Do you let your children read their school report?

[FawnFrenchieMum]

YABU - Yes of course I do
YANBU - No I don’t

What’s your reasoning behind your answer?

Why wouldn't you. It's about them.

Why wouldn't you?

Weird thing to keep from a kid. It's about them after all.

It’s their report. Why wouldn’t I?

I cherry pick bits to read out to my DS as he has autism and this years report in particular has been very hard to read tbh.

Yes, of course

Yes I do - my kids have had reports that are largely positive with constructive criticism which both kids already knew were areas they needed to work on. I don’t know if I’d feel differently if there was serious concern contained in them.

What age of children, and what manner of school report?

Primary - I didn't unless they asked to see it. I don't think children of that age need to be worrying about the minutiae, so I would keep it fairly low-key and see the report as mostly for information - but if I had a child who was very inquisitive and would be anxious if they didn't see it, I would let them.

Secondary - mine went to a bog-standard state school, so the "school reports" we received consisted of a single sheet of paper with a few numbers on it. They were welcome to see it, but it wasn't terribly informative. If they'd been at a private school which still offered a long, detailed report with individualised comments, then I would make the judgement based on the content of the report and the maturity and nature of that child. I can see some circumstances in which things might be put rather differently if the parents are the only intended reader.

Of course they were shared with the children - they were positive so shows their efforts are recognised
Less positive but constructive feedback reinforces where they need to focus on
I cant see why you wouldn't share either

I would only exclude it if there was something sensitive about SEN or something that the child isnt old enough to understand etc. There really shouldnt be anything in there you cant let them see.

Yes. It would never have occurred to me not to tbh.

Yes. It’s about them. It wouldn’t occur not to share.

Yes, because we are lucky enough to have teachers who write the positives as well as the negatives. Without knowing what the teachers want more/less of, how do you improve?

Yes, absolutely!

Always- but my DCs have always had very positive reports, so no reason not to show them.

Yes. I sit and read it with him. It's a ridiculously flowery positive document though.

My report from the same year my 9 year old in said "if flowery curtain bothered to put in a bit of effort she might actually achieve what she is capable of". Not sure I'd have read that out!

I read it to him, he is 6. It would not have occurred to me not to read it with him and discuss it. Why would he would he be excluded?

Yes! We prefer the students there to at parents evening as it all about the child.

At high school we got given them to pass onto parents/caregivers so by the time they had got home every man and his dog had had a nosey at them

Yes absolutely. Mine are too nosy not to want to read it anyway! But it's good for them to see what their teacher says overall.

of course. It’s about them so why wouldn’t you?

Yes. At our High school the tracking reports are emailed to the children's email account and the parents.
Also, any scheduled meetings with the school we are encouraged to have the child present.

Of course.

It’s about them, and if they feel bits are unfair then that’s something you discuss. I would hope schools assume the kids read them.

Of course. There shouldn't be any surprises in a report for you or them.

Mine are still primary school age so not interested, I'm not sure whether I would show them if they were. My 5 year old's school report this year had one sentence that was positive and the rest was negative. He was 'below expected' for everything. He already hates school and has low self esteem so why make him feel even worse?

Same here. My ds school is very positive and even with the negatives it's written with the aim of encouraging ds to do better rather than pointing out his faults. It's important for them to read this. My ds is 6yo.