Reception school reports, how detailed?

[Moonbabysmum]

My daughter is in reception and has brought home her first school report. It consists mostly of tickboxes, of attainment, progress and effort, and then lists the subjects. Shes got identical 'marks' in each column.

So she shows the same level of effort in her favourite subjects as her least favourite? Even though the teacher discussed how difficult it is to motivate her for certain things, and also how well she is doing in some areas. Everything is identical.

There are literally two comments which are personalised for her, and that's it.

I wasnt expecting war and peace, but maybe a short sentence on each subject, or at least it jot to look so blatantly like a cut and paste job.

Are my expectations off, or is this below what they should he providing?

What were you expecting?

Is it her main school report, or just a termly summary. I believe they need to give you a full written report once a year. However, most schools would send the detailed report out at the end of the year.

We don’t get reports until the end of the year. I wouldn’t expect much after a term.

I've nevwr worked in a school that gives reports for any year group at any point to parents except at the end of each academic year.

I wouldn't expect anything at the end of the aurum or spring term so if I did get a report I'd be perfectly happy with tick boxes and a few personal comments. There's not really much to tell a parent after just 1 term in school that you won't already know from parents evening.

I generally find reports very underwhelming and tick boxy - particularly interim ones. The one at the very end of the academic year is normally the main school report and has a bit more.

What were you expecting?

If they are going to bother doing them, then more than just a sentence that could pretty much be applied to everyone, and tick boxes that actually reflect how they are doing, rather than being on autocomplete. What is the point in a report which doesn't actually detail their progress?

When I say tick boxes, i don't mean ones that are completed for each child and subject. They literally just show that she has average attainment, with average progress and average effort, in every subject. It's clearly not been given any thought as this directly contradicts what the teacher has said to me.

There will not be comments for individual 'subjects'. In reception. I think you are pushing to describe areas of the curriculum as 'subjects. Would you describe cutting out shapes and colouring them in as art??
The teachers assess whether your child is meeting the expected goals for their age.

The teachers assess whether your child is meeting the expected goals for their age.

Yes, but they haven't. The tick boxes are meaningless because they are the same for everyone from what we can see, and dont reflect comments the teachers have actually made.

You could have Einstein in the class and he'd still be marked and average at maths, and average effort. It doesnt actually seem to reflect the child at all.

Agree I've never known a school to do a report at any point in the year apart from the summer term. Is this private?

My sons in reception I didn’t even realise they did different subjects 😂

@FoxIvy

Agree I've never known a school to do a report at any point in the year apart from the summer term. Is this private?

Me either. OP I think you should ignore the tick boxes and wait for an end of year report as it will be much more accurate.

The targets aren’t specific to each child, they are base line goals for the all children in the year group.

Admit it, you are just a little bit disappointed that your child is seen as average and has not been fast tracked into some mythical extended pathway class for the socially and academically gifted.

All you really need to know at the end of the first term of reception is :

is my child happy,

Is my child gaining and showing confidence

does my child enjoy school.

If those three elements aren’t in place the teacher could write twenty pages of individual assessment but they wouldnt help your child to learn.

It's reception.
They just have early learning goals - it's either yes or no as to whether they've achieved them or not. These are also then reported formally by the school. At this point, I'd imagine it's just the early year's baseline results -again, yes or no,

Is this the only report you get from the school all year?
It's unusual for schools to send home reports at this point of the year, unless independent, Ime. Most send out reports in the summer term, with these tick lists and then generally a paragraph at the end which is the personalised part.

My school doesn't do termly reports. However my children often get the same 'marks' for All subjects- it was a choice of 3 of below, meeting or exceeding expectation. I expect there's quite a range in ,'meeting expectations' from scraping what's required with some encouragement and being a favourite subject and doing relatively well.

Admit it, you are just a little bit disappointed that your child is seen as average and has not been fast tracked into some mythical extended pathway class for the socially and academically gifted.

No, the opposite in some ways. There are areas she is really struggling with motivation, and in those areas she is (according to the boxes) giving as much effort as things that are her favourites. For example, its a running joke with us and the teacher that you can't get her to do art/crafts/colouring if you paid her, and she'll do the minimum amount possible. Yet she's making average progress with average effort, exactly the same as things that we know she's really really enthusiastic about.

I'm not upset that its not showing her to be doing super well, but frustrated that doesn't actually reflect anything in either direction, which makes the whole exercise seem pointless.

For example, its a running joke with us and the teacher that you can't get her to do art/crafts/colouring if you paid her, and she'll do the minimum amount possible. Yet she's making average progress with average effort, exactly the same as things that we know she's really really enthusiastic about.

There's a tick box for crafts / colouring in?

OP I think you should ignore the tick boxes and wait for an end of year report as it will be much more accurate.

Yes, this sounds sensible. It's a huge shock to the system to go from a childminder where we have pages of detailed assessments for every week, to an end of term very generic sentence.

I've not done this before, and reports I've seen from other schools have been more detailed
I don't think it's unreasonable to wait to know whether it's in the range of normal.

@Whinge

Yep!

There's about 8 categories.

Saying that, whether theres 1 or 100 things listed, if they all have the same marks irrespective of how well or badly they are doing, its equally pointless.

I'd be happy with a brief report. Or no report. But if you have a report, then surely it needs to be individually completed for each child.

@Moonbabysmum

OP I think you should ignore the tick boxes and wait for an end of year report as it will be much more accurate.

Yes, this sounds sensible. It's a huge shock to the system to go from a childminder where we have pages of detailed assessments for every week, to an end of term very generic sentence.

I've not done this before, and reports I've seen from other schools have been more detailed
I don't think it's unreasonable to wait to know whether it's in the range of normal.

Childminders are able to provide more detail as they have less children. Although pages of detailed assessments every week seems extremely unusual and a complete waste of time.

What you've seen from other schools are probably end of year reports. It's really not the norm to send home reports at the end of each term.

We have just had our school reports (private)

I actually missed the online zoom meeting with dds reception teachers I did manage to catch her at drop off, I apologised and asked should I try and book in again, she said no all was well. Her written report basically said she was hitting her targets.

My other dds school zoom meeting we on a timer and they just switched off when it counted down. It was for a round 10 mins I think ( if that) Her report was much more in depth (year 4)

I don't think it's unreasonable to wait to know whether it's in the range of normal.

But you have got that

Unlike the overwhelming majority of schools who only send the one report out each year, not one after 3 months.

Yes, this sounds sensible. It's a huge shock to the system to go from a childminder where we have pages of detailed assessments for every week, to an end of term very generic sentence.

Are you really unable to see the difference between one person looking after 2 or 3 children, and one teacher looking after 30 ?

You should have had a parent evening at some point since the school year started, and it’s completely normal only to get a tick box type report at this time of year. You’ll get a more detailed written report at the end of the school year.

You’ll get much more useful information from a five minute chat with your child’s teacher if you feel you need one, and from your child herself. You’re not wrong that these reports are a meaningless exercise, but blame the governments grading system, not the school.

I think you need to chill out. Your child is meeting expectations. They are 4 or 5 and teachers EXPECT them to be a bit distracted sometimes. At this stage the vast majority of reports will look very similar as the ‘meeting expectations’ category is very broad.

These are end of reception year objectives.
“ ELG: Fine Motor Skills
Children at the expected level of development will:

• Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using the tripod grip in almost all cases;
• Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paint brushes and cutlery;
• Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing.”

As others have said, it won’t be her main report. It’ll just be a termly tick box one.

Seriously, don’t overthink it.