To be disappointed about UK school reports

[Itisaniceday]

Posting for traffic and advice.

DD is in year 9 and has an EHCP. I honestly can’t tell how she is doing at school. The reports are so general and the meetings with the teachers once a year are only 5min. Once a year meetings with SENCO to tick a box for the LA report and them to get the additional 10k they get for her.

Growing up in a different country we had reports every 3 months: 1 to 10 you were scored; also the place you were in in relation to your peers was given. If you didn’t pass the year you will repeat it.

Please explain the UK system to me. My concern is she will get to GCSE and they will tell me, sorry she didn’t pass; not place on the sixth form for her, etc.

I am happy she is ok to go to school everyday but I would like to know more reg her progress.

I hate when parents ask that- ebcause I believe kids should work to better themselves, not to compare themselves to other kids.

Im sorry but why is it hideous to be informed that your child isn't hitting the age related expectations, to enable you to do something about it?!
Do you honestly want to be told your child is doing great (because they are trying hard!) and nothing more, then get a big shock when they get a set of low scores at GCSE?!

That sounds nice but in practice a bit of healthy competition drives more kids. I hate when schools tell kids they don't need to bother reading books because audiobooks/podcasts/TV is just as good and then that to be justified by explaining that books are too off-putting to some kids, and it's better not to alienate those. I hate how my kids were only given pass or fails in tests rather than actual scores presumably this is also pandering to certain factions of a class but in reality I found no valid way to encourage my kids to learn anymore than what was sufficient to pass because in their word "anything beyond a bare pass gets no recognition, so why bother".

All kids excel at something, it's important for them to learn how to fail just as it is to let them strive.

My children have all been through R-yr 11 now (youngest in sixth form) and I receive a report each term. Some are a quick report but others gave predicted GCSE grades. It was relatively easy to understand. Nothing in relation to peers but I knew she was in the top, in fact joint top of 360 as she and 1 other girl received 11 x G9’s. Lower down in the school, year 7-9 I don’t think we got any predicted grades then and it wasn’t always easy to work out

I’ve found this quite helpful for my DDs yr 6 sats results

Everyone falls within the top 100% of readers! 😂😂😂😂

This. My DC are still in primary, but this is becoming abundantly clear.

And actually, I'd say if they are middling in their attainment, they just get lost; no matter what their potential, schools are just happy they're not behind.

I know, not particularly helpful! The score before that was top 96% of readers, so think it was a nice way of saying bottom 4%.

Sorry but there is nothing healthy about 'competition' among students, especially in times with a massive mental health crisis among young students. They know their grades and their friends' grades anyways. Compettitive kids will be so regardless if they know where they are placed among the group.
No one is telling kids not to bother- but that the results of others are not as important as them making progress at their own pace. It seems you are the competitive one and want your kids to race against other children.

Does your country do national externally marked exams at age 15/16?

As the nation is whom your child will be ultimately measured against.

So there is no point in knowing that your child is top or bottom of the class as it won't necessarily translate into their GCSE grade at 16.

Hard disagree! If your child wants to be a vet or a doctor and you had had no indication of whether they were clever or not, how on earth would you guide them? Because we had NO meaningful feedback whatsoever until exam results day. Lots of pappy ‘somewhere within this three year window’ nonsense. What’s the point? What a waste of a teachers time. Whereas if you knew your child was in the top 10% you know their plans are realistic. Yet if you knew they were less academic, guiding them towards vet nursing / nursing would be a much better option.

Not being told this vital information is just letting our kids down.

Do their parents know their grades though? No

Knowing a pupil is top 10% in an internal test in one particular school doesn’t help though unless you know how cohorts in other schools perform.

I don’t think it’s fair to set a level based on age. Covid had a massive impact on some children and words like “behind” are, I think, unfair.

My DD is above expectations on pretty much everything but that’s not really the point.

Why do I need to know where she sits in a cohort of thousands/tens of thousands? She wants to be a pilot. Her ranking in Welsh comprehension isn’t really much of a concern……..

Even if she did want to be a vet or medic, I only need to know how she is performing, not every 13 year old in Wales!

I think as is abundantly clear from this thread, it would be impossible to please everyone!

However, OP, what I would do if you can afford it is have an educational psychologist assess your child. They can then give you a breakdown of how they're doing against standardised tests.

My DD has an EHCP and I found that was well worth doing as the educational psychology report the LA did for the EHCP didn't include any cognitive testing, although it did indicate DC was 1-2 years behind age related expectations. Which the school had never made clear!

Although do speak to the SENCO about whether they can access educational psychology services first.

Your Annual Review process sounds crap and not up to spec. That would definitely be something to read up on. When's the next one due?

What’s the point in comparing to her peers? Depends on the class. They could be highest or lowest depending on the others. The U.K. system should tell you whether they are meeting expected standard for their age, below that standard or exceeding it. They are tested age 11 with SATS. Those that pass are on track to gain a pass in GCSEs but obviously they are assessed as they go at secondary school. There will be exams at the end of each year.

Last year my son’s school report was just a list of effort grades and one word judgements (emerging, developing, meeting, exceeding). This was his first year at secondary and the ‘report’ was pretty much useless.

How would you know how she’s performing if you didn’t have a data set to compare her performance against?

I want to know how they are performing in their class, how they are performing in their year group and how they are performing nationally. If they are performing well in the class, but slip against the year group and nationally, this indicates an issue with the teacher. If the year group also slips, it’s an issue with the school. And nationally shows whether they are academically able and ought to aspire.

Your child only has one chance at schooling. As a parent surely you are failing them if you let them drift along without addressing the issues that pop up along the way?

I'm surprised it's not been mentioned that the SEND Code of Practice 2015 states parents of children with SEND should have progress meetings with school 3 times per year so pointing that out to the school would be a good starting point.

Yeh, my friend only found out their child was failing a key subject at mock time due to utterly meaningless feedback about how she was ‘doing fine’. Just about enough time to find a tutor and sort the issues out.

It can be useful to know the class average. This is not confidential information. It parents understand if a child is likely to move or down a set, for example. If the class is MA then it’s probably not useful.

School is a relatively small part of DD’s education. I am not at all worried about her abilities, attainment or opportunities.

We get no indication of where she ranks in the class or the school, just nationally for 5 areas. Pointless.

She’s not drifting. She has needed some adjustments for ADHD and being in mixed ability classes wasn’t helpful for her. Now that she has dropped some subjects and is in top sets she’s absolutely flying. But the love of learning is the thing I’m most bothered by. My undiagnosed ADHD impacted my exam results but not my career. Exams are only measuring ability to pass exams.

I’ve always found parents evenings more useful than reports

If your child has an EHCP and you are not having regular meetings with sendco to discuss progress, I would maybe get in touch with your local send support - Google to find out who provides this in your local area.
If you don't understand the system it is hard to enforce what should happen so reach out and get some local support for this. Or PM me which local authority you are in and I will have a look for you if that helps.