shouldn't ALL kids get an end of school year report?

[laalaaland]

Maybe IABU, I really don't know.
We recently moved back to the UK, my 6yo joined year 1 at the local primary for the last 4.5 weeks of term.
They have been in a very different educational setting so we really wanted to get them in for a while before the summer, so we could then work on any gaps before next school year starts.
Last day was yesterday, still no report at pick up, so I quickly asked their teacher. She said she hadn't done one as they had only just started. I explained we wanted to know so we could help them catch up over the summer, as I was worried they might be below average with reading and writing. I then got a one sentence, "yes they are very behind with reading and writing but seem ok with maths, just need more time to get it on paper."
I know this has been a crazy hard year for teachers and all that, and I wasn't expecting a full report, but some kind of feedback to give us a clue on how they had settled in...just a paragraph hand written on a piece of paper would have done. I got the distinct impression she had NO idea what my child was like and basically hadn't bothered with them at all.
AIBU to have expected just a little more?

Last 4.5 weeks or term for Y1? Sorry but I think the teacher was right not to try to assess your child in that short space of time. Didn’t the previous school do the equivalent of a school report when he left?

The main aim of school with so little time at the end of the school year (when less teaching is done as everyone exhausted) would be to get your child settled in. Is she happy and settled?
If you wanted feed back would have been better to drop teacher a message beforehand so she could give you that paragraph without being put on the spot... She didnt know you wanted to do some catch up over the summer...

She not he, sorry

In my school the deadline for our finished reports to be handed in was 4 weeks ago so he'd have been in my class only a few days.
A full report is unreasonable but in conversation the teacher should be able to tell you a bit more but haven't you got information from their previous setting to know their strengths and weaknesses?

There's a set number of weeks under which a written report isn't required. Can't remember what it is though. I once wrote a report for a child I'd had for two weeks and it was utterly pointless.

No I wouldn't expect a report. A quick chat about how they'd settled it works be enough.

4.5 weeks, so roughly 22/23 days?

I think the teacher was right not to provide a report. That's really not very long at all. Where were they prior to attending this school, and could they provide a report?

They did know we were concerned and wanted to do catch up over the summer, we told them when he started. We also said he was very shy with other children and might need a bit of support to integrate.

I didn't expect/want a full assessment. just some indication of how he had settled in - was he playing with the other children? Could he follow the lessons or was he needing lots of extra help. Just the basics.

4.5 weeks?
1 of which was the last week and so they probably did f all?YABVU

YABU. That’s too short a time for a teacher to write a report. I read and edit reports as part of my job, and if the child hasn’t been there long enough, they won’t get one. 4 and a half weeks is nothing.

Why did you leave it until the last day to follow it up? Why not email or call, see if you can set an appointment with the teacher at least a weeks before?

My reports were due back to the principal 2 weeks before the end of term. There's very little useful commentary that I could make for a child who I'd taught for two weeks, beyond a generic "settling in well" (and even that couldn't be said with confidence as it would all be so new). I certainly would not have had the time to assess your child against the full curriculum and wouldn't feel that I could stand over any report that tried to do so.

@laalaaland

They did know we were concerned and wanted to do catch up over the summer, we told them when he started. We also said he was very shy with other children and might need a bit of support to integrate.

I didn't expect/want a full assessment. just some indication of how he had settled in - was he playing with the other children? Could he follow the lessons or was he needing lots of extra help. Just the basics.

You can just ask. It doesn't need to be written down.

The people you need to ask about his attainment are his last school.

I had to hand my reports in four weeks ago.
However, you should have received a report, but from your children’s old school.

And tbh, if you wanted to catch up on any gaps, you should've given the teacher a proper spell of time to identify those gaps. Two weeks (when they're being pulled every which way) is not enough.

My girls are athletic and every sports day since reception have been faster than the boys in their class. They’re almost 9 now and, once again, sports day was mixed. One boy was faster than them in the sprints, it didn’t occur to them that it was unfair to be racing against boys. Neither would be happy to be the fastest girl, they would want to be the fastest in the year. Until puberty most girls are more physically able than boys anyway.

I don't think it is fair or helpful for a teacher to make any kind of judgement on the basis of such a short time. Over the course of 4.5 weeks the teacher won't have managed more than a maximum of an hour of 1:1 time with your DC as a fair share of available attention across all the 30 pupilsin the class and it would be very unprofessional to write a formal report on the basis of that. The verbal feedback you have already been given is what is appropriate at this point. Don't spend the summer "catching up" - kids really need a break especially after the stress of moving countries.

Oops, wrong thread!

You need to ask the previous school! Why didn't you?

The reports were probably written before your child even joined the school. I don't know any teacher that would be able to write a report on a child they had only known for a week or two at best.

What you want to know can be found out in a 5 minute conversation with the teacher. We had to hand our reports in 2 weeks ago.
I can’t write a report for a child I’ve only know for 2 weeks. That would be a ridiculous waste of my time.
The previous school could do you one though!

@Nuffaluff

I had to hand my reports in four weeks ago. However, you should have received a report, but from your children’s old school.

Very true but if they're coming from another country, the old school may not be able to give the info they want. I had something like this a few years ago - child moved to England and I was asked to list the differences between their learning in Ireland and what was expected in England.

Well, how the fuck would I know? I'm not trained to teach in England, I don't want to teach to the English approach and I'm not going to spend time learning English curriculum standards to satisfy the question. They weren't happy about it but that's how it was.

Anyway. I'm sure the old school can provide something but fair warning to OP, it may not actually be what she wants.

Really wasn't enough time for the teacher to get an idea of your child. Usually the deadline is a few weeks before the actual reports are given to parents as they need to be checked over etc. So the teacher probably only knew your child for a few weeks at that point. This point in the year most of the main learning is finished. Also, this teacher probably won't have your child next year so probably didn't put much effort into assessing him.

Teacher has said your child is behind in reading etc.. get some cgp ks1 books from Amazon and help your child through the summer on this. Surely that's enough info to guide you?

If you want to know how your child has settled then ask. If you want to help them catch up in reading and writing over summer then get them reading and writing. It's as simple as that in yr1. Alternatively speak to your old provider for areas to focus on.

Your child was there the Last 4.5 weeks, reports were probably written 6 -8 weeks ago, checked 5 weeks ago and printed 3 weeks ago.

It'd be impossible for any in-depth or complex assessment and report I guess the main focus and priority has been just getting them settled into the new routine, making new friends just getting familiar with everything so it's not a completely daunting experience when they return.

To be honest my thought is the teacher would if not for her own reference and to hand over to the next class teacher made a few simple notes, anything specific to note and if there's nothing as yet identified or assessed, just state exactly that.

For you as parents it'd be courteous to just give brief verbal feedback or jot an note saying with them both only recently joining in these last few weeks of term it's not been possible to get any in-depth teaching as yet but they're settling in well and happy in school / making new friends and getting the jist of things but have struggled a little with reading and writing and would benefit over the summer holidays from___ just to practise and help with settling in again come September.

Think the main thing I'd be most annoyed with is the teacher saying off the top and on the hop only when asked that they're struggling or behind which she could have let you know even if it was a two minute chat. Gives you something that they could possibly work on over the summer.

I've no idea how things work in education though but I've managed adult care services and tend to work on the basis that everything about everyone needs to be written up and handed over the next person even if there's not much to write or hand over generally.

I'd maybe look at doing some reading and writing exercises over the summer hols using learning worksheets and games available on things like Bytesize just to help and perhaps get them a little better prepped for when school starts again.