lack of information from sons new secondary school

[caringdad66]

Just that......website updated very rarely,school reports meant to come home this week,now postponed until after half term,minimal letters home,very disappointed with lack of communication.
Knew we would get less info than primary school,but this is woeful.
What are your schools like?
Should add that foisted rate this school 'good',and it got 68% a to c( Inc english and maths.

[caringdad66]

Should read ofsted.....

[TeenAndTween]

What information are you lacking?

At DD1's school, all books stay at school, so visibility can be hard.

Every now and then I just wrote a note in planner asking that she be allowed to bring her books home for me to look at. And very helpful it was too.

If I have subject queries I email the teacher via the recognised system.

We only get reports at the end of each term, list of attitude levels and NC / GCSE levels only, no words at all!!!

[lilyloo]

Secondary school is very different to Primary.
I am surprised they are sending reports out already.
Ds y8 , we get letters for school trips etc but grades and targets are available online.

[roamer2]

We get emails from the school all the time
Can inspect homework and grades via third party websites

[troutsprout]

Ds year 7
We've had a parents 'settling in' eve with just the form tutors and heads of year/ pastoral staff
We had a data grab (every 6 weeks) and feedback about attitude/effort.
Also been to a couple of parent forum sessions ( they are on weekly -different topics)

[PastSellByDate]

Hi caringDad66

Just wanted to say it's much the same for DD1 (new Y7) - but I had a lot of forewarning from a friend with her eldest DC at the school that there would be little or no communication from the school. So all in all - I'm not particularly worried about things.

I am curious - and do talk to DD1 and her friends about what they're doing. DD1 has picked up on the fact that she's getting more homework than others - we're not clear if that's intentional or a fluke - officially there's no streaming/ setting in Year 7.

However - I think the homework coming home has been fun and sometimes really thought provoking. DD1 has had a fair share of easy fill in the blank worksheets - but she's also had research tasks/ presentations/ projects that have taken a lot more thought.

Given our background was a primary school with no homework to speak of - it's all a very pleasant change for the better - so that also may explain my relaxation about not a lot of information from the school.

For now - I'm content to judge by what work DD1 is doing at home. I'd say 50% is straightforward. 25% is challenging. 25% is totally new and has freaked her out now and then - but given she came from a primary with no writing tasks I was prepared for that eventuality - and it's things like helping her plan/ outline reports/ essays/ projects where she's needed a bit of support. I've told her after half-term I'd like her to move on to doing this without too much input from me - and she's agreed it really has to be her own ideas/ work.

[Happy36]

caringdad66 Do you have a parents´ evening coming up? If not you could email your child´s tutor to ask for info. or even try to arrange an informal meeting with him or her.