'has the potential to achieve more' just how many school reports include this phrase?

[tigermoth]

My son's school report even when good, always has something about 'potential' and 'not always achieving it' somewhere.

I was talking to a friend about this. She says something like 'not entirely achieving his potential' is almost a stock phrase in children's school reports. I think she's got a point.

So just out of curiosity, how many parents here have found a similar phrase lurking in their children's school reports? and how many parents have a report which reads that little johnny 'has fully achieved his potential this year'?

tigermoth,
don't know about other areas but where I live (Edinburgh) teachers have a selection of politically correct and acceptable 'stock phrases' to use in children's reports. Apparently they are not allowed to deviate from these acceptable phrases in case they offend/upset. The result is that the children's reports are often so bland and general as to be almost meaningless.

I don't think I would ever write that a student had fully reached their potential - kind of feels like doing yourself out of a job!

I have written reports for fantastic students who are ahead of all expectations (for them) and doing really well. However, I can remember getting reports at school that said "No problems" and I hated it, and I know that it is the hardest workers who always want to improve. So I always put in some little tip on an area to work on.

What I don't like is the vagueness of the type of comments you write about. It is either a filler comment, and you should focus on the specific details (e.g. "Not entirely achieving his potential, he should concentrate on when to write capital letters" ) or it is pure laziness (which is kind of understandable when you have the situation like I did in a previous school of 250 reports to write in a week while still doing everything else). But I agree that it is pretty poor!

Tigermoth, school reports drive me crazy. Being told what a child studied is, imo, a complete waste of my/the teachers time. (I know what my daughter studies as i take an active interest throughout the year esp. with regards to homework. I want to know how MY child is doing. I always feel that my daughters report could be about anybody as it seems full of stock phrases and is, it seems to me, simply a box ticking exercise.

Me, my school reports all said that, after I scored high on an IQ test. Never was a high achiever until I was 14 and nearly failed English class, though. I hated school; couldn't see the point of trying hard.

Being one who spends bloody hours every year writing school reports, I do appreciate what you're all saying. I nearly sent back ds2's report (y1) asking for one on my child!! I try so hard to make each one personal - but while you may want to say 'lazy little swine' you can't because it's offensive. So you do have to couch things in 'teacher speak'. I also write about what they have been doing, and appreciate this in my own sons' reports, purely because I, like many parents, very rarely get a chance to see a teacher and my boys NEVER tell me what they do in any great detail. I'd never know what they did if it wasn't for the report! It isn't because I don't take an interest, but I can't be at their schools on a day to day basis because I'm at my own.

My son doesn't have school reports yet ... so I don't know how I will feel when he does get them ...
In my last teaching job we had an interesting system ... we gave an achievement grade (A - E) and an effort grade (1 - 5) so before anything much was written parents could see at a glance how much effort the child was making ... Many parents said that they cared more about the effort grade than the achievement ... so if little Johnny found maths hard and got a C, he and his parents were usually delighted if he got a 1 to go with it.
Winnie ... we HAD to write about what the children had studied in the year (Policy and Ofsted ....) ... and we (the teachers) HATED doing that as we were left with no room to write about what really mattered ... the child's progress ...
Report writing IMO is the worst and most difficult part of teaching .... it is impossible to please everyone ... you get shot down in flames if you are too direct and if you aren't direct enough you are lazy ...
And I agree with Fisil ... no good teacher would write that little Johnny has achieved his full potential ... what good would that do? What would little Johnny have to work towards???
I don't think there is anything wrong with the stock phrases ... as long as they relate to your child and tell you something. "... is not working to his full potential" tells you something ... that your child needs to work harder ... presumably there are more clues in the report as to where he needs to focus etc?
I will defend teachers here and challenge any one to invent an original report with no repeated phrases for 250 children in the space of 2 weeks or less ....

I totally agree about the stock phrases. Even if a child has reached his or her full potential there is always going to be a comment like this otherwise the child could become complacent and wouldn't want to stretch themselves further.
It's the same in the working world if you have an annual review there is always some kind of stock phrase to get you to work harder even if you feel like you are giving 100%.
Last year a friend whose son is in the same class as my ds both had identical school reports the only difference being the name at the top of the page.

DD's school does the 'effort' and 'achievement' gradings.

She had a brilliant report and none of the 'could do better' phrases turned up - in sharp contrast to my own school reports which I found recently! I hope DD can continue to keep her effort marks as 1 and 2 out of 5 - I think it's prob easier at 6yo than 16yo.

That is bad myalias (and very lazy of the teacher) ... I would complain about that ....

Yes Ghosty my friend and I did complain, it wasn't just the reports that were a problem it was everything from unmarked homework to a breakdown in communication. My dh and I complained to the head teacher and she suggested a daily home school diary which works very well.

I find the X has learned how to find places on a map... comment annoying. I don't want a blow by blow account of the lessons, just to know how mine is doing.

I could have done without the year 7 form teachers report that said DS2 had "been a challenge to myself and the whole class". and put in an official complaint about it (said child has ADHD, which we told the school about 3 times before we sent him..)

That's really awful tallulah. I'd want to make an official complaint about the teacher, especially since her comment was in writing.

I see I am not alone then in seeing these stock phrases in reports. Amazing that 2 reports were exactly the same except for the name.

Suew, you dd sounds like such a clever and good little girl.

SueW, my dd's school does the same thing - because private? dd was awarded the form prize (came top) at the end of last term but like you say, they're only really at infant school.

