Secret reports??? What child info transferred from private nursery to state reception?

[Alittlebitsparkly]

Was wondering if anyone could help?

I was told by the manager of a private nursery that my child attended that they have to write a secret report which parents cannot see which is sent to new setting which in this case is a state primary reception class.Naturally I asked the manager if I could see it and they said no not allowed it.

I'm really baffled. Does a secret report exist a standard practice what do they contain?

I imagine the only things that are transferred are early learning journals /tracker so new teacher can see where the child is at. I asked the state reception teacher - head of early learning years if I could have a copy of the journal they were sent and they said ask the nursery for a copy. Of course the nursery before my child left gave me copy of the journal minus the secret report. Hence I want to see what nursery sent.

Not sure if this is making sense but another way to put it but are there any types of areas where information passed but not revealed to parents? Don't know if it's any help but nursery manger said its all about the child where there at in terms of progression of development etc how the child best learns etc....but that to me sounds like a early years tracker which isn't secret.

I'm tempted to do a subject access request but not sure how this will go down with his current teachers.i think it will upset my child's teachers as I get the impression they don't like me.


Anyone please help. Thanks

[toomuchicecream]

What difference will it make to you if you do get a copy of the report? By now the Reception teachers will have almost completley forgotten anything they were told by the nursery. They've worked with your child for a term, carried out their own assessments and then used these to inform your child's learning. What your child was like 6 plus months ago is more or less irrelevant now. Let it go - there are more important things to worry about. (And I've never heard of a secret report before).

[BoulevardOfBrokenSleep]

I was going to say, I have never heard of this secret report but I suppose that's a bit of a circular argument..!

It does sound like the early years folder thing, but that's not secret as you say.
Are there any SN involved? DS has separate documentation for his SEN, but again, that's not private and is shown to me before it moves on.

All sounds v. bizarre.

[ReallyTired]

I thought that there was only secrecy if your child was deemed at risk. Even then you would know if your child was on the at risk register. Schools and nurseries may share information, but it's nothing you should not already know about.

[Jesabel]

I've worked in nursery and reception and have never heard of a secret report! Usually private nurseries send some kind of assessment/handover info and the Reception teacher completely ignores it

[Curioushorse]

I imagine this is like the old 'Primary school to Secondary school' reports. Sometimes it's rather sweet what they send. They think we'll have time to look through exercise books/ certificates etc. Honestly, they are generally filed away, yes, but they're never opened unless there is a problem. They're completely ignored.

[Alittlebitsparkly]

toomuchicecream, I really feel that the teachers have something against me for no apparent reason. i checked with other mums to see whether the same things happening to them but it's not just me . I can't think of anything I have done to upset them so the only thing I can think of is maybe something has been exchanged between nursery and reception. If I didn't have this thought then I wouldn't be worried about looking at this report from then past

BoulevardOfBrokenSleep
health problems but no SEN

[ReallyTired]

If you go asking for a copy of this secret report and assuming it exists the reception teacher would be more likely to read it.

You will find that some years you get on with your child's teacher better than others. My daughter had a particularly lovely teacher for year 1. Her year 2 teacher is ok, but she really clicked with her year 1 teacher.

[cece]

It's not their job to either like you or not. Their job is to teach your child. Is you child happy and doing well? If so then let it go?

FWIW some teachers get on well with parents/some parents and others don't. I have always worked on the principal of whether my child is OK. I have no concern whether the teacher likes me or not?!

You do sound anxious - are you in some way relaying this to the teacher?

[KP86]

If they have information about you that they are sending to others, you should be allowed to see it. That's just odd. I would consider putting in an official request as well. What does the nursery's privacy policy say?

[KP86]

By the way, whether the school reads or uses the report is inconsequential. I would want to know what they had written about my child/family.

[Alittlebitsparkly]

KP86 - that's what I thought that I should be allowed to see any information about me or my family sent to others. I didn't think of looking at the privacy policy. I need to dig it out.

[Alittlebitsparkly]

Oh dear, I don't think I'm explaining myself very well. Agree that it shouldn't matter what teacher thinks of me as long as child fine but the stuff they do affects my child

[MM5]

There are no secret reports exchanged between private nurseries and my school. I actually find the wording very weird.

