aibu that my dd in Yr 3 should not only receive attainment grades, but also effort grades?

[emkana]

I mean how demoralizing is this potentially for children who struggle?

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I agree. Have you suggested it to the school?

Shouldn't be getting grades at all at this age IMHO!

Sorry. Are you saying that she should or she shouldn't.

if the latter I quite agree. We do get these in the end of year reports. DS#1 in Yr 7 gets them for each term.

They receive a termly report where they get grades for English, Maths, Science and Homework. Grades are A (well above average) B (above average) L (average) D (below average)

What I'm saying is that if they insist on giving grades then they should grade effort as well as attainment, otherwise how will struggling children ever get a sense of achievement?

Yes I agree with you. My last post got it the wrong way round.

We get this for dd in secondary school - 3 grades: attainment, effort and organization.

I would really not like this in Primary. I am assuming private school?

Yes, they should always get effort grades as well as attainment - because if they're not doing great but are trying their hardest they should get a pat on the back. And if they're coasting but getting good results, someone needs to give them a nudge before they get complacent, or arrange more challenging work.

No oh no it's a state school

Ours always gets effort as well as attainment marks.
It's really important for the children, as I want them to have a good work ethic at school, and I can reward the effort they put in!

Our school does this; last year, anyway. They gave us a report card that rated 'attainment' and 'effort' separately in a big list of subjects. Ordinary state primary. I like the system, as DD is a coaster and DS2 is a slogger.

DD (Y2) doesn't get any grades at all - just comments on how she is doing in eaeach curriculum area, and target areas for the coming turn. They ALL have target areas included too, and they are appropriate to that child.

At that age the report is more for you than the child. If you don't share it with them then they won't get demoralised.

An achievement grade is less subjective than an effort grade and in some ways more useful. If you know your child isn't mucking about in class and is doing their best then an effort grade isn't very useful, but I still think it's a good idea to give them - not least so you get alerted if your child is mucking around & not trying.

But the report is given to us through the child so of course my dd wants to know what's in it.

ds1 is at secondary and for 'interims' (half year report) all we get was:
Progress
below target
on target
above target

Commitment (= effort)
2* (= bad what happened to no stars?)
34 5* (= fantastic)

So there is no 'data' that they can use to 'compare' with other students, simply stats that he can compare with his own progress. (He knows what levels his targets are though for each subject.)

You can tell the child it's a letter to you from the school and that you aren't sharing the contents with them, end of. Just because they know it exists doesn't mean they need to know what's in it and if it's sent home in an unsealed envelope then I'd complain to the school. If your child uses the line that all their friends parents tell them what's in it (probably not 100% true) you can still hold firm and say you will not, or just share any comments that are helpful, maybe in a paraphrased way but not the grades. Your child will then just assume they have strict parents - no big deal and not demoralising.

I see no benefit in telling a child that age an attainment grade whether it's good or bad.

I can't imagine why anyone would not tell a child what's in their report. What's the point of them if it's not to give the child praise where it's due and a reminder of areas to improve?

Very sad that they are graded at all at this age. Do you still get a written report on how your child is doing in school, if they are happy, confident etc or is this it?

I would hope that a report would be written in a way that could be shared with the child without it causing them undue stress and unhappiness - I think most children have a pretty good idea whether they are doing well in their subjects or not, eg they are doing books that other groups have already done. So long as there are suitable comments about how they're doing as well as the bare grades, I don't see why it would be bad to share it with them.

tbh it hadn't really occurred to me not to show dd the report, but then she is doing fairly well so I can praise her for that.

The report just contains the grades and a very brief comment "knows tables well" "needs to expand vocabulary" "h/w handed in on time" "good scientific understanding" that is it, but I'm not sure if there's going to be more in the end of year report.

I remember getting grades for both effort and attainment at school. As far as I recall they were always the same.

So in theory it's a good idea but in practice I think teachers will often not use it well, and then it's even more demoralising to think your teacher doesn't even notice how hard you've tried.

Could you just read your dd the comments in her report but not tell her the grades? My 4 year old dd's report was sent home through the post with a covering letter that suggested we not even tell her that it existed because the school think the children should not think of themselves as being judged against standards at this stage. They are lovely.

state junior school.
we get grades for progress, effort and attainment
A-E, C being satisfactory/within expected level.

It has been a rude awakening because at the Infants the reports were always done in a lovely way, then at the Juniors this. I will raise the issue at parents' eve on thu

Seeker the point of a report is to tell parents how their child is doing and what they might need to do to improve. It's then up to the parent to decide if any action needs taking and whether or not to share some or all of what's written with a child. If, for instance a report suggests a need for more tables practice a parent may choose to do a daily drill at breakfast. The child doesn't necessarily need to know the report said they needed it, although a parent may wish to tell the child their teacher had suggested it in order to pass the buck. The advantage of not ever directly sharing a report to a young child is that you can easily withold info you don't want to share if it's in your childs best interest. Obviously as they get older I think they have a right to see what's written: my own cut-off is that by senior age they should have the maturity to see & deal with what's said directly (& by then the comments should be more aimed at them as well as the parents).

For the life of me I can't see any benefit in telling a seven year old child that they're achieving below average for instance, but it may well be something that a parent would want to know. Even telling a child that they're top of the class at that age could lead to unnecessary comparisons/boasting between peers. I would stick to a statement like "your teacher is very pleased with you & says you are working hard and should keep up the good work" or whatever, if asked, rather than be drawn on grades.