Do primary school end of year reports all sound similarly positive?

[Flyinpig]

Did anyone get a bad end of year report in primary school? Not baiting but I just feel the reports have the same reused phrases every year .. 'bob should be very proud of himself this year for his achievements!' if you know what I mean? I think it's always very overly positive. I'm not asking for details but genuine question if anyone is disappointed in their reports? Or do they all just have the same undertone and teachers just rehash the same thing

Yes and every child gets star of the week sooner or later.

It would be a poor school that tells you there are major issues in the report, they should be in touch long before then.

You do have to read between the lines, but I'd say there's basic honesty in them. One of my DDs has AuDHD and about 75% of her teachers have mentioned something that reflects the challenges this presents, primarily struggling to start work.

My sons report names certain difficulties (not new to me and already working with the school) its speaks wonderfully of his strengths too. I can tell his teachers really know him. So no not overwhelmingly positive, but balanced and fair

I got many bad reports in primary school. Generally about how lazy I was, the fact that I didn’t put in any effort and was totally wasting my potential.

Oh FFS! They can’t win. You’re moaning the report is too positive, yet if they wrote ‘Jonny is a little shit at times’ you’d be beating a path to their door. I honestly despair. As a PP said you need to read between the lines a little. ‘Lively’ ‘a character’ ‘easily distracted’ etc are teacher for naughty. Otherwise if it’s all positive then it’s probably because they’ve done really well!

Our guidelines used to be something positive and something to work on.

I think they very much follow the shit sandwich philosophy. Good things- a few things to work on - good things. There is some honesty there in the middle! But tactfully phrased.

But yes overall positive for sure, because otherwise would be quite damaging to the relationship and motivation.

@IndieRocknRoll no it's not that, I just feel my kids fly under the radar too much and I don't know reports just sound very generic to me so in a way I feel disappointed as it's the only real feedback I seem to get, but I guess no bad news is good news.

Tbh they are waste of time.

Absolutely - schools should be working on a "no surprises" basis.

Yh that's what I'm thinking too lol

Yes my experience is that all reports are 100% positive. My child has always had stellar reports despite that that is not a true reflection of her academic work (acknowledging that in terms of behaviour etc rather than academics, it’s probably true that there wouldn’t have been any concerns).

Now in high school where each subject teacher writes a report, and what’s really funny is that on her latest report, all of the teachers have used the same word to describe her. It’s an old-fashioned word, it’s definitely not a word that I would use to describe her, and the fact that they have all done it makes me think that they just copied off each other.

Some teachers are like me and sit in front of your child's blank report, take a moment to reflect on your child and go "Awwww..." and genuinely remember how hard they've tried, how kind they are to younger children, all the times when they've offered to help you with something, how they've learnt to manage disappointment etc, and can't help but to write a glowing report which reflects how much we appreciate them. We quite possibly feel like this about all the children we work with, even the 'easily distracted', 'lively characters' which a PP mentioned.

I also happen to think that it is good for children to read positive reports about themselves and to see their parents read positive feedback -we need children who are buoyant with self-esteem and who can really feel that the adults who care for them have their backs and see the gold in each of them.

The behaviour scores are the truth.

Yes. You can even download a "paint by numbers" list of phrases to just copy and paste as applicable.

The first year of teaching, I attempted to be polite but honest. The backlash I got from parents and the subsequent trouble I got on with SLT who completely took the parents side taught me it wasn't worth it.

If you're good at decoding, you can work out what they wanted to say.

"Bubbly and energetic"- absolute terror
"Friendly and loves to share"- never shuts up and has no boundaries
"Is working towards learning XYZ"- has zero clue what XYZ is despite numerous lessons and interventions to try and teach them
"Concentration is improving"- does not listen to a word I say
"Has had some friendship difficulties this year"- Is the class bully

My child’s teacher didn’t even spell my child’s name correctly on her report 🙄

(I’m a teacher by the way and have just written 33 personalised reports so I’m not teacher bashing)

Yes, what teacher wants 10 sets of parents coming and arguing about their report? Of course they are going to write a nice report, although reading between the lines can be useful.
At the end of nursery year the teacher wrote a report for us which was glowing and he was the model child, and one referral for an assessment.
The report for us was not really any practical use but the one for the referral was very useful indeed for understanding what he struggled with at school and how it compared with what we knew at home. But that report did hit hard!

You do have to argue to get access to the useful ones but they are super helpful especially when you are later trying to get them support.
If you do have concerns it's best to talk to the teacher little and often where possible, then you get a better picture.

Yes, absolutely. No one wants parents complaining at this time in the year.