What do you really want in a school report?

[letthembe]

So I am sat here, at the start of my report writing mountain, deadline is set and my 'journey' to the summit has been broken into stages. But what I want to know is what do parents really want to read in the child's end of year report?

Personally, I'm only really interested in the general comments. And I hate reports written on report assist!

How old are the children you are writing about?

I have been in an area of socio economic deprivation, not even sure if reports were read, but we were always told to be truthful. Now, in a very green leafy suburb and in need of your opinion.

do you mean there might have been some tattooed grumpies waiting for you outside with broken beer bottle who influenced your report writing?! Will probably be flamed for this but 'nice' middle class area like where you might be now, will probably pick over every word and respond less negatively to critical comments. Overall.

I want the report to be honest and blunt.

The last couple of reports I have received have been a lot of waffle. I wade through a report and then wonder WTF it said. I want to read and understand facts.

eg:

Want to know where DS is vs. national curriculum/whatever teacher expects from class/other measure. If falling short - in what areas and what specifically can I do to help this.

Want to know if he has been kind to other children and socialised well or whether he has kept to himself or worse terrorised other children.

Want to be informed of any problems in any area so that they can be addressed. eg academic, behaviour, social, PE, anything really.

I just can't stand waffley bullshit and it makes me so cross to read.

curtaincall - that's what I am worried about, I have been told that some parents compare the reports in the playground!! Just not used to that type of interest/scrutiny. I know I can't be overly negative and if the problems are that bad I would/have already had the parents in.

I'd agree with 'the list' others have written here, but in addition, I'd like the hard facts:

In the academic subjects, I'd like :

Where the DC was at the beginning of the year, where they are now and what we could infer from that regarding where they'll be at the end of Y6 (assuming the report is about a KS2 DC!).

I'd also like the NC standards in these areas AND, tbh, I would like to know which set my DC are in for the 'set' subjects.

DS1's secondary school got us all really confused with this sort of stuff:

Maths: 5C -DS is achieving well in this subject
English: 6A - DS really needs to apply himself more in this subject
Spanish: 3C- DS is showing promise in this subject....

Wot..?

I agree entirely about the importance of a DC having a positive school experience and for a teacher to record this in a report, but not at the expense of actual results!

Mid report writing this holiday (well avoiding it at the moment because my brain is going numb) But just a quick question to erebus: What do you mean by NC standards in subject areas? Just a bit concerned if I don't refer to 2A or 3B it could take the whole report to define what the standard expectation is.

OP I think your personal cooment seems very fair and like you know the child well.
Another teacher writing reports here, 17 done 13 to go! We don't use report assist etc we have each subject with the key skills listed then a tick in working towards, acheived or exceeded so parents can see very quickly how their child is progressing on the skils expected for that year group. In addition to this in English, Maths, Science we also make comments- skills have been ticked so it is more comments about application, any particular memories from the year, best pieces of work etc. At the end we have the bit I really focus on because it is where I make personal comments about the child. Each of these are individually written no copying and pasting and i try to be as truthful as possible. Here is an example below

is a happy, caring and thoughtful member of the class. She has a very good understanding of all areas of the curriculum and she has shown enthusiasm for the topics we have covered. In particular our Animal topic, where she contributed many creative ideas including making the Noah?s Ark movie that we used in the class assembly. listens very well in class and participates with growing confidence in class discussions. Although occasionally needs reminding of appropriate times to be talking, she has become far better at staying focused on a task and she should be proud of the work she has produced whilst being in Year . works very well in a group and values other people?s opinions; she can be relied upon to make sure everyone is included in the task. ?s kind and caring personality means she has many friends within the class and also saw her voted as class buddy this year. She is always helpful and polite to those around her. During Spanish lessons is able to remember lots of the vocabulary and is starting to develop simple sentences, with good pronunciation. * attended Dance Club this year and had fun creating dancing with her friends. * has been a pleasure to teach this year. Well done * and good luck in Year !

Has been interesting reading what parents want from a report. Is the above to flowery or the kind of thing you are looking for?

oh dear just seen all my typing errors- will make sure I read my reports before I send them out!!

We put this personal section first montymum, as in feedback from parents many said it was the section they were most interested in and, if they know our format, is the part they read first. I totally agree that this is the part I would prefer to put my time and energy into as it is so personal to each child.

Good suggestion AbigailS, I may suggest it at school. I honestly believe that it is the part that the parents really care about, is my child happy, how do they behave at school and what impression do they give to those around them. It would be worrying if parents were relying on the end of year report to find out the progress their child has been making, a bit late then if all is not well!

curtaincall - that's what I am worried about, I have been told that some parents compare the reports in the playground!! Just not used to that type of interest/scrutiny.

Any way of sending reports out in holidays so no comparing in playground? Sounds like you are in need of a confidence boost in doing the right thing as you've moved to a new situation. Stand your ground, be friendly and engaging when you meet parents and then they will read the report with your voice and smile in mind and know that you have the best interests of the child at heart

montymum - perfect :-)

Thanks montymum, I'll be using a few of those in my reports, just hope non of the parents are MNers. Still hard at work. Need to get them finished!!!
Edith, they are Y5 and they are a lovely bunch.

Think i getting into the flow, this is for Foundation Subjects and General for the same boy. Haven't shared maths and English as I find them easier.

