Primary School Reports - do they normally mention personality or character?

[MontyBowJangles]

Ds1 has come home with his (Yr3) and although it's good and says he works hard, it doesn't mention anything about his personality or character. I thought they would normally say something about him being kind/funny/a good friend/a good listener/well behaved...? Something?!

It's the first report we've had from this school so not sure if it's normal.

Dd1 is in year 1 and they wrote a lot about her personality in all areas, not mentioning personality would make me worry they don't know much about the children individually.

It's easy to look at school work and write comments about their academic level but to not mention their character would concern me.

Is it a large school?
Dd's is only small with a maximum of 20 pupils per class.

That's what I'm worried about. He has 29 in his class/58 in his year.

Also, it is signed by two teachers...one of whom stopped teaching his class in the spring?!

I always wrote at least a paragraph about child's personality as like pp it's important for parents to know that as the teacher I knew and understood their child. I also feel that a child's personality and social interactions is an important part of their education as well as their academic performance.

The teacher may have been limited to how much they were able to write in the report and neglected that information in favour of academic performance. My last school we were limited to an a4 page contained within a border with large school logo on it for our reports so it did limit what we could write.

Yes eg lovely girl, popular with classmates etc.

My dc primary reports were very bland cut and paste, I wouldn’t worry

@owlofathena that's exactly what I was thinking. That his happiness and friendship groups are very important when considering how he's doing at school. A lot of his classmates are extremely lively, have behavioural issues, or additional needs and I think he gets overlooked a lot.

It is just one sheet of A4 with a thick border.

I can't remember one way or the other but you know what his character is, wouldn't you rather the teacher told you how he was getting on with his learning?

@caughtinanet I think you can do both.

After speaking to another parent, it seems it 90% cut-and-paste anyway. Just seems really bland and generic, so kind of don't see the point.

He's not happy there hence my desire for his teacher to actually know him and talk about him/whether he's happy. It's been a tricky year with their staff changing.

In my day my report would always say something along the lines of "she is a popular girl who makes friends easily" or "she contributes well and enjoys learning".

His literally just says "works hard at maths/English" and his academic scores.

Good luck with that! My DS primary reports I'm sure were about other children! I wasn't the only one with that thought at out school

Ours do.

My ds didn't have a single.mention of his personality etc in his yr 1 report. Just about what he needs to do better in, and what he's puting effort into. A bit disheartening, to be honest, as if he's just another number that they got to pass through the system. Oh well. I guess they are. But it's nice when they're actually noticed, you know?

Our local schools have several aread to comment on so they only comment on those and choose from a list of options of applicable phrases . They dont use free text thus theres always sound a bit like this.
It isnt cut and paste but just very limited and dry! Everyone gets variations of the same phrases

Several areas*
I mean that each comment is linked to a specific target.

I'm a teacher and have always written a 'General comment' that talks about friendship, kindness, being helpful etc and if they have excelled in a particular club. I often say that I have enjoyed teaching them too.

Our head also writes a brief personal comment too.

I'm a teacher and have always written a 'General comment' that talks about friendship, kindness, being helpful etc and if they have excelled in a particular club. I often say that I have enjoyed teaching them too
Our head also writes a brief personal comment too

😥 We get none of that.

Is there a parents comment page that you sign and return? I’d just write that I’m happy with the report over all but would appreciate a few comments on his emotional devil penny/ social interactions? It’s definitely an important part of his education at this age and the teacher may be able to jot down a paragraph before the end of term or have a quick chat at pick up?

development 🙄

My Y1’s report (big academy so 90 in a year - although infants only) has comments about his personality and a personal handwritten comment from the Head. I’d expect that. My DH is a secondary teacher and he manages!

My daughter’s report talks about her personality. But she was off games all last half of the term and her games grade was an ‘A’ and written by two teachers who know my daughter but have never taught her games! 🤔

Regarding the signatures:
The report would most likely have been written by the first teacher, which is why they signed it.

By the time the new teacher would have known the class well enough to write the reports, it would have been too late to write them.

In many schools, reports are usually written over Easter (or very early in the Summer term). Otherwise, it's impossible to have them all written, proof-read and submitted to the HT, (who, in a two-form entry school, will have some 400+ to read and comment on). Then they have to be copied for filing, duplicates made for separated parents, and must be sent out 10 clear days before the end of term.

Obviously, this is in-between everything else that has to be done.

If the first teacher was leaving under unhappy circumstances, I bet they did do a cut and paste job. Ask the school about the lack of personal comments. They may have been deliberately left out if having them has caused problems in the past, or the previous teacher may simply have not done them.

Our reports are very 'copy and paste' and don't say much about personality. I wish they were a bit more useful.

They’re really not there to comment on children’s personality, their remit is to tell you whether they’re keeping up with the work or not?

Could you make an appointment to see his class teacher to discuss the report. This was always offered at my old school as it enabled us teachers to discuss things in more detail that the report was not able to cover. I know the school would have formal parent/teacher evenings throughout the year however the teacher should be happy to arrange a more informal meeting if you would like it. That was how things akwats worked where Ive taught anyway.

I teach KS1 and I love writing the personal comments on reports! I talk about their friendships, usually include an anecdote or something that they said that made me laugh. Sometimes I might comment on a particular book they enjoyed reading with me or a discussion we may have had.
I’ve received cut and pasted reports for my own children and it’s really disheartening, like my child is just a number in a class without a personality.

Teaching isn't just about the academic stuff, it's about so much more. Some children are academically capable and will fly through school achieving their best, other children have different qualities that may not be about maths, spelling etc - those children also need to be praised for what they are good at too.