school reports

[B4r4joon]

Last July I got the report for my Reception year daughter. I did not go to school in this country, so I dont have clue. It is a good report (to my understanding), but I don't know where she stands in comparison to the rest of the class. Someone told me that these reports are quite coded, meaning someone in the education system (like a teacher) would make and understand lots of things from it, that I necessarily don't. Any comments?

can you speak to her teacher? Simply ask for her report to be explained to you so you can understand her progress and development.

You dont really need to know where she is in relation to her peers but it is fair to know if she's at the right level for her age, whether there is anything she might need a little more focus on, whether she is particularly good at something that you might want to hone in on etc.

Jusat ask to speak with her teacher

Hi B4r4joon:

First of all you'll never be told how your DD is doing compared to other children in her class or year group at the school. This is because of confidentiality - parents do not have the right to know how other children are doing.

However, you should have a clear understanding of how your DD was doing against the Early Year Foundation Stages targets - and that usually is presented by highlighting the various areas language, self awareness, numeracy, etc... Information of EYFS from mumsnet here: www.mumsnet.com/learning/early-years/why-the-early-years-foundation-stage-was-introduced. And information on assessing progress in Reception here: www.mumsnet.com/learning/assessment/assessing-progress-in-reception.

From Year 1 your daughter will start the National Curriculum and will be scored by National Curriculum levels and sometimes Assessment for Learning (AfL or similarly APP) Levels. Information on National Curriculum levels from Mumsnet here: www.mumsnet.com/learning/assessment/national-curriculum-levels and information on expected progress through NC Levels here: www.mumsnet.com/learning/assessment/progress-through-national-curriculum-levels.

The Mumsnet Learning pages (www.mumsnet.com/learning) have a lot of information and there also is a section with resources to support learning at home: www.mumsnet.com/learning/learning-zone/learning-zone-introduction.

The important thing to understand as a parent is whether your child is performing below, at or above expected level for this age. So if the report is saying that she's performing at or above expected level then that's good and you should be fairly pleased. If, however, they're flagging up that perhaps in language or numeracy she's not quiet at expected level for her age, then that is suggesting that there may be a problem and you may want to consider doing more at home or approaching the school for support with that.

As ever, all children develop at different speeds - so with Reception aged children (especially as a few months can make a major difference in coordination, understanding and social skills) try to take into account whether your DD's performance may have some other reason (for example she's much younger than other children, English isn't her first language, etc...).

HTH

Thanks a lot for the information. I am beginning to understand better. Although her report was very descriptive to how she does things and what is she interested in, but not particularly saying that she is performing below, above or at her age. Only thing I can think of, is that she is very good at reading (read all the reception books half way through the year (with some othr children) and her teacher started bringing books from Year 1 for her, which is mentioned in the report. Other than that the report says she can how and what she can write....but no indication of what is expected from children at her age. Although her teacher verbally had told me several times that she is doing absolutely fine. I don't understand how this is reflected in the report if for example i changed her school.
The links you sent are very informative, I need to educate myself as what is expected from Reception children. Lessons to be learned on how to speak to Year 1 teacher.

Thx