entitlement to school reports

[edpen]

Is it enough for a secondary school to provide school reports online? My dd's school has moved to only providing reports in this way and the system is very complicated. I would rather have a hard copy or for the report to be emailed to me.

What are their obligations?

I can vaguely recall that under the Data Protection Act you can ask for all data held by a school about your child - does anyone know anything about this.

Thanks

I don't know about the Data Protection Act but at the DC's school we get the reports online to save paper. For the main school reports we print them off because we want a hard copy, we don't do so for the interim reports though as they don't say much.

I don't know obligations but I do know how tight finances are at state schools. 100 pupils, 3 times a year (often that's a minimum) at £1 which only covers postage is £1000. Add printing costs too, then time. I wouldn't be surprised if reports don't cost £5000 a year. In times when budgets are so tight, that money can be put to really good use elsewhere. If I had access to an online system, I'd work my way around it, and support the schools attempts to move forward, harness technology, and save money. Obviously, if I had no private Internet access, I'd expect an option whereby one would be sent.

Meant 1000 pupils!

Under the data protection act you can ask for the school records for your child. Also under the data protection act they are allowed to ask you for the cost for producing them, up to £10 I think.

Are your reports avaliable to print off? If you have a printer I would imagine it to be easier printing off your own copy than doing what noble is saying the school is entitled to do.

at my son's school (1800 pupils) they email the reports which is fine (actually better than a hard copy only). What I don't like is the complicated online thing my dd's school uses (which I struggle with) and their refusal to provide me with a hard or email copy on request. I know I am not the only one who has found it difficult but even so, if most people can manage online I do think they should politely accommodate those who can't access the online report easily for whatever reason.

I agree, because if it is too complicated then it's not really accessible. Especially to non-IT conversant parents, of which there are still a good number.

I'm thinking (obviously wrongly) that all you'd need is a registration password and user number to access Miss Edpen's file and then click on summer report! Or, maybe, click on 'English' then 'summer report', which would be more complicated, being per subject based, but still not rocket science.

What have they done to make it so compliacted?

it combines 2 different websites where you have to create and then consolidate accounts in a complicated process which isn't very easy to navigate and then because it isn't something you use everyday it's easy to forget how to do it.

I just think that they should allow for those who can't (or even won't) access their system for whatever reason. If there are more than a handful then there is something wrong with their system, if only a handful then no great hardship to help them.