One of Guernsey’s high schools has defended its decision to exclude some pupils from their upcoming prom because of poor attendance or behaviour.
Several parents had called for Les Varendes High School to reverse its decision not to allow students with lower than 92% attendance to go to the Year 11 prom later this month.
A statement from the parents said they were “disappointed and concerned” over the “blanket attendance threshold (which) does not adequately take into account the individual circumstances faced by some young people”.
Verona Tomlin, Principal of Les Varendes High School, told Express prom was “an important milestone for our students”, but the school needed to “help young people understand that choices and actions have consequences”.
Easter reset
After what was described as “a difficult year”, the school took the decision at Easter to give students “a fresh start and an equal opportunity to finish the year positively” by “resetting all attendance records to 100% and behaviour points to zero”, Mrs Tomlin said.
She said the school had “made it clear” that only pupils who “met our expectations for attendance and conduct would be invited to take part in end-of-school celebrations, including prom”.
Since then, “a very small number of students have not met those expectations”, she added.
Mental health problems
Express understands that some students were denied access to their prom because they fell just a few percentage points below the 92% threshold due to persistent lateness.
The parents’ letter said that several students had “experienced mental health challenges, ongoing medical conditions, or other personal difficulties that have impacted their attendance”.
It continued: “Prom is more than a social event – for many students, it represents the culmination of years of hard work, resilience and personal growth.
“Excluding students who have already faced significant challenges can have a further negative impact on their wellbeing and sense of belonging.”
The parents said they weren’t trying to “undermine the importance of attendance”, but called for “greater flexibility, compassion, and consideration of individual cases”.
“Students dealing with genuine health or wellbeing issues should not be treated in the same way as those with unexplained or avoidable absences,” the parents said.
Express also spoke to a parent who was worried that being excluded from prom would affect their child’s motivation to revise for their upcoming GCSE exams.
Posting on social media, another parent questioned why there was a need to “go to the lengths of stopping children going to their prom”, suggesting there “must be a real problem” at the school.
Low attendance was generally “due to bullying, poor relationships with teachers, students finding lessons unengaging, a negative school environment and lack of support”, they added.
Different circumstances
Mrs Tomlin said the school’s decisions hadn’t been made “on the basis of a single incident or attendance percentage”, but that each student had been “considered individually, with input from the staff who know them best”.
“Every young person’s circumstances are different, and factors such as additional support needs, health and mental health considerations and extenuating circumstances have absolutely been taken into account.
“Students whose attendance has been affected by legitimate reasons have not been disadvantaged.”
Mrs Tomlin said the school’s decisions were “consistent with the expectations that were clearly communicated to students and families at Easter”.
