to think you shouldn't read the work of other kids at parents evening

[nowittynickname]

You know how usually at parents evening the kids' trays are out on the tables for you to have look through whilst waiting for your appointment with the teacher? Well I'd always naively assumed that you were only supposed to look through the tray of your own child. A friend of mine mentioned that she looks through the work (exercise books etc) of children other than her own in order to compare. Tbh I was really shocked - is it me? Does everyone else actually do this & I didn't realise? She (and others I've talked to) didn't think it was any different to work being on the wall. Is it?

At my school students' marks are considered to be confidential info unless displayed on the wall. I would get in unbelievable trouble if I allowed parents to browse through other books. I am bit that the OP's DC's school isn't a bit more sensitive tbh.

My kids' schools have never had other kids stuff there at parents' evening to browse through, they just got my kids' out for the interview and went over it with us. Whilst waiting I would look at the stuff on the walls though, and it can be helpful as my eldest had dyslexia and it took a while to get diagnosed and it was handy to see how other kids of his age were writing and how much more elaborate and better spelled their stuff was.

Anything on the display is for display purposes, for everyone to see, it gives us glimpse of children's time in the classroom when they are away from us, it's useful and beautiful, we often comment on children's work when we come to pick them up.
Work books Literacy and Numeracy are just that, through those children practise their skills, they are for children to complete page or two at time and for teachers to correct or mark them.
Reading journal in a book bag, private thing, IMO.
I personally pass lot of info. through her reading record book, that has nothing to do with reading:
Her cat died last night, she cried herself to sleep, she will be tired, look after her please.
She had another night terror last night, she wet herself, please ask her frequently if she needs a loo.
This is the type of info I would pass to the teacher through DC journal, and no I would not like nosy parent to read it, it's private.

When DS was in Reception sometimes they picked up each other's home-school diaries by mistake. I never looked in another child's if DS brought it back accidentally. That's the truth.

The vast majority of teachers don't put everyone's work up on the wall, just the work that reflects well on them (I'm talking mainly primary here). But I was trained to make every child feel valued, and find something from everyone to put on the wall, regardless of abilities. Which I always did. But in most classrooms, I'm afraid looking at the wall is still not a reliable guide to the general spectrum of ability as, even all these years on - I trained in the early 1990s - most teachers will, for a given project, only select the 'better' stuff for display.

Looking at wall displays tells you very little apart from the subtext of how the teacher (or Head if it's a hallway or hall) want to present themselves to the world. It will also tell you how good the TA is at displaying work.

I think all teachers should be like you nineflowers there are strengths and talents in every child, but I also understand that perhaps my view is not real 100%, IME DC teacher is the one who presents her class as unit, to a onlooker she projects unity and confidence, and children adore her, real teachers material.
I am sure she knows her children individually and differentiates very well among them, she is doing her job well and yes always display everyone's work, I genuinely believe she sees best in them.
She does not tap into parent insecurities, nor does she compare blatantly one child to the other, I am sure she has her reasons.

I still think of my sons' primary teachers as great teachers, don't get me wrong - but I can quickly count the pics on the wall displays for different topics when am in there and put it this way, there's 30 kids in their classes - but maybe only ever 15-20 bits of work, per display board.

And the way I was trained has a downside - kids who really struggle with art or handwriting or something that affects their presentation, often don't want their work on display. You have to really big them up, and encourage them, and make the other kids too start to see it as normal that everyone's work is up and not to comment or be bitchy if some of it looks, to their eyes, 'bad' (and let's not forget kids are hugely judgmental). I'd find a way to present the work, so no one person's stood out, so for example when they did self portraits in paint, we displayed them by making a giant cut out painting of a bus and just cut out and crowded all the heads on. That way the less great ones didn't stand out.

I was also trained never to put a single thing on the wall the kids didn't do themselves. You'd be amazed how many teachers/TAs still to this day, will 'just do the outlines' or 'help' them so heavily if it's for display, that the kids' have little input. I can always spot a bit of TA or teacher artwork on the walls, and have seen it most places. So the wall is never the place to look for a cue about your child's achievement.

And although we are meant to be PC and only compete against ourselves - which I agree with - on the other hand, you can only get a general sense of where a child is, in relation to others.

Pushy Dad it?s not because he was near the bottom, there wasn?t enough in there to even be gradable, therefore of no value to any other parent. What they were actually reading was the teachers commentary on his consistent failure. To right it involved personal baggage.

