Awards for 100 per cent attendance have been prevalent in schools across the country for decades. This is hardly surprising, given that attendance is one of the data points considered by Ofsted during inspections. 

Research shows that attendance is one of the most significant factors influencing children’s attainment. As teachers, of course we want to encourage students to do all they can to avoid missing out on valuable learning time. 

But, in the wake of lockdown and with the risk of a second wave of the coronavirus, it is surely time for us to wake up to the damaging, ableist nature of 100 per cent attendance awards and the harmful message they transmit to students. 

Rewarding simple luck

The big problem with 100 per cent attendance awards is that they often penalise students for factors outside their control, instead rewarding simple luck. A student who has a stomach bug or tonsilitis or an ear infection is automatically out of the running, through no fault of their own. 

Even worse than this, these awards encourage unwell students to drag themselves into school, as being off school is seen as “wrong”, even when it is best for students’ wellbeing.

Most teachers will have faced situations in which they are teaching a child who is white as a sheet and sweating, but who doesn’t want to go home, because they don’t want to affect their attendance record. Or, worse, they are actively encouraged to stay in school by attendance officers or school leaders, despite being clearly unwell. 

Perhaps worst of all is the existence of year-group or inter-form attendance competitions, which encourage students not to take time off if ill so as not to lose the attendance prize for their class. This leads to a situation in which some students are upset when they are ill, because they know they will prevent their form group from winning the attendance award. 

Some schools that pride themselves on their pastoral care think nothing of schoolwide attendance competitions. But what does such a practice teach students about what we value as a society? 

An example of ableism

Imagine a student who has suffered a bereavement. Wouldn’t they be far more likely to be quizzed by peers on the reasons for their absence if it affected the year group’s chances of winning an attendance prize?

And how must such prizes make children with disabilities or chronic illnesses requiring frequent absences or hospital appointments feel? The intention might be positive, but the system of rewarding attendance is an example of ableism, and sends a message that we value attendance over wellbeing. 

Plus, even if 100 per cent attendance awards weren’t unfair and discriminatory, research at Harvard University suggest that such awards are not an effective tool for encouraging attendance, and may even have the opposite effect. 

In short, there is zero benefit to these awards, and an enormous amount wrong with them. 

A questionable practice

There is no denying that truancy is an important matter that schools must work hard to address. But there are other ways to do this that don’t involve stigmatising students with chronic illnesses, mental health conditions or family problems.

Attendance should be a matter for safeguarding teams and school leaders, but it should not be publicly rewarded. Frankly, this situation should never have been as prevalent as it has become in UK schools: it was never the right way to treat our young people. 

But the coronavirus has shone a light on exactly how questionable it is, and we must use this as an opportunity to end the practice of attendance awards. At a time when students attending school while feeling unwell and with symptoms of Covid-19 could literally be a matter of life or death for a vulnerable person, it is more vital than ever that we send a clear message that - while attendance is important - health comes first. 

The pandemic provides a golden opportunity for schools to end a damaging and shortsighted practice that penalises the vulnerable and disadvantaged. 

The work of attendance teams in schools will be more vital than ever, but this should take the form of supportive approaches, such as attendance monitoring and working closely with students and families to remove barriers to attendance. 

Quick-fix strategies such as rewards were never a research-informed or sensible policy in the first place. Now, more than ever, they need to be a thing of the past. 

Megan Mansworth is an English teacher, former leader of English and research, and a PhD student. She tweets @meganmansworth