School reports results came as a surprise

[Mumisconfused]

AIBU to be upset the teacher didn't provide enough feedback at parents meeting, around Easter time, and now the report for DC, who just finished YR1, mentions 'working towards expected' in all areas? We were not aware of this!

We did ask her specifically to let us know if there was areas dc needed more support back in April, and she said dc needs to work in the presentation of his work (which is true). But she only mentioned that! She said maths and reading was fine.... in the phonics test dc got 36/40 words, which I think it's very good. DC reads long sentences and has a good understanding of what dc has just read...

I understand dc's concentration is not great, and we also asked the teacher since the beggining of yr1 if she thinks dc's concentration is as expected for a 5/6 years old, and she didn't really noticed anything. DH thinks she doesn't pay much attention on him because he is very well behaved and she's too busy dealing with not so well behaved kids.... I am starting to think he is right.

How can she have not flagged this to us, when we asked in April? She removed the chance of us giving him extra support at home....

I find that incredibly sad at that age. That’s far too much pressure on a young child.

It’s very possible that at Easter he was at the right level but has dropped slightly. Nice weather wants to play out and what not. Don’t panic too much yet and don’t go in accusing the teacher of ignoring him or letting him down. Listen to the feedback and ask what more you can do to support him. He is still very young and things can change quickly at this age

This is EXACTLY my experience.

I wish I hadn't worried about Y1 reports. At that age, DS could barely sound out cvc words, and couldn't write his (3 letter) name.
He's doing A Levels next year, predicted 3xA* and A, and is applying to study Aerospace Engineering.

DD was the "prodigy" in Y1 the very next year. Reading chapter books for fun, joining Y4 for Maths etc.
She's just done GCSEs. Hoping she's passed sufficiently to get into Travel and Tourism at college.

The school feel that if children drop behind in year 1-2, they can’t engage with the harder work in years 5-6. So better to intervene and get all children reading adequately by end of KS1. Also means dyslexia etc gets picked up early.

Every parent I know who has accessed it has found it really helpful. There’s no stigma to doing it.

Chill out! He’s so young. No way would I be stressing this much about a report at that age.

Are the results based on teacher assessment or test?

Sounds like you are doing a lot to support him at home. Some kids just aren’t academic though, but equally some are just late bloomers. I would bet he isn’t the only one in the class with a similar report. The working towards category exists because lots of children across the country fit into it.

Sounds like you are doing a lot to support him at home. Some kids just aren’t academic though, but equally some are just late bloomers. I would bet he isn’t the only one in the class with a similar report. The working towards category exists because lots of children across the country fit into it.

@Mumisconfused

I think there's a learning curve here for parents and yes, I do think it's possible with class sizes and the behaviour of some children today that their middle of the range achieving, trouble-free classmates don't get such detailed scrutiny by the teacher as to learning style and ability.

IMHO you can't treat the school report like an MOT on your car. Car passes its MOT, great, nothing needs fixing at the moment. School report is a progress report and there's always additional stuff parents can be doing to boost their children's primary school learning, particularly as we know our own kids better than the teacher can in so many ways.

My two were both high end achievers and I was solo parenting with an extremely full-on job too so really I could have taken a completely hands-off approach as far as primary school was concerned.
I didn't do that however, I supplemented their learning when time permitted with additional reading material (my first suddenly got to skip 2 levels when school realised their reading ability was substantially beyond the books being sent home), puzzle books, board games, cooking/baking (great for concentrating on words/measurements in a recipe), the local libraries Summer Reading Challenge and other stuff.

I saw it as a partnership between school and home.

Sounds like you are doing a lot to support him at home. Some kids just aren’t academic though, but equally some are just late bloomers. I would bet he isn’t the only one in the class with a similar report. The working towards category exists because lots of children across the country fit into it.

Sounds like you are doing a lot to support him at home. Some kids just aren’t academic though, but equally some are just late bloomers. I would bet he isn’t the only one in the class with a similar report. The working towards category exists because lots of children across the country fit into it.

