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!

I didn't show my DC their KS1 reports to avoid upset. But I did show from yr3 onwards as, in my view, they needed to see them, the positive and the negative. I probably wouldn't have shown them anything if I felt the reports weren't fair and balanced, but they were. No problem with DC knowing where they were behind and where they were ahead. Some parents are competitive and irritating, I get that.

"academics", seems like a grandiose expression to use when referring to primary school work.

If anyone asks me I just say yes they are doing well. I would never tell other parents the grades! Just nosey

Yep!!! It's absolutely fine to say 'yes you're working towards this / you're on the way / you'll get there.'

Seems to me like the issue is more about how parents communicate to their kids what the school report says and how kids communicate it to each other. There have been issues at my kids school with kids bragging about their colours and putting others down. DD came home upset about her greens rather than delighted she's progressed from oranges. I would be seriously disappointed in my kids if they behaved in this way. Both my kids know the school report is family information and private.

My DD has been mute at school and has AuDHD she is in mainstream and her targets have been the same every year since reception, to form letters properly and finger space written work. Her report said "In English .... is just working at age related expectations in reading and is well below age related expectations in writing" In maths "... is just below age related expectations"

I am acutely aware that my DD is behind, the School are aware and most sadly for me at 8.5yo she is also very aware thThere is a lovely part on the back of the report where the teacher writes about them and their personality so I only share that with her. Its hard though as her sister is 14months older and working above in everything. We had a conversation about not bragging and I reminded her of her sisters strengths and how hurt she'd be if we were comparing them on those. Unfortunately with her SEN she finds it incredibly challenging to engage both at school and at home so its a real challenge.

Not what your post is about but we are debating an EHCP to see if we can get more support and possibly a named specialist provision for secondary

I don’t know many European systems, but I just quickly googled France and Spain and it’s the same as my country: you have to get above a specific average to go into the next school year (even in primary).

I assume like where I’m
from this is done by constant testing, ie weekly spelling, maths, science etc tests that are actually graded. By the time you finish primary you’ve done hundreds and hundreds of graded tests, not just the multiplication table and reading assessment and a couple of SATs sessions. I don’t understand how you can be “the most tested”.

I had this very conversation with another mum.

These standardised levels imply that those getting "working towards" are not clever or not applying themselves.

Yet they're generally the children who are working twice as hard "just" to get working towards.

I dislike it immensely.

I personally feel that we need this to be able to know how well our child is doing and what areas they might be struggling with. I think the problem here is more about the bragging parents on the whatsapp group - who does that?

Genuine question: how would you prefer to be told that your child is not meeting the age-related expectation?

Its OK to be braggy with the family! Of course you are proud. Obviously not so cool just randomly bragging, but the grandparents and aunts and uncles love it!

At parents evening is fine for me. The rest of the time all I need to know is my child is doing "their" best and if not, is there something that needs addressing.

I couldn't care less for school targets. I care more about my child's wellbeing and feel schools are so geared towards League tables, that children often get caught up too much in where they "should" be. It ends up causing upset and distress at what is such critical time in terms of a child's developing mental health.

I think the braggy playground types would turn absolutely any description into a competition.

"Of course, we are super proud that Jacob is a yellow reader now - and a full term ahead of everyone else too!"

I find that the coloured boxes for "grades" are more palatable when alongside them, they give similar colours for participation/attitude etc. Gives a more rounded view, where the academic achievement isn't the whole story.

You can add Germany, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland (last two particularly reknowned for being good) to my previous mention of France and Spain.

Just google “primary school pass average to go into next class” for any other country if you’re interested. So far the UK is the only one I’ve tried that doesn’t have one!

Because most parents want to know where their child actually is. If my child is "behind" in something, I want to be aware of that and be able to support them in that area. As they get older, you also want to have a handle on what kind of prospects they have- if it's become clear they have no aptitude for maths and science but think they want to be a vet for example, it's helpful for you as a parent to be able to know early on so you can help work with them on realistic career prospects.

The age related expectations are set by the govt and teachers are obliged to keep records of how many are meeting, WT and exceeding, and I personally think parents have a right to have that information shared with them.

Reports are already so watered down. My daughter's report read beautifully but it was clear ("can be very direct", "enjoys taking the lead role in a group", "learning to balance her strong will with empathy") that she's a bit of a bossy madam. Once upon a time, the teacher could have written the report in half the time just by saying "Tendency to be a bit of a bossy madam. Needs some reining in." I would have been fine with that- I know my daughter! Some parents read comments like "A lively and spirited class member, is learning to be a good friend. Can focus with support." and believe their child is doing well!

I read one of Roald Dahl's reports the other day, and it said "He reminds me of a camel." Bring back brutal honesty I say! 😂

OK, thank you.

Unfortunately the Government's statutory requirements of state schools mean that schools must provide this information to you in a written format at least once a year. I was interested to know how you would prefer to have this information worded, seeing as schools have no choice but to give you it.

It's the mums that are the problem, not the scoring system. The mums should stop measuring their own value in terms of the achievements of their children and focus on their own achievements instead if they want to compete or pat themselves on the back. Then they can brag all they like. Some mums feel no need to do either but they tend to be more diplomatic.

If they are working their hardest but not achieving, and if you've investigated to ensure there's not barriers to learning or SpLD, then that would indicate that they don't have high ability in that subject. That's not something to shy away from.

None of us can be good at everything.

Many of the most "successful" people in the world, who have developed huge businesses, or are famous sports people or performers, knew early on that they were not good at reading, writing or maths and if they wanted to do well in life they needed to put their focus elsewhere.

People, we must respect this group because they are human beings like us.

My son got working below in Maths and working towards in Writing and Reading.

I'm not offended and of course school have to have some kind of assessment type thing in place. Braggy parents are going to brag no matter what that looks like, be it levels, colours, letters etc.

It doesn't define my son, I'm incredibly proud of him actually. I was expecting working below in all areas, to be honest.

Absolutely to this. My elder two were always above expected at primary school, always used as the examples in class and had teachers gushing over them at parents evenings/reports etc. Come to high school and they both rapidly lost interest and declined! Both passed/will pass GCSEs but certainly aren't setting the world alight academically any more!

Speaking as a primary school teacher, it's standard "assessment speak", and will be how it's worded on the SATs results in Year 6.
Surely parents want to know where their kid is performing academically?
Plus, it's meant to be a private document, you don't have to share it around the playground and whatsapp groups if you don't want to!!

Hmm... I'm pretty sure "working below" and "working towards" mean the same thing... They would in my school.
In essence, there's 3 grades:
Working below age related expectations
Working at age related expectations
Working above age related expectations

they've written she is behind because she is. It's called stating fact. Do you want them to lie to spare her delicate feelings?

I just double checked.

At his school, they have greater depth, expected standard, working towards and working below.

He got working towards in Reading & SPAG and working below in Maths and Writing.

I assume the difference is working towards is almost there but with working below, there's still a way to go. Which makes sense, he definitely struggles with Maths and writing the most.