School Report

[bubblebubblebubbletrouble]

Sorry this might be long.....
Hoping for some advice on how to broach this on parent's evening video call or whether to just ignore it.
DD2 is in Yr1 & has some special needs & socialisation issues but has gradually settled during the year & since Easter i haven't been advised of any issues with other children.
I recently had a review with SENCO in which her progress was complimented and plans for future put in place.
She is very bright, fantastic at reading, writing, maths etc - from what she says she's been more confident answering questions in class & she seems to be enjoying school much more.
So yesterday her report arrived and it's the strangest thing I've ever read. Rather than the usual how they are in class, strengths, weaknesses, examples, progression etc it's this weird badly written jumble of words
"Able to maximise opportunities with occasional adult support and make good choices in order to direct her own learning with independence" is one example but generally the whole thing just doesn't flow.

Now her maternity cover teacher (who I know from reception/lockdown & from Dd1's early years time) has signed it but I suspect it was written by her class teacher who actually only taught her from Sept-Christmas because last minute in March she advised that as she was 28 weeks pregnant under Covid restrictions she wasn't coming into school.
The new assistant head has written a generic comment at the bottom obviously cut & paste or incomplete because the sentence actually finishes with and so in theory it has been internally reviewed and passed.
I just want to know what they are getting at, how my child is doing & how she can be helped - but it feels rude to just say what does this crap actually mean in plain English and how does it correlate with feedback I've been receiving.

TLDR - do I question what has been written & the language used bearing in mind I don't really know how she is behind closed doors or just let it go and pray for a good teacher next year?

It sounds like the teacher has used a bank of statements to complete the report, which is common in many schools.
Tbh, as a primary teacher, I find it impossible to write a completely individual and unique report for every pupil as it would take absolutely hours. Sad, but true. So using banks of statements is a much quicker way, but you have less ownership over the language used.

It sounds like that sentence is saying your daughter gets a lot out of class time with some adult support but is starting to become more independent and work well in her own.

I think it's standard way how the report was written. My dc's report was always written this way. I don't think it sounds anything cryptic at all. She can maximise opportunity with occasional adult support. She can make a good choice to direct her own learning independently.
It's a great report.

Yes, stock responses are pretty common in Primary reports in my experience (4 dc at primary school). As Katherine says, it would take them hours to write truly individual reports for each child. I also agree with her comment translation, reports can be a bit like Consultant letters "I met this delightful lady...". I understand why you'd like to question it but I wouldn't if I were you. I've a dc in y1 & they've all had a really rocky start to their schooling but from what you've written she seems to be settling well & liking going which is pretty good going considering all that's happened since March last year.

Thanks everyone - I guess I've been spoilt by dd1's wonderful teachers over the last 6 years (same school) not to have encountered this before.
I get the time saving - I guess because of her challenging start at school I'm looking for really clear signals and am a little over protective. Will see how parent's evening is - if her teacher is her usual bubbly positive self and gives a good balance then I'll let it go.

Honestly, you should let it go anyway. It comes across over invested if you complain about how the report was written.

Our school thankfully has stopped with the ‘personal’ feedback as it become obvious that it was a bank of responses.

We now get a very simple report back with current targets (working towards, greater depth etc)

We have parents evening - zoom 10 min slot (I hope this stays) where we can raise any issues, get better feedback this way!! Better use of the teacher time - yes it’s a faff having a parents evening but better than copy and pasting exercise!

@bubblebubblebubbletrouble

Thanks everyone - I guess I've been spoilt by dd1's wonderful teachers over the last 6 years (same school) not to have encountered this before. I get the time saving - I guess because of her challenging start at school I'm looking for really clear signals and am a little over protective. Will see how parent's evening is - if her teacher is her usual bubbly positive self and gives a good balance then I'll let it go.

It's not that DD1's teachers were wonderful (at least when it comes to report writing), it's that if you have a child without SEN it's not that obvious.

As you say yourself, you were looking for specific signs and maybe even guidance. That is for SENCO meetings, pupil progress meetings, parent's evening.

The end of year report is an overall view of how she's doing ,what level she's at in her learning and a few personal comments about her. They also can't be or perceived as negative. I know quite a few teachers that had to rewrite reports because they mentioned areas where children struggled too much or they weren't "sanitised" enough.

If you're still unsure about the areas your child struggles with and what you can do to help, either email the teacher or the SENCO and have a separate chat with them.

I guess I've been spoilt by dd1's wonderful teachers over the last 6 years (same school) not to have encountered this before.

To be fair, your DD1’s teachers didn’t have to write those reports after nearly two academic years of dealing with Covid19 issues.

Your DD2 sounds wonderful OP, and doing ever so well in challenging times. I don’t see what there is to let go really.

So the class teacher taught her from September to December, they have had Lockdown and maternity cover- that says it all really. As a primary teacher, both times I went maternity leave in early spring, I wrote basic reports to the point where I left, (because I felt it was the right thing to do- there was no contractual obligation on me at that point) then the cover teacher was asked to finish them off later on. However, if she was isolating, she was not actually on maternity leave yet, so would have been expected to still be working online until leave officially started. A report written like that, with only one term if actual contact, would be fairly meaningless by now anyway. The maternity cover may only be on a supply contract and not be paid for extras like writing reports. It sounds like a bad cut and paste job to be honest, cobbled together from what the class teacher knew before she left. You know, from your meeting with the SENDCO, far more detail. I would chalk this one up to experience and an unfortunate set of circumstances (maternity and lockdown) this year and hope for better in the future.

I'm a primary school teacher and we don't use a bank of statements. Ours are personal (but of course there's only one way you can say "they can count in 2s, 5s and 10s, for example, so of course those specific bits are the same from report to report). Using a bank of statements is quite common though, not necessarily a bad thing, but it should still make sense! Plus, I think there should be somewhere on the report that feels like they're talking about YOUR child. Anyway, all that aside, if you have questions about your DD, just ask them! Don't worry! X

Thanks for all the input.

It sounds like the teacher was short of time. To make things easier, she used a bank of statements to write the report for you to read. Usually the end of term or year school report is a document that essentially describes progress made or lack of. If you have any questions however, I would email or call asking for a meeting to discuss the wording of the report in private.