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?

There are so many countries where dc only start the formal business of reading and writing at 6 afaik. Including Germany and Holland I believe? So could be that op’s dc were in a setting where the equivalent of year R here includes almost no reading and writing

4 weeks isn’t enough to go off, is it? I’m not sure what you expected the teacher to write a full report on really, I don’t think it’s long enough to ascertain how good your child is at core subjects. The chat you had with her is probably as useful as any written report would have been.

@Youdiditanyway

4 weeks isn’t enough to go off, is it? I’m not sure what you expected the teacher to write a full report on really, I don’t think it’s long enough to ascertain how good your child is at core subjects. The chat you had with her is probably as useful as any written report would have been.

OP literally said ‘I wasn’t expecting a full report.’

If you Google letters and sounds phonics videos there is a whole series covering year1. They are long but cover each sound in a full lesson.

I read a couple of pages, my kid is very behind with reading. She is going into year 3 soon and way behind. I just downloaded the readingeggs app to use the free trial over the holidays. It is amazing! I will continue to pay for it since it is so engaging and she is progressing so well with it. It also tells you what age their reading skills are. They do a placement test so they can just start working from where their abilies are. I recommend it 100%. You can try the first month for free too!

I should say if you download it start with the fast phonics part of the app! There are different areas, I have found that part most helpful to catch up quickly with reading.

OP literally said ‘I wasn’t expecting a full report.’

Well, the OP wanted a paragraph written about how they had settled in but also earlier in the post wanted to know how they were with reading and writing etc. (Which is together pretty much a full report) to be fair so I can see why posters have focused on that. The OP didn’t really just want to know how they had settled in, did they (and I do fully understand why)? And the requirement to discuss attainment etc. was removed this year and even you have stated in your first post that they should have written about progress and expected levels of attainment, which they didn’t have to do as assessment in Year 1 was cancelled this year.

I’m curious also as to your opinion that if the child had turned up in the last week of school, do you still think a written report should have been sent home? Or even the last day of the year? Because technically they should have (and nowhere does any documentation provide guidance on this-probably because they assume this situation is very rare or doesn’t happen) but would you have some sympathy for the school at least if they didn’t?
The answer is still probably no and that’s fine. But I and others are also free to have opinions on understanding that it might have been difficult to do, as well.

Might be worth looking at the key stage 1 curriculum and then buying a load of ks1 resources to do some bits of work with her over the summer. Kids regress a bit over the summer so I'm sure you can help her get up to speed with her peers pretty easily.

Did you give the teacher some notice that you wanted to know the gaps? If you had made an appointment with me I could have given you plenty of information and ideas , may not have been perfect in that I wouldn’t know your child inside out but could have been generally helpful… curriculum expectations, phonics etc. I wouldn’t have this prepared if you just asked me in the last day on the playground. Don’t think a though academic assessment would be appropriate also the child needed to settle , that is best saved for September. As others have said, with 30 children in the classroom, and sometimes only 1 adult, detailed notes are not made on everything each child does. Assessments opportunities are made over the year. If you have the teacher notice , they should have provided you with some general guidance though.

Thank you so much for all the responses.

I take on board completely that I was unreasonable to expect a report and take responsibility that I should have been pushier - tbh, it never occurred to me that she wouldn't offer SOME feedback, oral or written, considering what we had discussed when he started at the school.

I now understand I need to be VERY clear with the school if I want any feedback about my son and will bear this in mind as he goes into year 2.

The resources and tips posters have given me on here have been invaluable.

foxhasbigsocks - yes, that was the book he was on. The links to the reading charts are EXACTLY what i needed. I now have an idea of where he is. THANK YOU!
Also, yes, you are right, his previous setting did almost no focus on reading and writing, and what there was was in a different language.

He was VERY reluctant to do it with me at home, lost of fights and tantrums, I really have tried my best. The judgey comments about how others wouldn't allow their students/child to be so 'seriously below expectations' are just hurtful and unnecessary. he's only 6, he'll catch up.

He now will do reading and writing practice every day at home, with very little resistance so I think he will make a lot of progress this summer, and I have loads of links and ideas now on how to help him.

He will of course be having LOTS of fun and rest too, I'm not a tyrant!

Thank you all for taking the time to respond.

