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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask teacher to correct report?

59 replies

TheCountessOfGrantham · 14/02/2022 08:54

Just that really. Got DS's mid year report (he's 6) and it says his maths target is to learn to count to twenty and say and write the numbers.

He can already do this? He's really quite a little whiz in maths, he can add, subtract, multiply, divide, spot a pattern, plot a line on a basic graph... count to twenty? Really?

They've got readings and writing targets right, so I assume it's not just a generic report. I'm confused because at parents evening his class teacher said he was impressed with his maths and he was really far ahead.

Should I ask the teacher why that's his maths target? Or do teachers hate it when parents do this? If it was something like learning times tables I'd get it, but counting to twenty is something he could do before he even started school.

OP posts:

Calennig · 14/02/2022 11:55

P/T meeting teacher mentioned maths target DD1 would have to reach by end of the year - I said she could already do that it was October- she said had to be straight away and put DD1 on the spot who prompt rapidly gave all correct answers.

I got an oh - it wasn't changed and at end of year report it said she'd met it.

So I'd ask make sure it's correct target but it didn't really have much impact for DD1 - (though we kept doing mathsfactor at home anyway)

CoffeeLover99 · 14/02/2022 12:00

Teachers are often

I remember being given aggro by another student in English Class all the time. And I asked the English teacher multiple times over the term/year to stop the other student from distracting me, throwing things at me or giving me problems, or move them elsewhere. She never did anything to resolve the issue/s. Here's the kicker:

In my report, she said I should stop being so easily distracted and pay attention in class. (What a cow.)

For my mock exams she graded me an E.... Guess what, that same year, I got an A in GCSE English....

Italiandreams · 14/02/2022 12:08

@CoffeeLover99 , I'm sorry you had a bad experience but most teachers are not like that. Don't project your own experience onto others. Many children may have been given this target, it's common for children to still mix up order/reverse numbers in year 1 even if they can recite to 20, it will be a copy and paste error, all the OP needs to do it clarify politely with the teacher.

listsandbudgets · 14/02/2022 12:17

Is there a child in his class with the same or a very similar first name. We once had the opposite. DS got a superlative report in a subject I was worried about his progress in and an horrendous one in something he was really good at and his teacher admitted she'd got him mixed up with the other boy with the same name and same first initial of surname - I'm sure his parents were equally mystified. Mistakes happen - its worth checking.

CoffeeLover99 · 14/02/2022 12:21

[quote Italiandreams]@CoffeeLover99 , I'm sorry you had a bad experience but most teachers are not like that. Don't project your own experience onto others. Many children may have been given this target, it's common for children to still mix up order/reverse numbers in year 1 even if they can recite to 20, it will be a copy and paste error, all the OP needs to do it clarify politely with the teacher. [/quote]
Tbh Italian dreams, my experience with teachers has never been great, and as an ethnic minority I've noticed teachers treat certain students far worse off and with double standard compared to some of their peers.

It's not coincidental that whenevver I did exams/coursework with name blind marking, my scores suddenly went from 50/60% to 70/80%. (This was more for Uni).

SallyLovesCheese · 14/02/2022 12:22

@BlueBloodedBlue

Is your surname late in the alphabet?

I ask because there were often errors in DC's reports as we have late letter and teachers are tired by the time they get to us!!

I don't do reports by name! I group children with similar abilities together so I can copy/paste and make tweaks with the same initial comment, for each subject.

It's probably just a mistake, OP. I wouldn't worry too much; as a teacher I don't read end-of-term reports for my new class and instead rely on a rundown with the teacher handing them over and looking at their books. Of course, if you want it to reflect him then by all means speak to the teacher and ask if it's an error. But in my experience, school won't really look at the report once it's done.

RainBow725 · 14/02/2022 12:26

A lot of copying and pasting goes on. I've had the wrong child's name in a report before...

Italiandreams · 14/02/2022 12:57

@CoffeeLover99 , if that was the case I hope you complained and asked for previous assessments to be remarked as that is unacceptable.
However, what you are saying is very insulting to the vast majority of teachers who work hard, try their best for all pupils, may occasionally make a mistake but are apologetic and quick to rectify. Which is my experience of the majority of teachers I have worked with or experienced in recent years.

Suzanne999 · 14/02/2022 13:06

Or just send a note. DS can count to 20 and say and write these numbers so I’ve set my own target which is xxxxxxxx.

Italiandreams · 14/02/2022 13:27

@Suzanne999 why not just ask the teacher to clarify first? I'm not sure how you would expect them to respond to that? Unless their is some back story we have missed the OP could just have a conversation first and I'm sure get it sorted

TheNoodlesIncident · 14/02/2022 13:29

My DS has had his form tutor note in his report that his attendance is at bronze level and he needs to improve this. His attendance is actually 100% (gold), he hasn't missed a single session so not sure on how he could improve that... I expect the obvious answer is that his form tutor was thinking of someone else/copied and pasted the wrong thing.

You could check with the teacher to clarify whether it's a mistake that your DS's target doesn't match up with his achievements, it probably is.

dentistattic · 14/02/2022 14:40

Whilst of course he's young, and in the grand scheme of things, it's not a massive issue, however I would be querying this.

