Teachers! Why do schools do this?

[ButteredRadish]

School report. Year 5. SEN but at mainstream Primary. Report summary included wonderful, kind words full of praise and appreciation. Not a negative word to be said! Lovely. Brought a tear to my eye, actually. Then we get to the end of year ‘scoring’ section.

Maths: WTS = Working Towards the Age Related Expectation (So in other words “Your kid is behind….”)
Writing: WTS = Working Towards the Age Related Expectation
Reading: GDS = Working at a Higher Level within the Age Related Expectation for Reading

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not overly surprised that my child is behind in Maths & Writing but ‘ahead’ in reading. My child has SEN as I’ve said, so it’s somewhat to be expected. But do all schools use this ‘That kid’s behind, that one is ahead’ system?

I’m not actually complaining or being precious about them informing me my child is behind(!) I’m just shocked that they ‘score’ primary children on their report card. I mean, fair enough behind the scenes; Just seems a bit competitive to be issuing ‘scores’ on how clever your kid is. We’ve got all that fun & games to come with exams etc in high school.
Didn’t they stop the whole Top of the Class thing decades ago?! (I know it’s not quite the same!)

I can totally see some parents feeling like shit that their child didn’t get ‘GDS’ on all three. There’s already two mums not-so-subtly bragging about their year 2 DCs getting 3 x ‘GDS’, on the parents’ group and a playground mum I speak to whose DC is in that year, is heartbroken that her daughter got ‘WTS’ on all three. She wasn’t expecting it on any of them so the bragging is not helping her at all. Could they not include it a little more diplomatically within the Report Summary to avoid braggy mums, or is that asking too much?! Is this ‘scoring’ necessary for another reason?
Would be interested to hear from any teachers about why this is done? Thanks!

Agree!

The information is surely just for parents though, if it were meant to be public the school would post a list on the classroom door. I find it really useful to know how my DC is progressing but I wouldn't share with anyone apart from perhaps grandparents, as it is his personal information.

What if someone else was kinder or nicer? Only one person can be the kindest, after all....

Lack of testing in England?! We test way more than other countries. There are academic studies saying our kids are "the most tested in the world"!

@GiraffesAtThePark I think children need to be learn resilience rather than things soften even more.

THIS! In spades! One of the best gifts we can give our children is the ability to be resilient.

You've wholly misunderstood my whole point which was in response to the poster about data having meaning and I was actually referring to my DD's secondary school reporting system as I stated in previous posts to the OP, that secondary school reporting is worse and in my case arbitrary and whilst at junior school the language used (and required by DFE) is not by definition arbitrary, it is pretty broad with statements rather than figures.

My Science teacher in the mid 90s was a complete A.....e- he was referring to "factual data" as in marks for current tests, he was a science teacher FFS, he was quite concerned with facts but he also was being whimsical and loliving up to his A......e reputation as he added the personal judgement that between that point in December and the exams in the following summer, I wasn't going to move from that grade, he thoroughly enjoyed informing my parents of my poor prospects. I think you are pretty naive if you think the 90s didn't have shit teachers. Tbh with you school methods of teaching aren't for me and I thrived at sixth form college and university. My DC are the same and in a more casual environment, less formality and specialisation my DS has thrived at sixth form and his predicted results reflect that. He did well at GCSES but they were a means to an end and he's better in a more academic environment. DD is really creative like her Dad who works in a Design orientated Architecture practice, she is focused on heading to the best fashion college and knows what she wants at 14, she makes and designs clothes to a high standard already on her sewing machine so I have no doubts that school is a means to an end to get into sixth form college. This is why I think arbitrary statements about Resilience on a reporting card don't really tell me anything about her future.

I can only echo others in saying that this is standard wording and that there is an expectation that schools communicate this to parents.

I have child in year 5 and I think that this information is incredibly important at this stage. It means I know what we need to work on to prepare my DS for SATs and the move into secondary school. I want clear information and not for it to be hidden away or hear to interpret.
As a parent it is my job to manage how I discuss this with my child and tbh I just ignore everyone else.

More than an expectation, it’s a statutory requirement.

Absolutely! If teachers don’t put things very clearly, some parents take only the positive messages in a report and completely ignore the rest, so it comes as a big shock to them when their child doesn’t do as well as they were expecting in national exams.

Teachers usually try to make the wording of reports positive, but the problem is that there can be a wealth of nuance that parents don’t always understand. For instance, there’s a big difference between "Always works very well, with sustained focus, alone or in a group" and "Can work well alone or in a small group when supported by an adult and given reminders to refocus when necessary", but some parents interpret the second comment as a complete positive. That’s why clear, objective information is so important.

I actually have had the opposite problem. I would have liked reports to be much more clear of the struggles my DDs were having. I had to press at parents evenings to get the teachers to say what they meant. They clearly had had so many issues with parents not wanting to hear the truth they didn't want to be clear.

Assessment results label children in a very black and white way which doesn’t reflect the more complicated reality of a child’s ability. Teachers also have to demonstrate pupil progress to Ofsted which creates an entirely separate agenda for schools. You also have to consider the ability of the class in general. A middle ability child in a weak class will seem very able but put them in a class that is very able and they will seem weak. This will be reflected in assessments results unless it is a standardised test.