Now,mI do know the Reception teachers visit the private nurseries in the summer term to see the new children in their setting and talk to the staff so they can be aware of anything of significance for the new year.

The Reception teachers' number one complaint is that they are told there are no issues and within a week the teacher spots things and the parents says, "Oh yes, that has been going on at their nursery!"

[MM5]

BTW... I think you can make. Freedom of Information request. I am not sure exactly how to do it. But,mother would have to send it too you if it doesn't fall under some of the exemptions.

[Scarydinosaurs]

This person who told you this at the nursery clearly has wound you up.

I would imagine there might be a bit of an unofficial heads up between nursery and primary school- this child has parents who are always late for pick up, this child has been spoilt and acts up for his mum...unflattering subjective comments that you can't write down. At primary-secondary transition this happens- it gives the school a heads up, usually any issues either have gone away by the time they reach us, or the primaries have just had a different experience of that child, or the change in setting results in different behaviour.

If anything, the reported comments are something you WANT to prove wrong to show what a great job you're doing ;)

This might have happened, it might not. It really doesn't matter. You would never get to see it, so the best thing is to stop asking.

If the primary don't have this 'secret report' it isn't going to endear you to the teacher to keep asking for it and going through the discipline policy.

If you want closure, go back to the nursery, speak to the person who originally told you and tell her you want to see their copy. But I would really advise against this, I don't think you'll gain anything from seeing it.

[Domino777]

I have never heard of a secret report. What's more we have sheets that we read and add a comment to to.

[mrz]

There aren't any secret reports.

[Domino777]

Our teacher has a short meeting with the nursery lead to go over stuff (level of need/support, ability, allergies, problematic friendships). However it will be very professional. The nursery lead does get it wrong quite often. They had no idea eldest DS (bookworm) could read before starting school. The lead also said that two boys had SEN but the same boys are excelling at school.

[PerspicaciaTick]

You should be able to request to see all data held about you under the Data Protection Act. Some sort of data can be withheld, but I can't see that applying to school records.
www.gov.uk/data-protection/find-out-what-data-an-organisation-has-about-you

[mrz]

There aren't any secret reports to request it's misinformation from the nursery.

[ReallyTired]

"There aren't any secret reports to request it's misinformation from the nursery."

Even if there was a teacher has no time to read such a secret report. I suspect a nursery nurse has a head stuck up her own arse.

[bojorojo]

There is clear advice given on the Ofsted web site that Nursery schools should complete an "About Me' Profile of the children at regular intervals. This is not secret and it is available for parents to see but it is recommended that it is shared with the next stage of education. It forms part of the Nursery's record keeping and assessment of the child's progress. Clearly they have to evaluate whether their provision is working or needs tweaking! There is an excellent document detailing what Ofsted consider good practice. They also stress how important Nursery/Parent relationships are in a nursery setting. If you are concerned, you can ask to see the assessments that have been recorded about your child.

Usually, when a child starts school, the school will make their own judgements in the first few weeks and you should be invited to make any comments to the school about your child you think are useful to the settling in process. What they can do and what needs working on. Working together is best for everyone.

[AnnaMarlowe]

Can you give us some examples of what makes you think the teacher doesn't like you/has something against you?

[PenelopePitstops]

Working in a secondary we receive a spreadsheet from Primary School with SEN info and other info like "dad not at home" or "mum can't read so all communication on phone". Also for pupils with no official SEN but have needs we get "... Works well in small groups" or "weak literacy skills".

Very occasionally we get specific comments about parents, "parents complained to ofsted regularly" or "parents don't acknowledge SEN".

[uhoh1973]

I have never heard of this... they are meant to pass on the tracker and I guess a heads up on any specific 'issues' if they do exist. But as has been said this seems to be ignored by the school anyway. The only secret stuff I know of is the nursery are meant to log any 'concerns' they have re the children as an evidence log should they need to take any action but I dont know whether this would be passed to the school and anyway if it was a secret they wouldnt tell you? All sounds very odd!!