Absency - should I get this changed?

[admylin]

Well we broke up for 2 months today in Germany, you should have seen ds's class - half of them came out crying because they had bad reports (ds was top of the class and the only one with a good report, phew) but one thing about ds's abcency that the teacher wrote on the bottom of the report says how many days he'd been off - 11, and next to it how many days off without a note - 11.
I was mad because I always wrote a note and even went to her myself whenever he was off. I think it looks bad if we changed schools and the new school saw that what would they think of our parenting - even though the grades are top. I've still got all the notes in ds's homework book so should I get it changed or just leave it?

I would get it changed.

Got 2 months to compose letter in German then!

Hello admylin Yes, do get it changed. Can help you with letter.
The poor children - isn't it dreadful over here, these Zeugnissorgen at such a young age? Glad your ds's report is fab though

Hi berolina, yes it was awful at school. I was waiting outside his classroom door and as it opened about 5 red eyed children filed out and ran down to the Hof, the next few came out to me saying the teacher was rotten and had ruined their reports, then ds with the best report of the class and left inside the classroom - 3 sobbing children, really really sobbing. The teacher was trying to comfort them. I just hope my 2 can keep their cool and not get so worked up in future years.

Oh, the poor lambs, how dreadful

Thanks for the offer, I've started a letter but it sounds terrible, have to work on it a while then I'll ask you what you think. Can't send it 'til end of August anyway.

May just be a mistake. If you hadn't sent a note on 11 occasions, surely they'd have mentioned it before?
Well done to your ds! Those poor other children. Doesn't help that the reports (here at least) are so brief - no possibility to note the improvements or even subdivisions for many subjects.
2 months

I know it was heart breaking, poor kids . But the worst is, a couple of them looked terrified because of what their parents were going to say. That's not how I remember my primary school life.

It's horrid, isn't it? I think the system is at least partly to blame because the Y4 Empfehlungen seem to permanently loom, but whatever are parents thinking of putting such huge pressure on their children over reports?

Oh, it's actually Y6 here, isn't it? (I find it more sensible myself, if there has to be this selection at all, to at least do it later). Makes it even less understandable.

Heard on the radio that 20 % of Berlin pupils are durchgefallen and the worst results are in Mitte, that was for the higher schools though.

Why can't they get sealed reports? And why do they need to be so drastic at that age that dc are in tears about it. Can't honestly remember ever having read a primary school report of mine.

what do you mean by durchgefallen admylin? Do they have to repeat a year?

I got dd's report today. It's just a written text. It's ok I think there are some comments in there about her not being sorgfältig or ordentlich in her writing (which I think is a just criticism, she's a bit slapdash) but on the whole I can live with it. It also says that in music lessons she enjoys singing and playing instruments but her "Mitarbeit könnte reger sein".

Actually about music she said it's a drag that they always have to sing English songs because they have to pronounce everything wrong and she doesn't like doing that! She was saying the other day for that Go Down Moses song, they have to sing "let my peepil go) with the stress on PIL. I said, why not ask the music teacher if you can't pronounce it properly then? But she said they always have to sing those songs wrong

By the way, hers says 21 days absent but I think they knocked a few off. I am sure she was absent more than that. Just a dash under "davon unentschuldigt" although we don't have to send notes, just call up to explain after 3 days.

Hi Sandy, yes we got one like that in the first and second year. Sounded abit like your dd's - and still one of her problems is that she isn't quick enough for the teacher. She is a perfectioist and would rather do her maths slowly then she doesn't get any mistakes but here they want them to go as quickly as possible - she's also a slow reader apparently.
I haven't had time to finish my letter but I will definately get that changed to a dash on the unetschuldigt bit.

I think it was just a mistake/slip up which came from printing off a whole ton of reports at once. Mail me your letter if you like. I think you only need a two-liner. Did you know that dc get into museums for free today because it's the beginning of the school holidays? Dd has ballet so we can't go