I take on board completely that I was unreasonable to expect a report and take responsibility that I should have been pushier - tbh, it never occurred to me that she wouldn't offer SOME feedback, oral or written, considering what we had discussed when he started at the school.

I’m sorry if personally my posts have come across that way, as technically you should have received something in way of report, it’s just in a very unprecedented year, I can see why the teacher didn’t any why your child’s previous school abroad hadn’t yet forwarded on the report that they should have written when all handover material is dealt with.
In Year 2, your DS should be very much part of the reporting cycle (that includes parents evenings and a written report) don’t worry but do also feel that at any time, if you are concerned and what any feedback, don’t hesitate to ask/email the teacher. You are never unreasonable to do that

I want to say thank you again for posting this because I have found it so useful to also further support my own Year 1 child this summer!

To be fair, if the child has attended a kindergarten in Germany, for example, and would have started first grade after the summer holidays, then there would have been no report to pass on to the school. Kindergartens here don't do reports.

@ChloeDecker

OP literally said ‘I wasn’t expecting a full report.’

Well, the OP wanted a paragraph written about how they had settled in but also earlier in the post wanted to know how they were with reading and writing etc. (Which is together pretty much a full report) to be fair so I can see why posters have focused on that. The OP didn’t really just want to know how they had settled in, did they (and I do fully understand why)? And the requirement to discuss attainment etc. was removed this year and even you have stated in your first post that they should have written about progress and expected levels of attainment, which they didn’t have to do as assessment in Year 1 was cancelled this year.

I’m curious also as to your opinion that if the child had turned up in the last week of school, do you still think a written report should have been sent home? Or even the last day of the year? Because technically they should have (and nowhere does any documentation provide guidance on this-probably because they assume this situation is very rare or doesn’t happen) but would you have some sympathy for the school at least if they didn’t?
The answer is still probably no and that’s fine. But I and others are also free to have opinions on understanding that it might have been difficult to do, as well.

Assessment hasn't been cancelled. Statutory assessment was. Assessment happens every day in the classroom, as demonstrated by the fact that the teacher did know broadly where he was against expectations for reading, writing and maths - despite multiple PP saying that this would be impossible. The requirement to make a brief comment on strengths and developmental needs has not been removed for 2021.

I acknowledged from the very start that I knew I would be in a minority here. You can feel totally confident that your view is the prevailing one. I haven't, however, said anything incorrect and you can't dismiss everything as a 'technicality'. Nor have I said I have no sympathy with the school. I am simply saying that I don't think OP's initial expectation was unreasonable and I think she's been rather unfairly piled on and is probably feeling a bit squashed as she tries to navigate a new system for her child having just made an international move.

To respond briefly to your whataboutery, I'd expect that such a recent arrival would still be within the school's transition process. Given that the previous school has fifteen days to send the transfer data it would very likely not yet have arrived and so it might be more appropriate to provide a short written update a few weeks into the autumn term.

Sorry Statutory assessment, missed out that special word, which does correctly refers to attainment specifically, which I stated.

Anyway, I thought I had been trying to make my point clear (the OP is not unreasonable to want a report but understandable that this slipped through the net), whilst also repeatedly agreeing with you regarding the OP wanting a written report and acknowledging that (I think we are on the same wavelength but hey ho, apparently I am just all about the ‘whataboutery’)
Have a lovely sunny Sunday

I take on board completely that I was unreasonable to expect a report and take responsibility that I should have been pushier - tbh, it never occurred to me that she wouldn't offer SOME feedback, oral or written, considering what we had discussed when he started at the school.

You don't need to be pushier, you just need to have realistic expectations and clearer communicstion. You aren't wrong to want some feedback but you should have brought it up at some point before handover on the last day of term. Even if you mentioned it at handover one of the days earlier in the last week that you would like some feedback, even if it wasn't a full report, the teacher may have done exactly the same thing but they may have offered to scheduled a parents evening style meeting; offered to send an email with further feedback/resources or even just have had a more rounded response prepared when you saw them the following day as they would have had time to prepare rather than being caught on the fly on the last day of term.

Your DC started in the last month of the summer term, the teacher hasn't really had a chance to properly assess their level as it would be unfair to assess them in the same framework as their peers who had been in class since September. When my DD started in the same way it took her the first 2-3 weeks to just get used to the difference in routine/structure, then the last three weeks (well 2 since the last week of term was just filled with fun activities - a class trip, sports day etc - wrapping up the last few activities and preparing them for the idea of moving to the next class and letting them get.to know their new teacher etc) was mostly about getting her confidence up in participating in class.

