School report - thoughts please.

[seeker]

Ds is in year 4. This is what his class teacher wrote about him - it seems to me to be entirely negative and it came as a complete surprise to me. I'm going to talk to her about it, but I'd welcome comments from people who don't know him!

"P is a bright abd bubbly boy who loves to sheare his work and ideas with the class. He loves taking part in whole class discussion although sometimes forgets to put his hand up and wait his turn. He responds well to praise and hates to be in trouble. He now needs to take more ownershipo of his behaviour and consider the possible outcomes of his bactions. He has a solid group of friends although the boys can be a little competitive at time and this can lead to problems. The SEAL programme has enables P to explore his relationships with others and reflect on the qualitie that makes him special."

Thank you!

He sounds like a basically lovely little boy who talks too much and is quite easily led, but is not out of control- doesn't sound that bad to me. Doesn't make out he is some kind of monster, but points out one aspect of his behaviour that needs to change. I have seen far grumpier comments on school reports tbh.

Hmmm.

sounds like a 9 year old boy to me. Can't see anything too damning

How can you see this as "entirely negative"! It says he's a bright and bubbly boy,perhaps a little chatty and needs to remember others might want a turn too ( hardly the end of the world!) He realises that poor behaviour can cause problems which he doesn't like ( good, I'd rather have a boy who tries not to get into trouble, even if he doesn't always manage it, than one who isn't bothered!) and needs to think before he acts ( don't we all!) Boys this age can be very competitive and he just needs to watch this to ensure it doesn't cause problems for others, the bit about SEAL sounds like a generic "you must include a SEAL comment in your report" statement.

Personally I wouldn't worry about a report like this at all, he sounds just like a typical yr 4 boy to me!

Think that is fine - there are good points mentioned and also advice as to what he can work on next year.

He sounds lovely (and very similar to mine at that age!)

I do not see anything really wrong with hat is said but if you think the description does not fit the P you know, maybe ask to see the teacher and compare notes? Sometimes children behave very differently at home and in school.

Sounds pefectly normal and acceptable to me. I would be fine with that. (Have had worse with my 2 boys.....who are now perfectly lovely and at university).

What were you expecting/hoping for?

It sounds exactly what I'd expect to hear about my dd. Children do behave differently at school to at home.

OP I'm afraid I agree with the other posters.

I prefer truthfull reports like these than the cut and paste yy your child is wonderful and has nothing to work on.

seeker, I don't understand. You've always seemed like a sane and reasonable poster to me.
This is a perfectly normal comment for a lot of lively 9 year olds who are still a bit egocentric about their own importance in the scheme of things. I don't see it as bad or negative at all.

Seeker - do you have my DS (age 9 & Y4) living with you ?? . This is EXACTLY what his reports have said - interestingly he has recently moved to a new school where they seem to have dealt with the issue of 'not putting up his hand' immediately and he is now much happier - larger class, more boys to bounce ideas off. He also had to do the SEAL programme (or something similar) - not sure if it did any good. I am just pleased that I have a confident, outgoing child - as your son sounds to be.

The SEAL programme is a whole class PSHCE scheme.

Sounds like it could have been written about my DS

I would say he sounds an entirely normal 9yr old boy and that the teacher has been very positive about him. Did the comments come as a surprise to you - surely you must be aware that this is how he is in class? Like many, if not most young boys!

I thought it was nice! He is a typical boy- exuberant, friendly and enthusiastic and this gets him into trouble sometimes, either in the classroom or with friends. He responds to the praise and hates getting into trouble and so at least he is not attention seeking by bad bahaviour-merely a little too enthusiastic! I would be happy to teach him any day from that report.
The only thing that I din't like was the last sentence about SEAL which is probably pasted on the bottom of everyone's report and fairly meaningless.

I've obviously got a blind sopot in relation to my PSB!
You see it wasn't the putting his hand up (I know all about that!) or the SEAL (I'm the governoer resposible for SEAL in our school and Ithink it's great) or the competitiveness (I know all about that too!). \

It was the taking ownership of his behaviour and the consequences of his actions thing - I've always seen him as very good at that!

And TBH I'm used to more positives than just "bright and bubbly"

I will take myself off and give myself a stiff talking to.

seeker, you banana, we all think he sounds a lovely boy and we only have this report to go on! exactly the kind of little boy I'd love ds to have for a friend or that I would like to have in my class if I were a primary school teacher

I write year four reports. It's fine, it's mainly positive and reads like the kind of thong I would write. To be honest, if you came to see me and complained that it was negative I'd be astounded and think you were having a really bad day! If you came to ask me how to help him take more responsibility for his behaviour, I'd be less surprised. Maybe I'm going to have 75% of parents from my class in next week when they get their reports!

Maybe it just is that as kids get older they need to continue to take responsibility for their actions? It needs to develop, maybe even the teacher has seen in the past kids start to distance themselves from their actions at about this age. I certainly see teenagers who don't seem to see the connection between their bad behaviour, not bothering and low grades. Or who don't really believe their is anything they can do about it.

Or maybe the teacher was struggling for slightly different wording but it just wouldn't come (and reports do take a lot of time).

He sounds lovely btw.

I'd be overjoyed to get that report, Seeker.
DS1's was so bad that I burnt it, I couldn't bear to read it at all.

I too like the honesty of the report and think your ds must be a really nice child. I'm expecting the usual cut and paste job, which leaves you feeling cheated, when they eventually issue reports on the last day of term (23 July) - I won't even have an opportunity to speak with teacher!

Well, maybe I won't mention it. Actually, I want to ask him about his Nc levels as well - so I'll take the littlebrownmouse "What can I do to help him?" line, and then she'll tell me about all these times when he's tried to shift the blame onto other people and I'll creep out of the class as best I can with my tail between my legs and my foot in my mouth!

But there's nothing about him being polite and helpful and a pleasure to have in the class and all that stuff!!!!!!!!

Sounds fine to me. He likes sharing with the class, gets involved, hates being in trouble. He sounds keen to participate, so that is very good. This thing about ownership of behaviour may be to do with his competitive behaviour with his competitive friends. So that doesn't sound bad at all, competitiveness is a good trait.