Has anyone actually seen thier childs school record?

[LynetteScavo]

Last time in enquired I was shown only our contact details form, and was told by secretary they had nothing else, but she did say the teachers had been informed by infant school of Y2 sat results.

In a causual enquiry to infant shcool head I was told " a whole thick file" was sent when a child changes school.

I have also been told (by reception teacher)info is kept in on a central data base somewhere.

So what does a school record actually consist of?

Hmm you have me wondering now. I know ds's school have them as a nosy school helper was caught sat in the nursery nurse's office reading through them!!

I know the central database is more for child protection issues so that all agencies share information such as police, school, social servies in all areas - stops kids at risk slipping through the system.

I was told reception base line assesment results were on a central data base.

I've see other people's kid's files when they get sent to seconday

It varies a little from primary school to Primary school, but they tend to have copies of the children's reports, smaples of the children's work, self assessments that the children may have carried out, details of SEN etc.

They are kept under lock and key!

Once they arrive with us we add a photograph of the child, the family application details, information on emergency contacts, any health issues, SEN details.

As the child goes through the school our reports go in, as do any merit award details or behavioural 'red cards', letters from the parents, copies of e-mails and trnscriptions of telephone calls (if relevant, you wouldn't have a transcript of a phone call asking the school to tell Flossy to go to Aunty Betty's for tea!)

Where does the school record go when they leave school?
I asked for my dd school records when we took her out of primary to he. It was agreed that I would receive them but I never did. I sometimes wonder where they went. I didn't realise that there was a physical file, though. I thought it was all held electronically and was probably on the LA Lost pupil database.

juuule funnily ebnough we never saw our childrens records when we asked either ......- i know they exist because when i was at secondary school my head of year was looking at mine and i saw pictures id drawn as a child at the time i just thought he was browsing but as ive got older and realised my family life wasnt 'normal' i think perhaps social services were interested.

I've never thought about what happens to physical files when the child leaves school. Are universities interested? Are they destroyed? Do they not have any relevance any more?

Yes. When we moved from Scotland to England they gave us big brown envelopes containg all their work plus their school records. They had each Dses name on the front, so I opened them and read them!

parents can, of course see the files and if they wish they can have copies made, but they are asked to pay for the photocopying

No idea what happens to them at the end. the old files are not stored in the same place as the 'current' files.

Yes, there is loads of info about children held by schools. Most schools use either SIMS or SERCO CMIS to hold all the data. When a child transfers school a common transfer file is sent to the new school. The data is imported into the new school's database.

Data collected from school test results are used to predict future results, typically using Fischer Family Trust software. The idea is that a child who is performing below expectations.

It is useful for a secondary school to know whether a child is bright, but lazy or whether they are underperforming because the child has limited ablity. Tracking of results in theory can help to spot special needs.

Its not sinister in any way. The data is intended to help the child.

I'm presuming school records would affect the out come of an appeal for a grammar school place. Does anyone know if private schools would looks at a childs record when considering whether to offer a place?

When children transfer from one school to another the "whole thick file" consists of any school reports and examples of children's work (usually books from the last class) and any test results such as SATs plus registration details ~school admission number DOB etc. nothing sinister.

So as I'm transfering my ds's to a new school in Sept, can I ask to view their school records?

Parents can request to see records at any time

I was wondering in particular whether temporary exclutions in primary school would affect entry to selective high schools.

"I was wondering in particular whether temporary exclutions in primary school would affect entry to selective high schools. "

If the school is a state school and selective it would have definate criteria for selection that should be clear from their propectus. A school does not get the common transfer file until the child is definately going there.

When my son started Reception I had to sign a load of consent forms including permission to send on data. It would be breaking the data protection act for the data on a child to be freely distributed. Although I imagine that a head teacher might look at the data on a child when writing a reference.

As far as temporary exclusions go I think a state school has to be reasonable. It could be argued that a child with a lot of temporary exclusions should not be in a mainsteam school of any description.

In RL, anything potentially "sensitive" a primary school wished to pass on to a secondary school would be done verbally, off the record.

When my DS transferred from primary to secondary I was given his thick school report and all it contained was every school report since reception, information on attendance, list of clubs, school teams and any other achievements for from Years 5 &6.

Secondary did not want any of it as they had already received the Year 5 report and he had passed the entrance tests.