All assessment systems are imperfect. However, at some point children do need to know how they get on in exams otherwise they will go through school blissfully unaware only to have an almighty shock when their GCSE results come back.

Erm, not sure I understand your logic? The key stages that define primary education are there to benchmark where your kid is in this matrix, your child is behind. I’d look for a good SEN tutor in your shoes, coupled with requesting a list from the teacher of what your child is missing to be working at greater depth - we were given an itemised list. The system wasn’t created to bolster parents’ egos.

Truth hurts but would you rather the teachers were dishonest?

All the lovely wording is reflecting the effort your child has out in and the progress they have made. It is all about them and not comparative.

However, it’s important for families to know how their child is doing in relation to national expectations too. Someone can have worked hard, been lovely and made huge strides, but still be working 3 years below the norm. It’s right that all those things are reported.

Every year peooke on MN complain that their DCs report and parents eve was wholly positive and glowing….and that at some crucial milestone they gained what the parents considered a disappointing result which was a total surprise to them. The working towards and greater depth etc gives more of an indication of achievement against standard expectations and means there should be less major shock at the point of SATs, GCSEs etc.

The reality is that children with SEN might regularly be ‘working towards’. Parents don’t have to tell the children that info if they don’t want to. The reason the other stuff comes earlier in the report is that it’s more important. The fact that child is trying hard and making good progress for them is the important stuff to celebrate. They are doing their best and moving forward. That’s great. But it would be wrong to keep from you the reality that they overall achievement in some areas is below what is the norm or expected for that age. Maybe you already knew this or maybe not…but unless schools state it, lots of parents won’t know and it’s important to be transparent.

Maybe the school could produce 2 reports or sheets of paper - one with all the lovely descriptions and another with the levels. You could choose what to show your DC then. But also, for most children beyind a very young age, it’s useful for them to know too. There is no shame in ‘working towards’. It isn’t failing. It suggests moving in the right direction. It is honest. We all have to learn to value our own efforts and progresses, but also to see ourselves in a broader context too.

Yes, it really doesn’t help if parents post this stuff and get competitive. But as a parent, it’s important not to succumb to it either or let it affect your own self esteem.

Feels like the new sports day mentality ‘everyone’s a winner’ is bleeding into academics. How worrying,

It's easier for teachers and parents to have a simple grading system though. It would be a pain for teachers trying to word if a child is below above or achieving at the right level. And you'd still have parents gloating whatever system they use
My son is in reception. He got a 1 on everything (so behind in everything which we knew) as he has SEN and needs to be in a special school. I couldn't give a toss what others kids got and there were a few mums talking about it but I wouldn't say gloating. Are we not allowed to discuss how our kids are getting on incase someone gets offended?

Yeah you need to know if your child is struggling in certain areas and then you can put things into place to help them if possible. I'm a primary school teacher, my son is behind with reading and phonics so I'm going to work with him on this over the summer. Vague statements just cause confusion and then a parent can often be shocked and annoyed to realise their child is struggling further down the line.

Quite! I'm shocked that OP is shocked that they ‘score’ primary children on their report card. That's literally the purpose of a report card and is milder now than it's ever been. Ours used to say which position we were in class! So some were always vying over first position while someone was always 33rd out of 33. Now it's all very constructive and needs to have some meaningful system to help you focus next steps and see progress through the years.

How are you only noticing this now, in year 5? My kid's school has been doing it this was since my DS1 was in reception 9 years ago. If they don't spell it out clearly, and hide the facts in paragraphs of text, half the parents won't pick out the important bits. Schools have to measure and be clear about progress or lack of.

I think you'll find children in the UK are the most tested in Europe.

What good a yr 6 maths sats result is at predicting how good they’ll be at year 9 drama I will never know!

When I was still teaching in High School, 20 years ago so hopefully stopped now, we were sent from somewhere a list of every conceivable subject and projected grades, based on SATs, my Year 10 were highly amused, especially one boy predicted an A in Sports Studies who, in his own words, couldn't kick a ball if his life depended on it!
One the subject of gloating parents after SATs results, the best place to be was in the Post Office queue, listening to grandmothers purring about their off-spring's marvellous results.

You're right. I was rushing and didn't work it correctly!

Maybe the OP is challenging the value of the whole 'system', TBF, in their OP they asked for an explanation and some of the replies have given one i.e it is DFE diktat.

Nothing wrong with challenging the system and whether it delivers what it is needed when educating children. Shock horror, people question things in life, hold the front page!

Could they not include it a little more diplomatically within the Report Summary to avoid braggy mums, or is that asking too much?! Is this ‘scoring’ necessary for another reason?

The braggy mums would still brag. They’re not going to miss it just because it’s in another section of the Report!

I find the scoring very useful in understanding where my DC is in relation to the ‘average child’ and it shows me what areas need work, if any. The problem isn’t the Report scoring, it’s the mums. I’ve never heard other parents boast like that. Ignore them or find nicer friends.