Do teachers tell parents where their child is position in the class?

[mariebelle234]

A friend of mine who has a DC at a different primary school to mine told me her teacher said she's top of the class. I thought that's great. They don't inform us where our child is in the class at our school. Then today my DS informed me that in his class DC A is top of class, followed by DC B, DC C. I've not ever been told this information from the teachers at parent teacher meetings or at any other time. Perhaps it's because he is not near the top. Is this the sort of information that teachers share with parents of top academically performing DCs? Surely they just tell you they are doing better than expected standard, at standard or need support, not some sort of ranking. But I don't know:? This is for primary school.

I have four kids and I have never once been told where they are in the class. They deliberately don’t tell you that information. Kids can work it out but in my experience they’re quite often wrong. My eldest thought he was the cleverest in the class and he very much wasn’t 🤣

No, the teachers will never tell you this.
The kids usually work it out but its never mentioned to parents

Back in the day there were top to bottom tables in primary school and your position in the class on end of term report cards.

In secondary school I distinctly remember the mock O'level results being posted on the door for not only my class but anyone else to see! 😱

Nothing my children experienced fortunately. I don't recall being told they were top, middle or bottom of the class, just how well they were doing.

In my child's school the tables are set out with the children working at greater depth on one side of the class and the children who need more support at the other, so it's quite easy to figure out approximately where your child is positioned. They've never directly said though (or even actually told us about the tables thing - it's very clear though, and the older kids definitely know).

Yup.

DC1 teacher said she was exceptionally bright and there were a few kids who weren't particularly kind and resented the fact she was top of the class.

DC2 teacher said the kids idolised them and put them on a bit of a pedestal as "top of the class". I asked if they were alienating people / was a giant show off and the teacher said "no, they were confident but that's probably because they ARE top of the class but he's so nice about it the other kids just ask him for help"

In both instances it wasn't so much reporting on academic or sporting or all round success, it was in the context of another issue e.g means kids / over confidence etc.

Edited to say there's a really big difference between being JUST exceeding and being at the other end. So knowing X is exceeding tells me nothing.

They don’t have kids in a list or number order. But they will group them for maths and phonics. Like kids working at greater depth or working towards etc

I can tell what level my kid is at by asking who they sit with for those lessons.

But they don’t have a list in named order or anything!

No. Of course they don't.

In my experience, I’ve not had a position or ‘best in class’ but I have had my children described as the ones who help the others with their work as they always sail through it before others. Or in terms of compliments on their characters - being confident but never showing off or rubbing it in other children’s faces. So it’s been implied but never directly said.

I was told my dd was top of the class by the teacher. She’s been saying she was struggling and I’d asked for additional support and told no, then the SATs came back with her ‘working towards’ so I raised it again that she clearly was struggling just to be told she’s actually top of the class they don’t have the resources for the children who need the help more and she won’t be getting any additional help. I now home educate

There was a mum at primary who was always saying her DD was ‘top of the class’, that she had been told this at parents evening etc.
Thing is if they did tell people this there was a boy in the class who was years ahead of everyone by years, they would have said to his mum!
She also lied about test results they’d gotten (her DD told everyone what she really got). I wonder how people like this cope with their kids in secondary.

They shouldn’t. Top of the Class isn’t really a thing anymore. Children who are doing well at maths might struggle with literacy etc. The teacher might say that they are above the expect standard or something like that but it’s not the same thing.

And what does top of the class tell you anyway? Your child might be average in a class of less able children. You go away thinking that you have a genius. Or they aren’t doing as well in a very able class you think they are not so good. It’s all relative.

My DS ‘knows’ who is top of the class but I think it’s his assessment rather than being told. But he knows who the best readers are because of the types of book they’re on, he seems to know who gets what in their spelling tests and he knows who is best at maths because they get extra work. Their tables are also arranged based on the level that they’re working at.

Top of the class but only working towards age related expectations ?! That’s really worrying.

I actually generally get told at parents evening where my child is in the class. They have a sheet with test scores on which goes from highest to lowest.

I’m a teacher. I don’t say where they are in a class, but I will say whether they will achieve age related by the end of the year.

In old-school private schools they might still, but in normal state schools no teacher would tell you where your child was ranked in the class unless they really were the absolute top (and probably not even then).

I was told my child was top of the class for certain subjects in primary. It was said sort of off the cuff at a couple of parents evenings. But as a teacher I never said that to parents. So I think it varies.

No.

not a thing,

Oh come off it, what kind of culture would that breed?! They used to call out class position based on exams when I was at junior school, I still remember being one of the last positions to be called out. I was the youngest in the class (6, when most were 7) with undiagnosed short sightedness! It stuck with me….thank goodness times have changed!

We are never told where they are compared to peers. Kids do get an idea though. For example my older two are in academic schools and the children tend to notice what others are getting for quiz or exams. In primary my dd would refer to one boy as the smartest in the class. So I think dc will notice who are the clever ones or not so clever.

I have a gifted child and have always been told that they are top of the class. I also have a dyslexic one and another who does reasonably well in class. I’ve never been told where the other two are.

I disagree with those who say teachers won’t tell you. I’ve never asked but in my experience when the top one (and often it’s obvious because they will be the child chosen for a county mathematics tournament and things like that) then you are told.

When DS was at a private primary/pre prep/prep the wording used to describe how they were doing generally was similar to OP. The comparison was based on peers in year group, I think.

When we switched to state school they used the 'expectations' wording, which I understood was based on National Curriculum or SATs. In our case not SATs as we only joined in yr5.

This was nearly a decade ago so it might be totally different now

My dd is an adult now but her maths teacher used to put their names on the screen in order of scores each lesson, they wanted to be top, but this was top set doing a level during GCSE’s

I think it depends on the school. They don’t say anything like this at my dc’s school but I think from key stage 2 they group them on tables depending on ability for English and Maths and the kids know which is the ‘top’ table.

However I tutor primary aged children and I am always being told kids are ‘top of the class’ or ‘near the top of the class’ so either other schools do tell or parents make their own assumptions somehow.

Agree with this. They find something positive to say about all children and will highlight strengths/areas for development. If they really are excelling they will tell you. They don’t formally place them (thank goodness), though I have been told that one of mine is “right at the top in everything”…..not getting too excited yet, she’s only in year 1 and is also the oldest in the class!