Did anyone's child get a bad or even mediocre report in reception?

[sandyballs]

Every parent I have spoken to at my school talks glowingly about their child's lovely report and how they are a credit to the class and how they will be missed etc etc (this is in reception). I'm just curious to know if they churn out the same stuff for every parent, give or take a few words . If so is this just a "reception" thing, will this change as they progress through the school and teachers expect more.

the problem is that parents don't recognise teacher-code. What sounds like a glowing report e.g. Little delilah is a lively, active child with a wonderfully creative imagination' actually means 'Delilah never shuts up or sits still and she tells lies.'

I assume a lot of ours was a cut & paste job ! Standard jargon from the early learning & stepping stones goals. I'm sure they wouldn't be too critical in reception though

Yes!
At this age ds1 had a dreadful report: very negative. He was doing very well 'academically', but in every section the teacher put something bad about his behaviour!

ds and dd had very different reports in reception. dd's is so glowing it makes me embarrassed to read it, but I have repeatedly been told how lovely she is in school, so I have to accept she keeps her stroppy side for home (worn out by all that goodness I suppose!) ds's report wasn't bad as such, but reflected the fact that he was a complete PITA! The school thought he was autistic, and his report reflects it. I have always been impressed at how well their teachers have captured them in their reports (apart from dd's goodness!). I think it might be because they both stand out in their different ways, so there isn't much chance of their teachers getting them muddled with other children. My mother was a secondary teacher and had a few standard reports she would use for the children who sit in the middle of the class room and don't stand out. Shouldn't happen at primary level though.

with nooka and roisin, and for very much the same reasons. All the cut-&-paste stuff about ds, where it said what they'd been doing and where he'd got to, was v high achievement stuff; and then immediately next there would be a paragraph basically deploring him. It made for weirdly roller-coastery reading.

(like nooka (again) dd's regularly say "joy to have in the class". Guess which one is the pain at home?)

We still get up-and-down stuff about ds now (finished year 2), but now that they know him so well it's much more sympathetic somehow - eg his piano teacher said he was genuinely talented and then said [quote] "the only issue I have is with his behaviour, which ranges from impeccable to appalling", which was somehow so neatly put as to be almost nice. The head's general comment praised ds for "making efforts to be socially acceptable".

My absolutely favourite bit of DD1's report was the bit where she apparently "joins in singing very enthusiastically". Which is clearly a rather nice way of saying "DD1 bellows loudly and tunelessly, but boy does she enjoy it".

I have been enjoying the news that dd1 (6) has "other skills" - creative, design, arty. implying rather strongly that her 3Rs leave something to be desired.

I also have a dd2 (4) finishing reception, who is a "joy to have" in the classroom and a PITA much of the time at home. I always snigger when the teachers tell me how well behaved she is, it's too inconceivable to me.

You have to know how to read them

My favourite part of DS2's Reception report is "X's concentration in PE is improving and he can now move around safely." Presumably earlier in the year he was moving around dangerously!

On DS1's Y3 report the teacher (who actually really likes him and is very positive in other ways about him) has damned with faint praise here: "Y is beginning to show signs of maturity....".

Oh well.

I interpreted dd's nursery report (which is done individually not via tick boxes) as E never sitys still and never shuts up!!!

I went to pick her up last week and her teacher told me how she gave them all a rendition of a song from the Thomas the Tank Video with a neverending amount of verses and also demonstrated her Lion King Dance to everyone. Bit of an exhibitioninst I am afraid.

Her report also talks about how she likes to dig big holes in the nursery garden and sit in the middle of the sandpit.

DS2's said "DS2 ha a vivid imagination which he uses to weave elaborate stories around models he's made, or act out in role-play. He can become so involved in his ideas that he incorporates those around him without their realising, which can lead to upset DS2 is unaware of until too late"

wtf???

...although I realise it isn't good .

Is it just my DS2 then?

in Yr 2 we got 'dd2 is learning how to be a team member' - i.e. still throws a paddy when she doesn't get her own way but not quite as often as last year

quote from my DS1 report (yr 1, age 6)

"Max has a small group of friends with whom he interacts well. Indeed, their combined high spirits and infectious giggles need curbing a little when they erupt at inappropiate times! BUT, Maxwells easy going nature and winning smile are an asset to the class."

In other words, he is a PITA for being a giggler and setting them all off, and then he smiles beautifully and gets away with it, and also.

Later....."Altho Max has settled well into our routine (he only joined the school at xmas), he does have difficulties maintaining concentration. He clearly finds reading and writting hugely challenging."

They have indeed flagged him as possible dyslexic as he is still only on the 'first words' books.

At least it proves they do indeed know my son!!!!

The one thing that stuck out in Ds2 report was "X shows exceptional control with a ball...whether throwing, kicking or catching"

We do agree with that, he is good but it's mostly our neigbours who find that a problem, their beautiful garden takes aconstant battering from all the balls that he's kicks or throws in the air.

The rest of the report could easily have been written about any other reception child.

LTH..... my DS also had this said, and yes our neighbours would agree with that too. Mind you, surely good control should mean that they don't lose it into the neighbours garden as often as my Max seems too!

We also got things about being mischievous with certain friends, and disrupting each other.

Also: "DS2 is not particularly keen on numeracy and often has to be persuaded to finish, or even start, numeracy tasks." Not another in the long line of literature-biased Singers family members....

he does have good control when he wants to kick back and forth to me/Dh/whoever.

It jsut when he's out there with no-one to kick it too, he'll kick it up in the air to see how high he can get it...it goes bloody high for a 5 yr old and 80% of the time goes over the fence.

TBh...he throw and catch anything. When all the balls are over the fence he'll use something else....and umbrella went over the other day!!!

"dd1 has been working on improving her concentration" (i.e. she's a flibbertigibbet who rarely settles down to any work).

"dd2 has excellent fine motor skills, for example use of mouse..... she is competent in ICT, and likes to use the class whiteboard and laptop" (i.e. hogs the class computer and far too keen on playing computer games).