Before I start my rant about this particular meeting I had at Samuel and Victoria’s school I want to make it clear that I am not one of those parents who get upset about their child not getting the 100% attendance award at the end of the school year. Nor do I feel aggrieved about the fact that they will never get it, to me it’s just not a battle that I personally choose to fight.
Let me tell you some things about Samuel and school. He is currently in year 8 and just picked his options, he has chosen French, History, Business and Philosophy & Ethics. Academically he is doing extremely well, in most of his core subjects he is above where he should be. He is never late for school, it’s a thing he gets quite anxious about. He has never had his expectation card signed and has never had a detention. A model student some may say.
A couple of months ago I received a letter regarding Samuels attendance, it was currently sitting at 91.3% and the school cut off is 92%. I know!! We are talking 0.7%!! The letter explained how important regular attendance is, and how poor attendance has shown to have a detrimental effect on GCSE results. Again let me remind you we are talking about 0.7%. The letter kindly invited me to attend an attendance meeting to discuss Samuels poor attendance.
So I went, armed with all my appointment letters and letters fromThe Prof.
Here are some highlights......
Me: I was a bit put out at the wording of the letter if I’m honest.
Him: Yes, we word it like that to get a reaction so you will come to the meeting.
Me: Oh. Ok, you know that he has type 1 diabetes don’t you? And he is treated up in London at UCLH as he has an insulin pump?
Him: Yes we know, but not everyone who has diabetes has this much time off. Why did you decide to get a pump?
At this point I was about to get cross as I was thinking 'how dare he question me on where and how I treat my child! However, in true Disney style I 'let it go'.
Him: Is Samuels diabetes well controlled?
Me: Well yes....unless.... He has a cold, is anxious about anything, has had a growth spurt, put on any weight, if he has walked to school, or had PE, or the weather is too hot, or too cold, or if he is tired, or hormonal. Apart from that though, yes he is well controlled.
The letter said about the attendance affecting Samuel academically, have you looked at his report / grades?
Him: Yes I have, imagine how good he could be if he was in school more.
Me; Mmmmm (inside voice said imagine how good he could be if he didn't have a life threatening illness) As you can see he is never late, has never had his card signed.
Him: Yes, a model student....so if we could just get his attendance up.
Me: You do realise that I bring him in much more that I really should do. If he has ketones he really should be at home, (out come the UCLH sick day rules) I can't do all of t his at home as he needs to me monitored as the ketones can make him sick. If he misses school he will always go round to his teachers the next day to pick up any work he has missed.
Him: You could bring him in once he starts to feel better. We would rather him late than not at all. He wouldn't have to go to lessons.
I'm now wondering if he doesn't have to go to lessons then what is the point of me bringing him in when he is feeling so rotten.
We then looked back over the previous year when he did have quite a bit of time off before the summer. For a minute I couldn't think why so I looked it up on my phone. Samuel has a couple of weeks where is was waking up extremely high and with ketones, it was like I had filled the pump with water not insulin! It turned out, once we went to clinic that the boy had grown 3cm and had put on half stone, which in return had knocked out all of his pump settings. All of this was written in a letter from The Prof which I just happened to have in my bag!
We went backward and forward a bit more which resulted in me having to sign a form to say what we had discussed. I did then ask him if I would be getting a phone call to discuss Victoria as she had had a fair amount of time off. He said possibly, so I suggested that we do it as I was there, as it would be pretty much the same as what I had said for Samuel. He declined as he didn't have any paperwork. I left the meeting in pretty much the same mood as when I went in! What a waste of my time. Don't get me wrong I understand that attendance is important, but I would lay money on the fact that there are children in that school with a far worse attendance than Samuel whose parents were not sitting in the same sort of meeting that I was!
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