No end of year school report

[mushypeaa]

My daughters started a new primary school just after the may half term due to a house move. Reports were due out on Monday. I'm still getting used to the systems at the school so thought it was an oversight and I hadn't collected it or signed up to the right portal etc. it turns out that it is school policy that they don't write reports for someone starting in the last half term.

Is this right? I totally understand they haven't known them very long so it wouldn't be the most detailed report but I thought end of year reports were statutory? Should their previous school have written one? Or do they just not get one this year?

I would like them to have one but know It's not the end of the world not to get one and I'm very conscious it's basically the end of the year and if I was to chase one up it would most likely be futile.

@howshouldibehave @orangeleavesinautumn
@PriamFarrl
In my last comment I said I'll enquire about my youngest daughters end of ks1 results (which I will do verbally and they might not even have those details) and 'that will be that' meaning that's all I'm going to do. So chill.

What I meant, which maybe I could have said clearer was if two teachers didn't write reports I'd assume that it has come from a school policy or advice from the headteacher (or someone in the chain of command) and it would be mean that the class teachers would have to write a report at this late stage when all they have done is passed that message on to me (they break up today at 3.30 so if I was being pedantic they do still have some directed time but I'm sure that is already account for, like being in class and is non of my business ).

In my first comment I said I would like a report but it's not the end of the world if I don't get one. I really like their new school and the girls seem to too. I just thought it was unusual (although seemingly not that unusual) and wanted some clarification and seeing if anyone else had encountered this.

they wont have any more directed time, the end of term is always a crazy rush, anything left will already be allocated

There's not a great deal in a CTF when you actually look at the code. Attendance, FSM entitlement (if held on the system, normally you have to ask them for the details to perform the checks again), frequently out of date address and contact details because the change is due to moving home, NC levels if they've been included on the tick boxes (normally have to download those from the DfE KS3 Gateway if they sat them) or from GIAP as long as the kid isn't fleeing violence and their UPN hasn't been locked out.

And there's no recourse when the big academy chains refuse to provide anything else.

Unfortunately, these regulations only apply to maintained schools. Academies don't have to follow them.

Reports are not written in directed time. They are written during evenings and weekends by teachers.

However, I do think the previous school should have written one. I would for a child leaving at May half term.

Doesn't really matter whether it's compulsory or advisory, such as the obligation to report a missing child rather than just offrolling and doing nothing about it.

Doesn't stop them knowingly breaking the law regarding admissions, either, by refusing to offer places to kids unless their previous school sends a full reference that includes SEND needs, Safeguarding issues, Attendance and punctuality for the last three years, attainment levels, Ethnicity, FSM status and my particular favourite question from academy chains - 'What are the parents like and how do they conduct themselves with the school?'. That's outright illegal.

If your child joined the school after May half term it's the previous school's responsibility to provide a report x

Not according to the regulations.

It's a statutory to provide an end of school report.

I had a child who I only taught briefly as he arrived late in the summer term and I did a brief paragraph of how he'd settled and what he was doing well at.

My DD never gets a report, not seen one in 3 years from her primary

A lot of these "statutory" instructions do not specify who it is "statutory" to full fil them. I have had parents come at me with "statutory this" and "statutory that" in the past, and have just said no one asked me! No one checked to see if I had the capacity to full fill this instruction, and if I can't, the buck stops with whoever decided it was statutory, to provide the capacity themselves, normally in the form of another staff member either completing the instruction, or covering me so I can. Somebody deciding something is "statutory" doesn't lay it on me.

I once had someone decide it was "statutory" for me to provide worksheets on green paper for a statemented child. Not only was that a complete rubbish request, as he was statemented for Irlen's syndrome which completely obviously didn't exist, but the school had no green paper, so apparently is was "statutory" for me to provide it out of my own pocket - I just laughed.

That is just one example, but a lot of the "statutory" instructions are total BS, and not only that but the person responsible is the head or CEO, or LA, not the class teacher - in this case I would assume the heads, and the head can go ahead and writer a report - of course they may never have met the child, but that doesn't matter, as long as the child gets a report - if isn't "statutory" for the report to be in any way accurate or meaningful.

I know the OP isn't trying to insist on this nonsense "statutory" instruction being fullfilled, I am just pointing out what a nonsense this "statutory" business can be.

There is no statutory requirement for worksheets to be provided on green paper for a statemented child. However, if that was required by the child's statement, the school was required to comply. The school should, of course, have supplied green paper. And, whilst some mainstream professionals have been sceptical of Irlen syndrome, more recent research has shown that it is a hereditary condition, that there are biochemical markers associated with the syndrome and has shown that sufferers have differences in brain function. It therefore appears to be a genuine syndrome. I'm afraid your dismissive attitude to SEN issues is far too common amongst teachers and schools.

There is a statutory requirement for a school to provide a report on every registered pupil by the end of the summer term each year.

Is a report that important? From what I remember of my kids' reports most of it was copy / paste stuff anyway with a couple of personalised lines

It is a legal requirement to provide a written report by the end of the summer term though this can be split up over different terms so if your daughters’ old school gave you some throughout the year then that would count. In secondary school, it is usual for teachers to provide one even for new starters though they may be written later than the other pupils. You should have had something written throughout the year and if not, it is a statutory requirement so you’re perfectly within your rights to request one.