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Original poster

To be disappointed about UK school reports

81 replies

Itisaniceday · 19/09/2024 11:48

Posting for traffic and advice.

DD is in year 9 and has an EHCP. I honestly can’t tell how she is doing at school. The reports are so general and the meetings with the teachers once a year are only 5min. Once a year meetings with SENCO to tick a box for the LA report and them to get the additional 10k they get for her.

Growing up in a different country we had reports every 3 months: 1 to 10 you were scored; also the place you were in in relation to your peers was given. If you didn’t pass the year you will repeat it.

Please explain the UK system to me. My concern is she will get to GCSE and they will tell me, sorry she didn’t pass; not place on the sixth form for her, etc.

I am happy she is ok to go to school everyday but I would like to know more reg her progress.

OP posts:
Octavia64 · 19/09/2024 12:43

At primary school most reports tell you whether a child is "expected", "greater depth" (sometimes called deeper or exceeding) or "developing" sometimes called emerging

If they are at expected then they are on track.

If they are on greater depth or exceeding they are ahead/advanced

If they are developing or emerging they are behind where they should be.

Primaries in most years (obviosuly not Covid years) do the phonics test in year 1 ( this is pass/fail and must be reported to parents), ks1 sats at the end of year 2 which also must be reported to parents and your daughter also probably did the times tables test on year 4 which also should have been reported to you.

They also have ks2 sats at the end of primary. 100 is expected so anything below 100 shows your child is behind. Above 110 or so is exceeding and ahead.

If your daughter has an EHCP there will be targets on the EHCP which the school are supposed to report on at the annual review meeting. Her EHCP should also detail the areas she has difficulty with and the suppport she is being given.

As a teacher I have filled in hundreds if not thousands of EHCP updates forms on students I have taught.

Do you have the paperwork from
Her last review meeting? What are her targets?

Choosingmiddleschool · 19/09/2024 12:43

No state school will tell you were your child is in relation to others. It doesn’t reall matter because one class, in one school in one area is not representative of the rest of the country.

School reports aren’t standard but I would expect to see some kind of target for him for the end of the year and where he is in relation to this. I would also expect to see how his effort is in each class.

Can you post a copy of the report or feel free to PM me with it and I will see if I can help (I’m an ex teacher).

Original poster
Itisaniceday · 19/09/2024 12:37

Jjiillkkf · 19/09/2024 12:35

You're not being unreasonable at all.

All my emails to the school requesting to see my child's test results in relation to the class average went ignored.

yes, I realise it is a waste of time chasing schools.

OP posts:
Original poster
Itisaniceday · 19/09/2024 12:36

PointsSouth · 19/09/2024 12:19

The UK education system is set up to get most kids sort of educated. Eighty percent of children will do okay. Not badly. Not spectacularly. They’ll be fine. And five minutes every year is ample time to reassure the parents of that.

But if your kid presents a problem for any reason - neurodivergence or dyslexia or being noticeably above average or having talents that don’t align with the curriculum or an SEN or a physical disability - the chances are that UK education won’t serve them very well. Those kids are time-consuming and expensive. The capability for addressing them will be the first to be cut when money’s tight.

There’s not much an individual school can do about it. The whole system is designed to deliver an acceptable outcome to the largest number for the least cost.

In UK schools, your best bet as a student is to be solidly average. And the reports make that pretty clear.

Edited

Thank you. This is useful. I guess we will have to invest in tutors as the school is not going to do much; they have plenty of problems and not enough resources as it is.

Also lower expectations reg school. They are doing what they can I guess.

OP posts:
Jjiillkkf · 19/09/2024 12:35

You're not being unreasonable at all.

All my emails to the school requesting to see my child's test results in relation to the class average went ignored.

PointsSouth · 19/09/2024 12:19

The UK education system is set up to get most kids sort of educated. Eighty percent of children will do okay. Not badly. Not spectacularly. They’ll be fine. And five minutes every year is ample time to reassure the parents of that.

But if your kid presents a problem for any reason - neurodivergence or dyslexia or being noticeably above average or having talents that don’t align with the curriculum or an SEN or a physical disability - the chances are that UK education won’t serve them very well. Those kids are time-consuming and expensive. The capability for addressing them will be the first to be cut when money’s tight.

There’s not much an individual school can do about it. The whole system is designed to deliver an acceptable outcome to the largest number for the least cost.

In UK schools, your best bet as a student is to be solidly average. And the reports make that pretty clear.

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