When I went in to see the teacher she told me that DD was behind in a few areas - a couple were perfectly understandable and I was expecting it because of the language/curriculum difference but she said DD was struggling with maths. I was surprised by this because DD loved maths and I knew she definitely knew how to do some of the things the teacher said she was consistently getting wrong. When we looked at her workbooks I could immediately see the issue as DD had been taught different processes and she was getting confused between the two systems but hadn't had the confidence (both in her spoken English and socially) to ask the teacher for help in front of the other children. The teacher didn't have any knowledge of the Spanish system so all she saw was a child who was consistently getting the maths wrong and assumed it was because she didn't know it rather than she was just getting confused between methodology, especially as she didn't have time to spend a lot of 121 time with DD in such a busy term.

I now understand I need to be VERY clear with the school if I want any feedback about my son and will bear this in mind as he goes into year 2.

Going into Yr 2 your child will be starting at the same point as every other child and therefore any feedback/assessments will be made in line with everyone else so it shouldn't be a problem.

If you want to have extra feedback then you need to make that clear upfront, make sure it is a reasonable request and be explicit in what you actually want from the feedback. For my DD when she went back in September I spoke to her new teacher during the first week of term to tell her I was aware she was behind in a few areas, which I wasn't concerned about as I knew it was down to the different curriculums etc and she would catch up but I asked her to let me know if she noticed any significant knowledge/comprehension gaps so I could work on those with her.

Op I am so glad the links have helped, my family is originally from an education system where the English year R equivalent year is just a nursery year. Entirely play based, so no formal literacy introduced at all, in any language.

I wonder if this slightly different perspective might help? Your dc isn’t ‘behind’ in terms of ability in any way whatsoever, because to be behind she would have to have been taught the curriculum and not been able to keep up. She will have had absolutely no possibility of accessing either the usual English year R of year one curriculum, as they have effectively gone straight from nursery to the last few weeks of year one.

So she needs some intensive help over the summer at home and then will probably be lower in book bands on year 2 than they should be on entry but will hopefully catch up a bit over the course of year 2. My prediction as a parent - no expertise!

If this was my dc I would probably do a programme that looked like this:

Morning - reading eggs for 20 minutes plus one fun, motivating and real world writing task daily eg:

• trying to write a postcard to grandparents

- a shopping list for some fun cooking to do together later eg cakes

• a list of 5 foods she would like to eat over the summer holiday
• a timetable of what to do that day
• create a weather chart and fill it in daily

Etc etc

Afternoon: reading a book from the reading scheme you pick. If she’s on red I would start with the free reading scheme ebooks on the Oxford Owl website. They are all free to access online and you can search by book band.

Plus another reading eggs session together.

But my dc like reading so that might be too much for yours!! Just be guided by what works and good luck - feel free to keep us posted!!

Sorry this wasn’t clear. Where I said this:

“ She will have had absolutely no possibility of accessing either the usual English year R of year one curriculum, as they have effectively gone straight from nursery to the last few weeks of year one.”

I meant:

“She will have had absolutely no possibility of accessing either the usual English year R of year one curriculum, as she has effectively gone straight from nursery to the last few weeks of year one.”

Ffs autocorrect

I meant:

“She will have had absolutely no possibility of accessing either the usual English year R or year one curriculum, as she has effectively gone straight from nursery to the last few weeks of year one.”

I’m so sorry - just saw this is your son. Sorry for saying dd throughout!

This is the Oxford Owl site: home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/free-ebooks/

It would be very wrong and unfair to assess your child's academic ability with such a short time. Though. Something about how they were settling in and things to work on ready for year 2 might be expected.

My teacher friend did end of year reports over the Easter holidays. But it sounds like you just need to request a brief zoom check in with the teacher which I’m sure they’d be happy to do under the circumstances.

Ooh were you homeschooling?

Op, if you think they are behind, just spend the summer reading a page or two together each day, playing smartie maths and practicing writing. Ask your dcs to write what flavour ice cream they would like. Make up some games. You don't need a report for that.

I am a teacher and would not feel comfortable assessing/reporting on a child I didn't know well as they had been at the school a matter of days. You are his parent and presumably know him well enough?!