Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Flip

Original poster

First school report - please advise

16 replies

Archertron · 07/10/2016 22:15

Hi all, I'm new, and a Dad rather than a Mum. My 4 year old has just started school and we got her school report today.
She loves the school and is seeming to do really well, the tick box areas of the report all show her to be doing 'very well' but I have an issue with the learning targets that were set. Also they spelt her name wrong on the form (Not a big deal in itself, but shows a careless attitude in my oppinion).

To give an example the 'targets set to improve standards of achievement in mathematics' is 'to read and write the numbers from 1-20' - fine, she struggles to write them. 'to count 20 objects reliably' - not fine...she can count to 50 90% of the time, and just to check I asked her to count how many items of clothing there were for me to iron (37) and she didn't hesitate.... 'to find one more or less in a group of 5 objects' - just isn't a challenge at all for her. .. it's simmilar with the communication/language and the social area's.

My initial reaction is either 'you don't know my child' or 'you are fudging the figures so you appear better against progress when she leaves the school in yr 6'...

We have parents evening on Tuesday and would like some advice on how to approach this.

OP posts:

LittleWingSoul · 08/10/2016 16:21

I get your concerns but if she has just started school they are probably only just beginning to assess the students now? Those targets are likely to change by the end of the reception year nevermind by year 6. I wouldn't worry too much if I were you.

Afreshstartplease · 08/10/2016 16:24

Just because she does things for you doesn't mean she does them at school

Sunnydawn · 08/10/2016 16:25

You have to take into account that this is what they see at school - a child who can count reliably at home, sometimes doesn't demonstrate this at school. Very common with reading as well. It is often a case of confidence, and will improve as she gets used to school.

I honestly wouldn't worry for now (but make sure they have the right spelling of her name!).

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

4 year olds Families General education Primary education

Selfimproved · 08/10/2016 16:30

My Ds1 could write his name for a full school year before he showed the teacher he could do it.
My friends son didn't tell his french teacher that his parents were french and they spoke french at home! The boy deliberately did badly in class.
Maybe your daughter doesn't show the teacher everything she can do? Maybe she's shy at school.

Hermanfromguesswho · 08/10/2016 16:43

Your daughter has to be able to demonstrate that she can confidently do the tasks at school independently which can take longer to demonstrate than doing them at home with parental support. Give it time, she's only been at school a few short weeks

Shakey15000 · 08/10/2016 16:47

Ach, Imo it's usually generic statements. I'd see what they say at parents evening. But she's still very young, I wouldn't worry too much at this stage.

PosiePootlePerkins · 08/10/2016 16:50

Is she happy at school? Socialising with peers? Settled? These would be higher on my agenda right now. She's 4. Schools have to start somewhere. Give them a chance to get to know her properly. If you're still not happy towards the end of Reception go and have a chat.

LoisEighty · 08/10/2016 16:54

Relax!

Of course they don't know her as well as you yet - she's only been in school a few weeks and there are 29 other 4 year olds there

If you get this uptight about some targets in term 1 in Reception you will give yourself a heart attack by GCSEs.

Feenie · 08/10/2016 16:56

Progress in schools is measured from Year 2 to Year 6, not Reception.

I would chill about the targets. But the mistake in the name would really, really annoy me.

LetitiaCropleysCookbook · 08/10/2016 17:10

There's no harm in you saying to the teacher at parents' evening that you were a bit surprised at some of the targets, as your dd is meeting many of them already, just to get it off your chest.

Then I would let it drop. This first year should be more about her settling in and making friends, rather than fretting about targets. Don't start worrying about which table she's on, either! But yes, be a stickler about her name.

PberryT · 08/10/2016 17:16

Oh dear OP.
Please unclench slightly.

The name isn't great admittedly. But the rest all sounds like standard targets that school haven't seen her reliably achieve.

If you want to make it through to GCSEs, you're going to have to relax a little.

LetitiaCropleysCookbook · 08/10/2016 17:30

I promise you, target-setting, streaming, grouping, gifted and talented lists (whether on, or not) at primary school will have no impact whatsoever on your dd's level of achievement by the end of her school career. Relax.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing

Coconutty · 08/10/2016 17:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MsMermaid · 08/10/2016 17:41

My dd's first school report pretty much said she was behind in everything, she couldn't count past 3, didn't know any letter sounds, couldn't follow instructions, etc. The teacher already knew that wasn't true, but the assessments they did at the start don't make allowances for incredibly shy children, they can only assess what they can see. She looked like she made amazing progress in her first year, but really she just relaxed and was able to show then what we already knew she could do.

So what I'm saying is much the same as what others have said, she probably isn't showing what she can do at school for some reason. That reason could be that they aren't asking questions she recognised, she might be too shy to show how much she can do, they might tell her to stop before she's ready to finish. Or the school don't know your child very well yet, she's only been there a few weeks. Or they're trying to fudge their statistics.

Original poster

Archertron · 15/10/2016 00:23

Just to update:
I wrote a letter (nice one) to the school, outlining my concerns or some of them, that my daughter is not showing what she is doing in he context of the school, so they had time to respond at parents evening.
Parents evening was fine, and they apologised for the spelling mistake in her name, and explained how the base line tests were carried out etc. We talked through how we are going to try to get my daughter showing what she can do at school as well as at home and it was a nice evening.

Thanks for the advice all.

OP posts:

JoJoSM2 · 15/10/2016 22:05

What teachers often do is have a bank of statemnts and targets that they copy and paste - just imagine how long the reports take on top of all the teaching, prep, marking, meetings etc. in secondary schools, when a lot of teachers deal with hundreds of students on a weekly basis, they don't even know all of them by name... I understand that as a parent you'd like the teacher to know your child better but the reality of it is what it is...

Flip