Information kept by schools and can a parent view it?

[Piplysmelie]

Does anyone know what information a school keeps on a child and can a parent view it?

Do they keep a file on each individual child?

Thanks

CP concerns will be kept in a separate file to the main one and will have limited access to certain staff only. I believe you will not be able to view this even via a formal request.

Yes they do keep a file on each child. You are entitled to view your child's file under the Data Protection Act. They can remove certain types of information from your child's file before letting you view it so you may not get to see everything but most of it should be there.

Just to add if they do withhold information it has to be because it will be detrimental to your child or another child and they have to say why they have withheld certain information. You have to put your request in writing and if you would like photocopies of the file they are allowed to make a small charge to cover costs. Also they have 28 school days to respond to your request, my school let me view the file with an appointment but charged me for copies I wanted.

Why would you want to see it? Quoting the data protection act seems like a very heavy handed way of resolving a problem that could probably be resolved through a general discussion...

Thanks Orange but I meant more along the line of grading and how they reach their decisons regarding levels?

Thanks anyone

Thanks Nabeja that was very helpful.

Juniper I am just curious as my daughter has moved school and they have placed her at completely different levels to her previous school. Discussions with the teacher have not really helped me understand why apart from that is her assessment but she won't really say what she based it on.

Thanks everyone.

I'm interested in this too. I approached DS's teacher earlier in the year for information on his national curriculum levels and she refused to give it to me on the basis it was not my concern and this information was to assess the quality of the school not the child. I don't know what to do about it. The school is always going on about engaging parents and then refuses to let them know how their children are progressing and what they need to do to help them move on.

Was trying to say that you're not alone with this problem piply. Didn't mean to hijack.

Juniper, you sound reasonable, but what's a parent to do when they are trying to find information and they think that the teacher is unreasonably withholding it and refuses to discuss it too.

I don't think her school file will contain the kind of information you're looking for.

I think it contains her grades at the end of each year - but nothing about how they reached that grade. (AFAIK)

Lots of schools don't assess for each child. If a school uses APP, then (theoretically) teachers choose a high ability, a middle ability and a low ability child from their class, then benchmark the rest of the class against it. There would be no paper trail of levels.

Personally, I do APP for every child for reading, writing and maths. I have the data to hand at any given moments, but we were explicitly told to not share levels with parents at parents' evening. Mainly because 1) parents become fixated on levels and comparisons with others 2) parents will use it as a weapon against us.

I am a year 3 teacher, so within the year children are supposed to make 1 or 2 sub-levels' progress. It really isn't much on paper. If it comes to Spring, and DC hasn't yet made that one level jump (but will by summer) then the parents might get irate. Even though there is nothing wrong.

I think the best thing any concerned parent can do is ask the teacher for specific targets for writing, reading and maths. I could easily tell any parent this at any given moment (within school hours!), but no levels need to be discussed, per say.

Is your child insufficiently challenged on their new levels (I'm guessing they have gone down, we never complain that they've gone up!). Could it be that she is still settling in and not showing her potential yet? Or the teacher might not want to set work too hard while she is new.

Also be wary of within class - top table type comparisons, top table in one class might be middle of the road in a different class.

Piplysmelie,

The information you want is not in the file, they contain copies of school reports, correspondence between the school & yourself, any special needs or measures they're taken and disciplinary records. They don't contain teachers own notes or observations. That said it is a legal requirement for the school to provide two parent consultations and one written report a year to inform parents on how their child is progressing but I don't know if this includes disclosing what level a child is at. If the teacher concerned is not forthcoming you could ask the school (in general) how they assess & group children, this should be included in the school prospectus anyway.

Thanks all you have been most helpful and I feel more equipt to tackle this one now.