Can I share DDs report with you

[Hallucion]

Well an excerpt

“X has made adequate progress this year due to her lack of effort applying herself. She is capable of achieving so much more. I hope X uses her potential to make better progress next year”

She’s 6.

Not sure if I should laugh or cry 🤣

Do you think the teacher has cut and pasted from a template of a much older child as couldnt be bothered writing each one themself, it does look out of place on a 6 year olds report.

My DD at a slightly old age was told she was average of the average at Maths but had a wicked sense of humour! A weird comment but I treasure that report now and laugh at the commentas her teacher was Romesh Raganathan so to be told she has a wicked sense of humour was quite a compliment! (and to be fair she was/is bad at maths)

I would raise it to be honest. If she is newly qualified how will she learn thats not an appropriate way to write reports unless someone flags it up? If she had concerns it should have been raised a long time before a throwaway comment in a July report. If she is other wise well behaved and a good reader at home it there a confidence issue? Or struggles with hearing/vision/holding a pencil? Should you not have had an opportunity to have a discussion? I say that as a family all with very poor eyesight and even knowing because we never suffered headaches all of us went a ridiculously long time unable to see the board and therefore unable to get on with the work.

Sounds like it has something to do with the areas that "require improvement". How does your DD do in those subjects?

I think that's quite an awful way to talk about a young child. What good does it do?

My daughters was similar if it makes you feel better. Mine is 5 and got lots of comments like often distracted needs to listen more at carpet time and give others a chance to speakneeds to show more responsibility when tidying upwill walk away from a task that she finds too difficult needs encouragement to try something she lacks confidence in...... In fairness these are all things we have been struggling with at home and I have now spoken to her teacher about a plan for next year but it hurt to read it

I'm going to be the odd one out here and say I don't see anything terribly wrong with that report. I was very honest with my own year 1 reports. I don't see the point in sugar coating or saying the child is a little darling if they aren't. I bet lots of parents read my reports and thought that's harsh.

Yes, they are only 6, but a lot is expected these days and reports are to comment on how they coped with that.

@missbunnyrabbit

I'm going to be the odd one out here and say I don't see anything terribly wrong with that report. I was very honest with my own year 1 reports. I don't see the point in sugar coating or saying the child is a little darling if they aren't. I bet lots of parents read my reports and thought that's harsh.

Yes, they are only 6, but a lot is expected these days and reports are to comment on how they coped with that.

Because if you know anything about children you will know that they will blossom if the teacher is good. It is not up to the child to meet the teacher's needs, it is for the teacher to meet the child where they are at. And that all behaviour is communication so any negatives need to be interpreted with intelligence and responded to with wisdom. I'm so sorry you don't know this.

A cut and paste job into the wrong report? I'd call her out on it. Highlight the top bit and then this bit and just say "please explain" and then stand there.

@missbunnyrabbit

I'm going to be the odd one out here and say I don't see anything terribly wrong with that report. I was very honest with my own year 1 reports. I don't see the point in sugar coating or saying the child is a little darling if they aren't. I bet lots of parents read my reports and thought that's harsh.

Yes, they are only 6, but a lot is expected these days and reports are to comment on how they coped with that.

But it shouldn't come as a surprise should it? My DD is in a very challenging class with lots of behavioural challenges. Not one of the parents of those children is surprised at their reports. They know their child and the teacher has taken time to discuss over the year. And the teachers in previous years. Any parent who is surprised has not had adequate feedback and input from the school.

Yes, they are only 6, but a lot is expected these days and reports are to comment on how they coped with that

Even adults have struggled to transition back and forth from remote learning and self isolation to going back but unable to mix with everyone you want too and worrying about what you are missing.

I think under the circumstances we can let a 6 year old off no?
M

How ridiculous! I'd probably want to speak to the teacher about this to find out what I'm missing. I can't believe what some people expect from young children these days.

On our local fb page this week, someone was searching for a reading tutor for their 6 year old to do one to one tuition over the summer. The mind boggles.

Far too much expected of young children these days.

Do you get a reply slip? Our school send one to ask for comments from parents, I would definitely be raising that. Apart from how ridiculous it is to write that about a 6 year old, it says a lot about her as a teacher that she hasn’t felt the need to speak to you about your child’s so called lack of effort during the school year!

😳 that one missed proof reading didn't it! Silly way to write about a 6 year old.

Blimey! That’s very odd. I would copy the sentence into the parents comments bit and then write “See me” at the end!

Are you friendly with any other parents? It’d be interesting to see if the teacher has written similar in any other children’s reports.

This is so negative! Did the Head actually read the reports? Our HT reads all reports and writes a comment on each one. This school does not sound like it's supporting a new teacher. Teacher should probably have known not to write that but people do make mistakes or lack training. I'm just shocked no one was reading her reports over and giving feedback if it's the first time she's done it. Whilst I'm not fond of Ofsted, it does at least spot schools which have deep issues.