Foundation Subjects (some bits are written by PPA teachers)
has enjoyed the practical aspects of the Foundation Subjects and the opportunities to work alongside his peers. He co-operates well with others, producing group work of a good quality. I find learns more through kineasthetic approaches, for example when I taught 6-figure grid references outside on a large grid. Consequently, he gains a lot from practical science experiments and thoroughly enjoyed the work on gases during Science week, especially the investigation involving fizzy drinks! On the educational visit enabled to learn a great deal about the history of and was then able to compare to . He also enjoys ICT opportunities and works with a great deal of interest and enthusiasm when using computers. Next year, he must persevere more with written work in these Foundation Subjects and try to complete more work in a given time. In PSHE, always shows great respect to his peers. He recognises how his behaviour affects other people and can choose to modify this to promote very good relationships with others. is always ready to listen and also to give a valuable opinion on a topic. In Art, is a careful worker who willingly tries new techniques. He has worked well using watercolours and also developed his fine pencil control when drawing and shading. He applied this knowledge to produce good sphere work in the space theme well. During week, he had the opportunity to work with clay and he should be very proud of the animal he produced. PE is obviously one of *'s favourite subjects, he is a great team player and shows a great deal of agility and athletism in all sports.

General comment
has had a successful year and I have been pleased with his overall progress. He has shown an increasingly hardworking and mature attitude, setting a good example to others in his year group. is a delightful member of the class, he has a very plesant manner and is always impeccably behaved. He shows a great deal of respect to every member of our school community and as a result, he is a very popular throughout the year group. As the year has progressed, he has appeared more and more settled and his confidence has grown. This is particularly evident in whole class discussions, drama work and performance opportunties, such as our class assembly. However, there are still times when I feel lacks to confidence in his own ability and I hope he can build on the successes he has enjoyed this year, as he moves into Y6. It has been a pleasure teaching .

Apologises for the long post but I am finding your comments very helpful.

You sound like a really dedicated teacher letthembe. This is great report and really gives an in depth picture of the child and how you have observed him over the year. I would be very pleased to read this as a parent, knowing that his interests were being taken into account at all times.

One teensy, weensy thought - can you specify what animal he made in Art? Small detail but it would show his wasn't one of 30 amorphous lumps of tortoise-shaped clay ! If not, never mind

We're putting general comments on front page this year, too.

And we're only writing half a page each for maths and english with tick boxes for the rest. Much shorter than last year's reports, where we wrote VOLUMES!

But I'm still procrastinating.... and have been for the last hour.....4th cup of coffee coming up.

Letthembe - wonderful. I would be very pleased to read a report like this, it would illustrate that you knew my child well, cared about them, and that they had had a very busy and enjoyable year under in your class.

I would be happy to read it through with my child and review what they had done really well and could continue to do well at in the future, and how they can implement a few tiny tweaks to do even better :-)

Thanks for the comments guys - really helpful. I just want to get it right. I am in the flow now, hopefully the rest will come easily now.

Strengths / where ahead
Weaknesses / what have yet to achieve / where behind /what the school will be doing to help improvement
Targets / how as parents we can help

I don't want to know how the rest of the class is doing e.g. from dd's Yr2 report "This year group is and has always been a class of very bright children ... little treas is very lucky to be a part of this group and should embrace all opportunities with both hands". Take this to mean "ok you told us you dc wasn't extending herself in class and she has proved it by getting SATs 3c's across the board, but she's not a genius you know!"

Oh yeah we don't need to hear the same criticism throughout every section of the report worded in a different way.

1 / "She can still be a little chatty during independent written work and sometimes needs reminding to write not talk"
2 / "can be a good listener when she applies this, skill however she does need reminding"
3/ "Unfortunately, little treas can take advantage of the nature of practical activities and her discussions with other children are not always scientific"
4/ "Unfortunately I do need to watch her closely as she does have a tendency to chat when she should be working"
5/ "In P.E. little treas needs to focus a little more and not treat it as another opportunity to socialise"

Apart from it being apparent that YR2 teacher did not like our dd it just showed that the teacher was not able to control dd.

What do I really want in a school report?

Honesty

But I'll never get that.....

This thread has made me worried about receiving DDs reports which will be full of lies...........

IndigoBell what makes you say you that they won't be honest. My reports are very honest no point saying that a child is well behaved if they are not or acheiving more than they are you are setting your collegues up for a fall next year when the parents say well last years teacher didn't say this. Also as I said before a report shouldn't really be telling a parent anything they don't already know as comunication should be throughout the year not just in the report at the end.

Monty - would you admit that a child had not made good progress this year? I have never ever had a teacher admit this.

Yep, absolutely I say this.

Very good progress / greater than expected progress / accelerated progress = progress above and beyond that expected (3 or more sublevels in a year, this is KS2)
Good progress / expected progress = the level of progress expected (2 sublevels in a year)
Satisfactory progress (sometimes written as 'only satisfactory progress' or qualified by 'has not made the expected amount of progress this year', often with some indicatation as to why) = 1 sublevel in the year
Has failed to make progress this year = no progress in terms of sublevels this year (sometimes qualified by 'but has made some improvement in x,y, and z'). This would be exceptional, and would never come as a surprise to the parent, but if it is true there is no point in beating around the bush. In my experience so far it has occurred in the context of extreme domestic upheaval and distress, emerging evidence of SEN affecting cognitive development (post meningitis brain damage, foetal alcohol syndrome) or very significant levels of absence (we have travellers whose attendance at school is sporadic).

But yes, if it's true, I say it.

Yes if that was the case although I would feel that if a child wasn't making progress the parents would be aware from mid year at least and we as a school would be putting things in place to make sure we knew why they weren't making progress and doing all we could to amend that.