I sympathise, but I have to say that it is difficult to write reports without repeating yourself. And you can only write things that are as positive as possible. I have taught some very bright children who need a good shake up to get them to work. I'd love to write 'Needs to take notice of what is happening in the class and do some work', but I can't. I'm all in favour of writing helpful reports, but the difficulty is that students often take them at face value (and who can blame them) and fail to improve. And the effort and achievement grades may soon become a thing of the past. They are falling out of favour because of the cases of bright kids who do well without working, and think they don't need to work and kids who are working very hard but not doing that well. They end up thinking that there is no point in trying hard, as they never get an A for Attainment.

Although dd isn't old enough for this, it rang a bell for me, I used to get this kind of comment at school & the effect was to make me think I was potentially very clever & as I got older I just got less inclined to bother working, due to my underlying genius.
Not a stance I'm particularly proud of with hindsite. Genius is still underlying while I continue to underachieve.

As another one who spends hours writing 4 sides of A4 for each (primary age) child every year, I am curious to know just what parents would like to have included on the report. Would you like a comment of every area in the curriculum, or just maths, english, science and how your child gets in with others-the social side? I would be very interested to know.

4 sides of A4? Blimey. DS2 (just finished Y5) got a single side of A4, sideways on, with boxes filled in on computer. Comments for English, Maths and Science much longer than for the other subjects but still - I think - more detail than necessary at this stage.

I think all we need to know really is which areas, if any, they are having problems with and what, if anything, we can do to help at home, and maybe also which areas they are particularly interested in/good at to be reinforced at home.

Our school provides those standardised scores for Maths and English (based on 100), plus sometimes reading age scores, but nothing relative (eg position in class).

I do like to see comments on social skills, although if your child is a little toad and all the other kids loathe it the teacher won't say so, so how helpful can that be?

MInefield. Don't envy you, teachers!

I love reading a comprehensive report which is so obviously written about my daughter. Sharing report details isn't common between parents at our school and, if asked, I tend to deflect the question with something like 'we were delighted' without getting into grades, etc.

I appreciate the time the teachers take to write it and consequently I always put a comment on the acknowledgement - would never send it back with just a signature on.

I hate the idea that someone might just be saying nice things because that's what I expect to hear. I'd be very disappointed if I found out much later that it was a pack of lies but I've got a lot of faith in the teachers that they tell is as it is.

The trouble with the computer generated reports is that you get no idea at all of how your child is doing relative to the average. "x can do this and has done that." They are a complete waste of time.

I want to know if s/he is average, below average or above average, and what areas s/he particularly needs to work on. I want particularly to know about English, Maths and PE. But also if she has a talent or is very weak at anything else. I want to know how s/he gets on with other children and adults. Whether s/he displays any behaviours that may be particularly beneficial or problematic in the future. (eg helpful, contributes well in class, easily distracted.) Whilst I would like recognition of my child's good points I don't want criticisms to be swept under the carpet. Parents need to know ...

With regard to damaging their self esteem - there are two options. Either don't show them their report. Or go through it with them, emphasising that education is just one facet of who they are, you love them for all they are, etc. etc.

It isn't that teachers don't want to 'write it like it is' is is that it all has to be phrased in a way that directs the pupil to improvement. I don't have a problem with that as such. It is much better than the old 'Must try harder' stuff that go trotted out when I was in school. The trouble is that parents and pupils are not skilled in decoding the new stuff

I have a delightful boy that I teach in year 7. He is very bright but a real handful (he is NT and doesn't have ADHD so these comments don't relate to those given to tallulah's ds which were out of order). What I need to write about this boy is that he needs to learn to sit down and be quiet in class and to listen to what is being said. He is bright and his disruptions don't affect his learning, but they do affect everyone else in the class. What I wrote was something along the lines of 'X is a lively and enthusiastic boy. He needs to concentrate more in class if he wants to improve his understanding of science' Not quite the same is it?

It amuses me to 'translate' dd's report. She is also lively and enthusiasitc, which means she never shuts up. Quiet and hardworking probably means that your child hardly ever opens their mouth. I see that we have to set positive goals, but it has got to the point where the child may not be recognisable from the report.

hmb - how about - "needs to be more aware of the needs of others". Re decoding - I'm very skilled as an ex-teacher - but 90% of my childrens' reports was "he can do this, he studied that". As a previous post said - I know (roughly) what they can do - what I want to know is if this is OK for their age and how they can achieve their potential.

Another thing that has confused matters is that schools are now less happy about giving grades and positions in class. As a mother I am very keen to know how my kids are doing relative to the rest of the class. I want to know if dd needs more help in, say maths, and is a whizz at english. Is she average, is she below average, or is she bright. Her school doesn't do this. And neither does the school I work at. Current advice is to avoid giving grades at all (while making and keeping them for your records). Research has show that kids do worst if they are given a grade or a mark. They do better if they are given a grade and a helpful comment, 'Concentrate on X, try to space your work out more' sort of thing. But they do best if they are just given a comment. If you give them a grade they tend to ignore the comment.

We are even looking at not telling them the results of test. You test them at the start of term and then reffer all of their resiults to that starting point. So, 'you've done well, 10% up on last time', or 'you need to concentrate a little more, 5% down'. That way they can concentrate on their own scores, without the negative effects of thinking theu are smart, or stupid. After all, all that matters is that out kids get better at what they do, not that they beat 80% of the class. And yes, as mum, I am still desparate to be told that my kid is top of the class

One of the parents I know through school generally asks at parents' evening which 25% of the class her children are in.

The children themselves seem to know which children are the brightest but are very unaware of any other position as far as I've gathered from listening to conversations when they come to play!

"Top table"?