OP I would take a long hard look at this school. If it's private, it's not worth paying anything for. If it's a state school, I think this is an indication it has more serious issues in training and leadership.

On our local fb page this week, someone was searching for a reading tutor for their 6 year old to do one to one tuition over the summer. The mind boggles.

I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad idea if the child is behind and the tuition is done with a light touch. Most children can improve their reading with practice and it has a knock on effect across the curriculum. Not all parents are able to offer this support (English not their first language, time, a child who is more likely to respond well to a teacher, etc).

A few points from the comments above.

To be fair to the teacher, she never sees me, I think I’ve met her 3 times. Single parent, I work full time, DD is dropped at breakfast club and collected by a childminder so she may not have had ample opportunity to feed back any issues?

Other parents I am in contact with have definitely not had this tone. The usual bright shiny reports for all of them (sample size of 4).

DDs best friend has ADHD/sensory issues. She also lost her father this year in horrible circumstances. They sit next to each other in class and DD has been supporting her for want of a better word. It has been raised with me once that DD is quite distracted by her friend but at the time I said I was happy for her not to be moved as they are quite close and this other child was struggling with going in when DD was not around. Again, absolutely not this child’s fault, she is lovely and has had an awful year.

A the first parents evening of this year I was told DD was lucky as she was one of the only children expected to meet expectations as she had been at school the whole time. I work for the NHS so she didn’t miss any school or have to do home learning.

I’m writing an email today

Youve done the right thing not sharing it with her. I remember a teacher when I was about 10 telling my mum "she will never be a highflier" & mum sharing it with me. I still hear those words echo when I'm feeling meh at work.

@DxHxSx

Youve done the right thing not sharing it with her. I remember a teacher when I was about 10 telling my mum "she will never be a highflier" & mum sharing it with me. I still hear those words echo when I'm feeling meh at work.

That’s awful

I overheard my parents discussing my Year 6 parent’s evening. My teacher had said that I made her feel really uncomfortable because I always had ‘a blank look on her face’. My parents were saying (to each other, unaware I was listening) that she could have at least tried to hide how much she disliked me.

I was a socially awkward but polite and very hardworking child with a hearing impediment, not a fucking psychopath! I’d always sensed she didn’t like me, but it was a shock having it confirmed. I am 41 now and still have a desperate need to make sure people think I’m likeable!

DS changed primary schools in year 6 because of bullying, and his new school was brilliant. His class teacher told me how well he had settled in, was instantly popular with the class, was funny but not cheeky, in fact her praise couldn't have been higher. She had a couple of days off sick at the start of her pregnancy and the class had a supply teacher - who had been a class teacher in DS's old school but had retired and started doing supply. At parents evening, his new class teacher said she had had a very strange conversation with the supply teacher who said she had taught DS for a year and he was rude, disruptive, unpopular and had no respect for authority, so she (new teacher) should watch him carefully. The class teacher told me that she could now see why he had moved, because she had not seen anything like that behaviour, and it sounded like the actions of someone being bullied that was sick of not being listened to, or was trying to draw attention to the bullying. She was such a lovely woman. His report from that school was much more glowing than from the other one.

KS1 teacher here. Definitely raise it. If this is a young teacher with no children of her own, it would do her good have feedback.
I had no idea the impact of a school report until I had children myself. I think teachers forget that parents are giving their child into your care for the majority of their day from 4 years old and that’s a huge responsibility. Yes some children are more challenging than others but they are CHILDREN. There is good in every single one and that should be at the forefront of their report. Any difficulties they have can and should be worded in a supportive and kind way. You can be clear about what they need to work on whilst still making it pleasant to read.
I always get emotional writing reports thinking about how much progress such little people have made in just 10 months.
OP it sounds to me like this teacher needs to remember that she’s talking about somebody’s child, not just the pupil in her class, and write her reports with that very much in mind.

@Jenasaurus MASSIVE compliment there from Romesh! I’d be thrilled

@Ohhelppp

KS1 teacher here. Definitely raise it. If this is a young teacher with no children of her own, it would do her good have feedback. I had no idea the impact of a school report until I had children myself. I think teachers forget that parents are giving their child into your care for the majority of their day from 4 years old and that’s a huge responsibility. Yes some children are more challenging than others but they are CHILDREN. There is good in every single one and that should be at the forefront of their report. Any difficulties they have can and should be worded in a supportive and kind way. You can be clear about what they need to work on whilst still making it pleasant to read. I always get emotional writing reports thinking about how much progress such little people have made in just 10 months. OP it sounds to me like this teacher needs to remember that she’s talking about somebody’s child, not just the pupil in her class, and write her reports with that very much in mind.

I’ve written hundreds and read and written comments on thousands of primary school reports. Whether a teacher has children of his/ her own has NOTHING to do with how they may phrase comments in reports. I’ve observed no correlation to mention.

The rest of your post I agree with.