telling me to get over it or its only 1%...
We want his school record to reflect his actual attendance at school.

Thanks for any information or help in relation to this...

who cares what does it matter ...

freshpopcorn

Bring you kid out for a meal or something they enjoy doing to reward there excellent attendance and finishing primary school.
Your kid is about to finish primary school and start secondary in September. Between the transition from primary to secondary/new subjects/different teachers/new class mates/hearing about this important exam the Junior cert/this on top of becoming a teenager /puberty/peer pressure to name a few. They shouldn't be so worried about attendance. So just move on and not make a big deal out of it!
Edit: I'm not sure If your son finished fourth or sixth class.