In fact, in my children's school, there is a response questionnaire on the report form. Comments are actively encouraged, snd they do tend to amend things or ask for further feedback if required.
The head teacher wants to ensure that it is a correct copy of progress.

Have you been given the opportunity to comment?

Newrumpus · 14/02/2022 16:30

@Thewindwhispers

It has nothing to do with your child- schools like to make bright kids look dumb on paper in the early years so they can triumphantly show Ofsted how much progress they’ve made at the school by year six.

Do you work for a local authority MIT or have you had a series of bad experiences with a local authority as a parent?

Averydifferentwoman · 14/02/2022 16:33

@Thewindwhispers isn’t entirely wrong.

But it sounds more like an error to me.

Eightiesfan · 14/02/2022 17:04

I suspect a bit of copying and pasting has gone on in the reports. I’ve had reports that use someone else’s name in the comment!

Itsalmostanaccessory · 14/02/2022 17:10

It could be an error.
I was reading my son's report last year and it started with
"(Correct) First Name Surname is blah blah blah."
And then midway through the paragraph it was very jumbled and made no sense with what had been written previously and then I say, "Sophie needs to improve blah blah blah."
It was some kind of copy paste error and I had half my son's report comments and half of Sophie's report comments.

kickupafuss · 14/02/2022 17:11

@Suzanne999

Or just send a note. DS can count to 20 and say and write these numbers so I’ve set my own target which is xxxxxxxx.

Only do this if you want to wind the teacher up! Better to have a quick chat with her/ him and find out what's going on.

In my experience, teachers have to show progress every term otherwise the headteacher will be demanding to know what's happening so it's nothing to do with trying to impress Ofsted.

Drivingbuttercup · 14/02/2022 17:21

There is a lot of smaller objectives in being able to count to 20.

Can he count forward and backwards from any number.

Can he say one more or one less than any given number.

Can he reason and problem solve ie i jenny is .....she has a sister who is ...... how old is .....

I do agree that he should have mastered counting to 20 at this time of the year and should be learning to add and subtract numbers to 20. The target maybe a whole class target and sent to everyone.

rosegoldwatcher · 14/02/2022 17:22

What you have is a mistake 'as a result of using the 'drop down menu' in a report writing program. Exhausted teacher has clicked onto the wrong statement.
Her line manager will have proof read her reports for name/pronoun errors but, not knowing your child, will not have picked up on a target set too low.

No harm at all in (calmly) approaching your son's teacher.

Thenextmrsreacher · 14/02/2022 17:41

He’s six. I honestly wouldn’t say anything. At that age does it really matter.

LazySaturday · 14/02/2022 17:48

Good grief!!
Write your own target?
teachers are out to look your kids look dumb?
I had a bad experience so all teachers are *
Some of these replies are batshit

All you really need op is to have a friendly conversation with the teacher.
"I was a bit surprised by the target as I thought he could do this, could you talk me through it please?"

No need for any drama, it's probably a mistake if some sort.

Theyellowflamingo · 14/02/2022 18:50

Just ask the teacher. It doesn’t need to be a big deal, my observation of other parents is that plenty are talking to the teacher about every little thing, a one off clarification is no big thing.

I once received a detailed report at secondary school, covering my excellent contribution in class but a mysterious lack of any submitted work, regarding a subject I didn’t even take. Not because they’d mixed me up with someone else or inserted the wrong name, the teacher genuinely thought I was still in his class a year after I dropped the subject. That was an entertaining conversation….

Italiandreams · 14/02/2022 18:51

Perfectly put @LazySaturday , I thought I was going mad, all this crazy responses!

UpDownRound · 14/02/2022 19:12

@rosegoldwatcher

What you have is a mistake 'as a result of using the 'drop down menu' in a report writing program. Exhausted teacher has clicked onto the wrong statement. Her line manager will have proof read her reports for name/pronoun errors but, not knowing your child, will not have picked up on a target set too low.

No harm at all in (calmly) approaching your son's teacher.

I've never had any sort of software in a primary to write reports. It's probably a simple copy and paste error.

I also don't write reports in alphabetical order as per a pp and don't know any teacher who does.

Progress by Ofsted isn't measure by teacher targets so low targets to make data look better as per a pp is also nonsense.

So many people just make up what goes on in schools on MN!

modgepodge · 14/02/2022 19:23

This is why I hate writing maths targets on reports. They are so pointless and an easy way for parents to catch you out if you make a mistake. Plus remember the report was probably written 3-4 weeks ago (by the time the teacher has written 30, proof read them herself, sent them to be proof read/checked by head/deputy who has many classes to do, then printed, then sent out) - though I appreciate you’re saying he’s been able to do this for ages so it’s probably not just he’s met it in the weeks since the target was written. It is probably a cut and paste error, teachers are exhausted at the moment and are rarely given time to write reports - maybe an hour staff meeting, the rest is done in evenings and weekends after they’ve been teaching all week. It’s easy for errors like this ti slip through.

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