Also bear in mind that the summer term assessments take in all topics from the year, and children are given a little less support to see what they can actually do on their own. I’m a year 1 teacher and we do a writing task each term. The first two I gently supported, gave ideas, modelled how to write etc, but in the summer term, the task was to write a ‘story’ about where a magic key would take them. IT f course we talked about ideas and planned but it’s good to see what they can do without my support (to focus) (to remember full stops) (to use adjectives) so working towards will be something that happens. I agree with others though. I would have reported the ‘grade’ but in the report written how hard they try, what are their strengths, and not compared to the other members of class.

I was referring to my own post.

Came here to say the same thing- as a mum of teenagers!! Yr1 is insignificant in the grand scheme of things as they are still very much working at different abilities!! and it surprises me that the school are doing reports like this for working towards/expected etc.

if there is something going on where you child is struggling academically it is recommended not to test for learning difficulties until after yr3 as there is still so much movement in learning ability prior to that.

if your child needs more challenging reading books however then I’m not sure why they are ‘working toward’ so you could ask the teacher for more information- I used to work in education and one of my colleagues copied and pasted a number of reports… so if you think there could be mix up then you are entitled to ask, although try to not to come across like you have a genius of a child who can do no wrong…

Are you replying to your own OP?

The school has to show progress though, and at yr 1 I really really wouldn’t be too worried about this at all.

I definitely don’t think you’re unhinged. You sound like a great Mum and the school should be doing more to keep you informed. Every year of school is important.

Yanbu, but if I were you, I’d draw a line under this year and this teacher, and put your efforts in to speaking to next years teacher and getting next year off to a good start instead

completely this.

I agree and disagree with this. Yes you’ve had the opportunity but the teacher should have made you aware that he is struggling. Either there is a mistake and the report is wrong or your perception of him doing well academically isn’t accurate and the school should have kept you informed.

"National standard" is pretty robust these days. "Working towards" can be borderline. It's not unreasonable that at Easter the teacher thought he was likely to hit the target by the summer, but when it came to it, he just fell short.

Your child is one of probably one or two to you, but one of thirty to the teacher. It is right and proper that you care more than she does (that's not to say she doesn't care! But as a teacher, it's heartbreaking when I feel I care more than the parents do).

If you want your child to thrive, you need to be doing small bits and pieces consistently at home, no matter their current level, and whether directed by the school or not.

My first thought was check that it's not a clerical error of some sort. As you say, it's surprising that a child is still 'working towards' and hasn't been flagged to you at the parents evening that they're a little behind targets. A report shouldn't be the first you hear of it. How were end of Reception reports? If those were at expected, there's also a question of poor progress.

It's great you have an opportunity to talk to the teacher and find out what's going on. Just go in neutral and see what they have to say. And if there is an issue keep being a squeaky wheel next year, if he is behind school should be providing extra help and should welcome your support.

@Mumisconfused

I’m Year 1 and have also just had end of year report. We got 34/40 - measured as working at expected. So - no this doesn’t sound right.

However, whether they will change it if not is another thing.

They’ll usually come up with these chestnuts : ‘oh but DC doesn’t always understand the text’ - or - ‘needs to do more problem solving’ for maths.

With my other DC, I often felt things were woefully inaccurate on her report, she often got ‘working towards’ for science but I knew she loved it at home, and now excels at secondary school.

It’s all a bit ‘non specific’ tick a box, plus the next year teachers never like it if a teacher has overestimated their upcoming class.

I’d focus on the phonic score which is great! On our reports it said anyone less than 32 would need extra support, so I’d assess that as ‘working towards’.

I’m sorry but Y1! The poor lad is only 6 - most countries don’t even start formal education until Y2. Give him some space to develop at his own pace. Y5/6 is when you really need accurate reports imho.

Agree 250%