What sorts of things should I expect from a school report? (Y1)

[Ginmummy1]

There haven’t been enough threads from parents trying to interpret reports for my liking, so here’s one!

DD’s report had a lot to say about her excellent ‘learning attitude’ but nothing quantifiable about actual level of achievement or amount of progress since starting school or since the end of Reception, and nothing that gives an indication of whether she’s on track for her year group against the National Curriculum.

I have to say that I’m not actually worried about my daughter’s progress - I know she tries hard and am confident she’s at least meeting the required standard. However, I’ve read often enough on MN how parents have been given the view throughout the year that their child is doing ‘well’ (from interim reports and parents’ evenings), only to discover at the end of the year that they are actually ‘behind’ and have never been told. It’s clear to me that the format of the Y1 report could be more revealing. We have an opportunity to provide feedback on the report, and I’m tempted to suggest they provide something a bit more quantifiable. DH thinks I shouldn’t bother.

What sort of information do you expect from an end of Autumn report for Y1?

[catkind]

We also don't get quantifiable at midyear reports, there's just a tick box for effort in maths and english and some next steps. I generally find the next steps most helpful as it's something I can support them in, it's kind of quantifiable to tell if they then go on to achieve that, and also if it's radically off-target (something they could do years ago or seems far too hard) there's a chance to open up a discussion.

I don't find the current NC standards - at least the way our school use them - helpful at all for measuring progress. So even when they are included in end of year reports I tend to ignore them and rely on what the teachers say about how they're progressing, and what we see in work sent home.

[ROSY2016]

Ginmummy, I asked same question in different forum , report shows just general comments and doesn't show ,where she stands in nc .One teacher replied what information I was missing? I couldn't see anything about her progress from end of reception or year 1 term 1. Report was just about General behaviour and her abilities.

[Ginmummy1]

Sounds like what we have received is pretty 'normal' then. I won't make a fuss on this occasion!

Catkind, there are some useful 'next steps' so it's not too bad really.

Thanks, both.

[Starlight2345]

WE only get one report a year.

[BertPuttocks]

DD's had a colour-coded section to show the amount of progress made and whether she was on track to reach her end-of-Yr1 target levels.

It's not detailed but a parent would definitely know if their child wasn't making the expected amount of progress.

[Emeraude]

We don't do mid-year reports but we are not allowed to write anything negative in them. If children are struggling, I only tell them at parents' evenings/after school.

[ROSY2016]

Emeraude, that's what confusing. Couldn't see any negative in at reception report, but where as year 1,teacher mentioned the negative, which was already mentioned in the parents evening. We have 3 reports for Autumn,spring and summer and 3 parents evenings.

[Emeraude]

If she achieved the Early Learning Goals and has an excellent attitude to learning, she won't have dropped behind by the end of the first term in Y1, unless the teacher is terrible.