"Slow but steady progress" Can anyone translate?

[Minniethemoocher]

DD has special educational needs, as yet unidentified, ASD has been mentioned, learning difficulties, developmental delay, sensory processing disorder.

She is aged 6, in Year 1 of mainstream school and her school report, for most subjects states that she has made "slow but steady progress" in line with her abilities.

But what does it really mean? Is it a stock phrase used for children of lower academic ability?

It probably means compared to other children she has not progressed as quickly. But the fact she is progressing is positive, isn't it? It is a stock phrase..but there's only so many teachers can use!

Slow but steady progress can be used as a phrase about any child at any level.
Means she's plodding along nicely, progress is happening but at a slower pace than average.

Thanks for replying.

She is not on the National Curriculum levels, she is on P Scales, not really sure other than that it is a way to assess Special Needs children.

We are very pleased with "slow but steady"! ANY progress is an achievement, really.

this will only really be an overview - you should be getting a better idea of her progress at her iep meetings. is she meeting her iep targets, or are they extending them into the next term/ six months? do they review her p scales achievements with you at these meetings or have they been given to you as well as the 'slow but steady'?

i'd be chuffed with 'steady' progress - well done dd!

i would say it means they are very pleased with how she is coping. if they had any concerns that she was in the wrong environment etc then the wording would have been more obviously problematic i suspect.

i know i find dd2's iep meetings much more useful than the annual report or the parent/teacher sausage factory meetings.

if you are still a little worried about the lack of specificity, i would ask if you can pop in before the end of term to put your mind at rest. (is she statemented? have you had annual review?)

It might be more useful to have a look at the targets on your daughters IEP. We break these down into small managable steps ( so for example it might say"to recognise numbers from 1 to 5") and set a realistic target date for when these should be achieved You should be told how your child is being helped to achieve these targets and how far they have ( or haven't!) got towards them. Small steps are just as important as giant leaps

Sorry, hadn't seen madwomans post when I began mine-we have overlapped!

Her IEP targets haven't been met, so they will be continuing into next year, but she has made progress in terms of increasing her attention span and starting to interact a little in class, answering questions (even if she does get them wrong)

I am very proud of her!

DD doesn't have a Statement (yet!)school are in the processing of applying for one. I think that you are right, I need to have a chat with the school before the end of term. They do seem to be good with DD, not so good at communicating with parents though!

that's a great idea - i would ask if you can make a joint appointment with the 'old' teacher, and the 'new' one so that you can all discuss what support she needs next year in order to start hitting those targets
have they actually requasted stat assessment? maybe you could offer to write the letter for them if they haven't had time? as long as you know that school will support the request then that is half the battle.
well done at answering questions in the class! v confident little lady!