Himalaya in our case there was never any work of his on the walls. (His name was actually left of the school?s millennium wall as well) He was sat alone with his back to the rest of the class, and no he was never part of any co-marking etc.

My biggest problem with other parents being nosey was it lead to cruel gossip and speculation as to what was wrong, as the teacher?s comments were misconstrued and became 'fact' in peoples minds. The whole thing was insidious

Anything on the wall is for all to see, read and celebrate. I always made sure that every DC had something up. Drawers are their own private space-everyone needs a private space in a shared room. The DCs know that their parents are coming to see their work-it isn't there for everyone. It is very rude to look without the DCs permission. If you want to know how they are doing in relation to the rest of the class ask the teacher.

Wholeheartedly agree exoticfruits
JustGettingOnWithIt for you and you DC.
This precisely what praying into other people/children business leads to, gossip, insensitivity, and induction of inferior complex in children way too early in those tender years.
It's wrong, very wrong IMO.

As the teacher I might push a book into a DCs draw, but if I wanted to look in it I would say 'excuse me -do you mind if I look in your draw?' with a reason.
DCs should have privacy in a shared space. You would hate it if someone came into your office and started looking in your desk draw but because they are little it doesn't seem to matter!

Exoticfruits - drawer, it's drawer!

Oh this is right up there with the "how did so and so do in their sats"...

What they mean is can I compare my child with yours. It's a perfectly meaningless exercise.

Attitude not aptitude is what truly counts

The work on display is usually the best work of the child,I did have a little shufty through a couple of other pupils work at the last parents evening.I did this to guage whether my son's handwriting was really as bad as I thought it was.My christ,it is! However,in my defense I did ask the pupils parents if they minded as I knew them.

No way would I nose through other children's books. Totally different from display work which presumably, being 'display', is meant for people to look at.

I look at display work every week (parent helper in a different year to my DD) as it's lovely to see the kind of things my DCs will be doing in future years. Wouldn't occur to me to actually rifle through their books!

"The vast majority of teachers don't put everyone's work up on the wall" - fortunately I have a vastly different experience in both the schools I've taught in and the school's I've supported withing my LAs.

As a teacher I think it is very bas form to look in other pupils books without invitation. What is written in them can be private between the child, parents and teacher. We write targets in the books and some are very personal. Some children are on the SEN register with IEP targets that are in their books to allow them to take ownership, and that is none of the other parents business. That is why I've resorted to "please feel free to look at the work in your child's tray while you are waiting for your appointment" signs.

What I have experienced which I find even more horrifying is on PTA events finding certain PTA members in my classroom (that wasn't being used for the event) during set up time looking at the assessment files on my desk. It feels awful that we now need to move them to be under lock and key when there is a disco, film night, fayre, etc.

Whoops bad form.

My close girlfriends both had DC the same school year as me.

Last year they all sat their SG's.

To this day we have never mentioned our childrens results to each other.

It is rubbernecking and divisive.

The trays of books, etc are for the parents only. You don;t go through another child's work!

And yes, it is very different to looking at displays on the wall, etc. where the work is up there for all to see on purpose.

Work on the wall should NOT be just the best child's work. It should be a cross section and should change regularly, so that all children have some work up at some point in the year.

This is certainly what happens where I work and in the other schools I have been in, and all children's work is displayed in DD's school.

In our classroom we do have star writing and star maths each week on one board. But this also varies each week, and we do not chose just the most able or "best" in the class. We chose someone who has gone over and above what is expected for them - as I say, changes every single week.

Whoops -how did I manage that?!

I need to make sure I leave message telling parents to look through their own child's tray next Parent Contact. Wow! I am stunned anyone would do this. Why on earth does it matter how other children are doing? Why isn't your child's progress - measured since last contact - sufficient? Appalling behaviour. I am really stunned. Wow.

stargirl1701 - I have taken on board that it is inappropriate to look in other trays on the table. But i can't understand why a child's performance relative to others the same age should be deemed totally irrelevant.

Can you not understand why a parent would want to know whether their child had gone up one step and was in line with average, or had gone up one step but was still trailing the average. You are saying all that matters is they have gone up one step?!?

Its attitudes like this that send parents looking for other contextual information.

She sounds quite brazen,

Ask the teacher Himalaya. Write down the questions that you want to ask before you go, so that you don't forget anything.