Commonly used phrases in school reports.... what do they really mean?

[dimsumdiddly]

DS aged 9 got his school report yesterday. It was good(ish) but describes him as "strong-willed and determined". What does this mean in "teacher language" do you think and are there any more phrases good or bad that you should look out for?

When we write "...has some understanding of..." that really means "has barely any or absolutely no understanding of" the given topic.

"Enthusiastic" means never shuts up
"Wide circle of friends" either means interferes in everything or no one really likes him and he goes from group to group winding them up.
"Lively" means wont sit down

Strong willed and determined = answers back and does not know when to stop.

Wouldn't it be far more helpful if the actual feedback was written rather than these nonsensical statements?

@ittooshallpass

Wouldn't it be far more helpful if the actual feedback was written rather than these nonsensical statements?

Yes. But if I write your son is an utter dick and I loathe having to teach him as he wastes so much of everybody's time I will be in trouble with my Headteacher.

(Not suggesting this is what the teacher wanted to write about OP's son). Simply thinking of some of the teens I have to deal with.

Wouldn't it be far more helpful if the actual feedback was written rather than these nonsensical statements?

It probably would but how would we feel as parents to receive a report that said "Fred is an obstinate little shit who thinks the rules don't apply to him" ?

I suspect it wouldn't go down well.

*Yes. But if I write your son is an utter dick and I loathe having to teach him as he wastes so much of everybody's time I will be in trouble with my Headteacher.

(Not suggesting this is what the teacher wanted to write about OP's son). Simply thinking of some of the teens I have to deal with.*

cross posted with this!

*Yes. But if I write your son is an utter dick and I loathe having to teach him as he wastes so much of everybody's time I will be in trouble with my Headteacher.

(Not suggesting this is what the teacher wanted to write about OP's son). Simply thinking of some of the teens I have to deal with.*

cross posted with this!

All quite low level and typical of his age but now that comment's made me wonder if he's doing the same in school

Why would he change personality at school?

I'm a teacher and I have to say that although my reports were always positive on the whole, I gave the parents an honest picture. If the statement about your child was a negative one, it would be expanded upon and have more detail. I wouldn't write something and then expect parents to read between the lines and guess what I meant-what is the point of that?!

Also, if there is good communication throughout the year, the end of year report should not be a surprise. I would take your son's comments as written and not give it any more thought.

Why would he change personality at school?

Well generally children tend to push the boundaries and explore different behaviours most when they feel safe (IE at home) and save their best behaviour for school.

Since we've had no negative comments about his behaviour previously (always a pleasure to teach on past reports and parent's evenings) and not been pulled aside to report specific incidents.... I'd assumed this answering back/knowing best behaviour was reserved for home and not (yet) seen at school.

I've always assumed 'kind' is good but I suspect it's a filler for a child they are struggling to say much about.

@GreenTulips Ha! MANY children have a totally different personality for school, for many different reasons. You’d be surprised.

@PastMyBestBeforeDate No, if I say a child is kind it’s because they have struck me as being kind. It’s not that common!

Ah that's really nice to know @HopeClearwater :) I was (genuinely) wondering about it. The rest is easily decodeable.

That's quite annoying, I'm a teacher but in scotland so maybe we do things differently. I use enthusiastic all the time as a positive. Also determined. Strong-willed less so - I'd use that if there was a child who only wanted things done their way in a group but I'd put a next step too so it was clear eg "Although Timmy enjoys working in a group, he can be a little strong-willed at times and should now seek to consider including ideas from others"

OP, your son sounds lovely. I would not worry too much about one comment. It probably means that he keeps trying until he succeeds which is great attribute to have.

According to DS2's report he has a complete personality change at school. I do not recognise the child described at all, as he is the total opposite in every way at home. I am hoping that this is quite common.

Maybe we should go back to the 1970s and 80s where reports had no reading between the lines and said it exactly how it was. If you were a child with SEN then it was fair game to describe you as stupid, lazy, uninterested etc because SEN didn't exist in schools then

If teachers didn't dress up the truth, parents would be outraged. One of my colleagues has a child who is constantly in trouble, is rude, does very little work and has been kicked out of every sports activity for his unpleasant attitude. She was really struggling to find positive parts to praise him without being dishonest. In the end we had to talk about his potential, if he were to stop messing about!

@ittooshallpass

Wouldn't it be far more helpful if the actual feedback was written rather than these nonsensical statements?

Absolutely - but I am on a facebook group and recently a mum posted that the teacher said her child was "immature" in his report and there were about 100 outraged responses about what an awful teacher she was!

@MrsPworkingmummy

When we write "...has some understanding of..." that really means "has barely any or absolutely no understanding of" the given topic.

Also "is beginning to", "with support" means "does not do this thing at all"

But how are parents meant to help if they aren't told there are issues? If I saw those comments I would assume my child was struggling but not massively behind. Those interpretations are totally different... 😔

“Has had the opportunity to learn about X”
They were in class but didn’t actually do any work or participate in the lesson.

“Happy to take a leading role in class discussion.” Or “a natural leader”
Never shuts up.

But how are parents meant to help if they aren't told there are issues?

Because teachers are bashed all the time from parents and assume most parents aren’t bothered.

Also "is beginning to", "with support" means "does not do this thing at all"

Not in my reports, if I say they are begenning to do something or are doing it with support then that is exactly what I mean.

Because teachers are bashed all the time from parents and assume most parents aren’t bothered.

I think most parents are in one of three groups - genuinely interested in their child's education in a supportive way, not bothered as long as they are in school or ones who know their child is perfect/demand perfection from the child (and sometimes the teachers) and all hell lets loose if they don't get it.