Do teachers write 'handover notes' about each of their pupils?

[MamOfTwo]

Do teachers have to write notes/case studies on each child in their class for the new teacher who will have the class next year, or just case studies for those pupils where there are concerns etc to flag up? Just curious really...

We do transfer files - A4 lever file - print outs of SIMS data on progress, this year's reports, notes from parents' evenings, APP, guided reading information, swimming info, IEPs, pen portraits, photograph info (those who are and aren't allowed to have their photo taken and where it can be published) and then an A4 hand-over sheet on each child - including family and medical circumstances, friendships and any other pertinent info. Oh yes, lots of paperwork!

Mrz, it's fantastic that you work in a school that is small enough to know your next class personally before you receive them :) - how does your school achieve that? maybe I can suggest to ours

Although not sure with just over 600 children that we would be able to achieve that in out school!!

Like most of the earlier posters, all schools I've worked in, staff tend to meet up with the next teacher (and usually TA if there's one who works a lot in that class) and go down the class list. Obviously some children take up a bigger part of the conversation than others. It's up to the receiving teacher how much they write down and in what format.

My school has 250 pupils so not exactly small but because it serves a village we know families and the community. We have a stable staff some are on their third generation. We know many of the children even before they start nursery because of older siblings or cousins or parents ... we chat to parents and they tell us about their child. Children from other classes see us in school and in the playground and chat ... they know the staff and the staff know them

This is a fascinating thread.

What Mrz says about stable communities and teaching staff is true. My DD's best friend has severe dyslexia. When she sent her ds to school, the reception teacher took her to one side and asked if there'd been any signs of dyslexia as she remembered her having it. I suppose that's just one example of the sort of thing Mrz is talking about.

We live in a huge city with quite a transient community so I suspect hand over meetings are vital. DD's school is 3 form intake so it would be hard for the new teachers to know about all the children they're taking on. Also there is a school in our city with eight form intake. Its huge - almost the same number of children in a year as Mrz has in the whole school. I don't know how they manage

Our transient children are the ones who are an enigma ...we rarely get the chance to talk to previous schools and often records never arrive

Anyone else wondering how long it'll be before someone pops up demanding access to these informal notes, in case teachers are talking about their child inappropriately?

Frankly, if anyone does pop up they can pop off again. As if the majority of teachers would be writing "inappropriate" things about pupils! Talk about making your job harder than it needs to be. I doubt they'd even understand what half the written notes say, as it's all teacher talk and levels and other things.

Mrz, our school is in a catchment area with a lot of movement. We seldom have children all the way through school and many arrive during the year, sometimes without being able to speak any English at all. Notes and handover are essential for these children.

We have 25% plus movement in our catchment

There are around 420 children at my dd's school. It never ceases to amaze me that the teachers apparently know all of the children in other classes by name. DD seems to have chatted to nearly all of the teachers at different times - in the playground, on excursions etc. They also have lots of interaction between the different year groups, which probably helps. The kids all know each other too. It makes the school feel like a real community, it's lovely.