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 agree. I remember one mum trying to convince me that her daughter was so ahead she should skip the next school year and go up to the year above. She was a bright little girl but definitely not the highest achieving in the class and no way should she skip a year. Somehow the mum had come to believe that her child was streets ahead.

That sounds like appalling classroom management to me.

It’s funny how so many parents, including on this thread, will pipe up that their child is ‘top of the class’. Never in the middle or just below average.

At DCs old school, a teacher did tell me at parents evening that they scored top of the class in the recent maths & English assessments they did. But I don’t think they’re supposed to, though some teachers may share that information anyway but not in writing! This was at a small village school.

I’m very foggy on the details. But one of the teachers does a league table for maths, and the top 5 for the month are on it, if you’re in the top 3 you get a sweet. I don’t know how you get on it, is it work in class, assessments, who knows. But it seems to be quite motivating and extra maths at home requested! There seems to be one child constantly on the list, but I guess they’re consistently very good at maths! Obviously this is shared in class, parents aren’t passed on the list of top 5 ranking directly. Rest of class isn’t ranked. But I think it’s quite possible the few top performers are recognised every now and then so your DC knows who they are.

In my own primary school reports it used to say whether we were in the top, middle or lower third of the class in maths and English. I remember the year I slipped into bottom third, tutors and workbooks instead of the television! Felt criminal at the time. 😳 I wish school reports still shared it really, it would be useful to know where your child falls in the class and much more meaningful than ‘meeting expectations’ etc.

Back in the day we had it read out to us what our position in class was! I was distinctly average! I felt so sorry for the poor kid at the bottom!

According to my Facebook feed, many, many children are the top of the class 😉

I’ve been told DC is top of the class at parents evening. But I always figured it meant within a higher bracket, not literally number 1 out of everyone?

I've been teaching primary for 20+ years and in that time have never had class a list of class positions, let alone shared them with kids or parents. Rigid ability grouping by table is also now considered poor practice.

But one of the teachers does a league table for maths, and the top 5 for the month are on it, if you’re in the top 3 you get a sweet. I don’t know how you get on it, is it work in class, assessments, who knows. But it seems to be quite motivating and extra maths at home requested! There seems to be one child constantly on the list, but I guess they’re consistently very good at maths!

You could tell who were the ‘top of the class’ at my DC school by looking at those who did NOT get any prizes.

Not true. We were told (and know) that DD is top of her class

That is certainly the case for the certificates they give out!! I know the naughtiest kids get them far more frequently for graciously deciding to behave for 5 mins…..

I’ve honestly got no idea how the maths thing works! My own DC has only been in top 5 once, not top 3 so didn’t get a sweet. I took it in good faith there’s some sort of system actually based on good maths but perhaps I should ask DC how those on it usually behave in class next time it comes up 😳

DC1 is exceptionally bright and also very hard-working. In secondary school
It was kind of obvious from their grades that they were top of the class but the teachers also made it clear. DC1 got 4 x Astar at A-Level, had a job and lots of hobbies.

In primary school, everything was much more low key.

No, I never knew where my children were in class position in primary school. Just if they were expected, above or below the standard.

I think maybe teachers tell parents where they trust the parents to not discuss it or put it on Facebook or whatnot.

I've always made it perfectly clear I don't care where they are in the class. It's irrelevant in a class of 30. I care where they balance up nationally and whether they are being stretched and challenged or just left to rot because they working a year ahead.

I suspect that's why the teacher has mentioned it in the context of other things.

I do share on anonymous forums like this because I feel other parents can share the frustration. Also on an anonymous basis.

I think maybe teachers tell parents where they trust the parents to not discuss it or put it on Facebook or whatnot.

They are foolish if that were the case.

I agree with this as well.

Ds1 exceptionally bright and have been told he's top of his class and eg he gets on the quiz team every year. We do also discuss his many challenges stemming from his asd.

Ds2 - I would guess an average learner. Teachers have never told me his rank in class but do say he's doing OK, no concerns, gets on with others etc.

They don’t volunteer it normally but they will tell you if you if you ask

In my experience as a parent and a teacher the exceptions are told - so the top few of the class and the ones that are struggling (but never told they are bottom of the class). They are just told so they know why they might be getting extra support - the top of the class getting extension work and the ones struggling getting extra help in the classroom.

It depends on the school - we avoided a local primary because it updated parents as to their children's "number" in the year, so say 20/100. They were very big on getting kids into the grammars and pushy. Two kids we know left with anxiety problems and school refusal.

We had top tables for each class at dd's primary, so the kids knew they were "set" depending on which table they were on (basically top middle and bottom). Kids know where they are quite quickly, as they are in the room and usually quite aware.

Teachers will sometimes say that a child is top if it’s relevant (ie a child a well beyond the ability of their peers). They wouldn’t usually say a child is third or forth, they don’t have a list of top to bottom.

I got told (in a roundabout way) that one of my DC was basically bottom of the class. It stung a bit, but led to useful discussions on how to offer them more support at school and at home.

But in general terms, no I woudn't expect teachers to be ranking a whole primary class from top to bottom and giving out those ranks to parents.

At secondary, I usually practise upside down reading and scan over the marks sheet the teacher has in front of them to work out where DS’s position is, in whichever subject is being discussed.

At the village Primary, the class was very small so they never really commented on where DS sat in relation to the other kids. He’s autistic and academically extremely able but the only time the teacher led me to believe he was ‘top’ was when she referred only him to the gifted and talented course run by the local University. 🤷🏻‍♀️

But what use is that information? Knowing your child is in the top few of a class tells you little about their achievements. Classes vary hugely in ability even if they are not sets. And achieving well in tests could reflect a teacher setting tests that are very simple.

I think if a child is genuinely top then they will often mention that. But they don't have the whole class ranked as such - or at least if they do they don't share it with the parents.

For example most of my son's primary school teachers told me he was top of the class in almost every subject. At his Y7 parents evening several teachers said that he was top of the class. He is very much gifted in multiple areas.

I've never been told my daughter's position in the class. However she knows she sits at the 'top table'. But she's not the absolute top so it isn't mentioned.

I’m in France. On my app, I know exactly where in DS’ different subjects he’s ranked, both for his class as a whole, and for each topic. After each test (we get a lot), DS can see on his own app the highest score, the lowest score, and the average, plus see DS’ individual average per subject and for the class. It’s brutal, but somewhat incentivising!