P-05-807 Review and change the guidance for attendance awards in Welsh schools –

Correspondence from Petitioner to Committee, 21.05.18

Good morning,

In response to the letter from Kirsty Williams.

On speaking with the school and governors, I have been informed that the school are instructed to follow guidance, and movement from this framework causes problems.

I believe it is down to the Welsh Government to put something in place that enforces schools to make adjustments that reflect the attendance of children with chronic health conditions. The current targets are not realistic for these children as it had been suggested in the original letter, it should not be guidance but a rule that all schools must follow.

The school have also informed be there is no code available to input into the register, a simple code should be available to each school which would allow it to be recognised as an absence due to a chronic health condition. When the end of term then arrives they are able to clearly see that this child has been absent but through no fault of their own, therefor should not be excluded from the reward scheme. The school have said they simply do not have the time or resources to manually check this at the end of each term.

I honestly feel, that it is far too easy to say it is up to the individual school, without higher powers involved how am I able to fight this discrimination? That is what we are encountering at the moment. I have to fight daily for my son this is one thing I should not have to fight for.

Many thanks

Laura Charles-Price