Headteachers may have deliberately closed school gates during the big freeze to avoid getting penalised over attendance figures, a leading councillor has warned.How can this be..?
Essex County councillor Stephen Castle is calling on the Government to change the “nonsensical” way it carries out attendance monitoring.
Well….
Currently, if a school stays open, for example because of bad weather, and only a proportion of pupils attend, the school will be penalised for having a low-attendance rate by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.Now, there’s some weapons-grade stupidity from the state. But is anyone surprised?
However, if a school decides to shut, all pupils are marked down as having attended – meaning it gets 100 per cent attendance.
Mr Castle said evidence from Essex suggests these rules could have been contributing to schools closing because of the poor weather.What has sense to do with it?
Mr Castle, county councillor responsible for education, said “I am calling for the department to make a change to their policy in periods of adverse weather.
“In my opinion, it is nonsensical a school is marked down for opening its doors to the many pupils able to make it in.”
This is centralised government bureaucracy. We’re through the looking glass, Mr Castle. Up is down, black is white, targets are all…
5 comments:
And there was me thinking they closed the school gates because they fancied a duvet day.
Systems thinking in the public sector by John Sedddon is full of such examples
It's getting harder and harder to think of or make up stuff more ridiculous than Labours points means prizes target system.
It is certaibnly all unravelling faster and faster...
It's a wonder that schools open at all if this is all you need do for a 100% attendance record.
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