School reports - Wales

lesleystrawson

My husband and I are NOT happy. Yesterday we received our 5 year old daughter's end of term report. And it is shocking.

No, my daughter isn't a little horror!! The school has adopted (what seems to be common practice these days) a computer software program, which 'chooses' phrases to slap into a report framework. The whole thing is a sloppy 'cut and paste' exercise, which frankly could be have been written about half of her class.

The wrong year is on the front (2007), several paragraphs have been cut and pasted TWICE. And the section on ICT is all about her Deisgn Technology for the year....

The report must have dozens of 'she's' in it, with the odd first name popped in for good measure. And it reads like a syllabus of what topics have been covered this year/what children should have achieved by the end of Year 1, rather than a concise review of my daughter's progress.

What makes it worse is that it has also been signed by the Head! Who has obviously not bothered to read the damned thing.

Now, I am not one to slate the hard work of teachers. I am myself a 'retired' (at 37!) primary school teacher. I sweated blood and tears to ensure that when I wrote my reports, I encapsulated every last bit of a child's progress and achievement over their year with me. I understand how tiring it can be, and the pressure teachers are under. But I cannot accept this poor piece of 'administration' that frankly reads as if no care has been taken over its construction.

I intend to copy the report, annotate it with my own comments, then send it back to Head, asking for a corrected copy. What I want to know please, is if in Wales there are legal requirements laid down as to the content within a school report? Do they need to include what has been covered within the syllabus for the year, if it needs to be a 'set' number of pages, for example. I have googled for answers to these questions and failed.

Any help appreciated. Thank you.

Lesley

tattoed_bum

the educational system for 5-7 year olds has changed in the last year in wales ,my 5 yr old did have a written report but there was nothing in it i didnt already know ,i tend to have a good rappor with my childs teacher and she is very approachable i also tend to have quite a few meetings with the teacher throughout term time (i have a deaf child in mainstream school).ask your child teacher if you can have a meeting with them and discuss any concerns you have ,
the new way of teaching this year was more to do with social and interactive skills other than academical and also this year so i am not sure if they have a structured syllabus .
talk to the headteacher and explain that you are unhappy with the way the report has been written it may be that they are trying out something new to help cut down on paperwork for the teachers ,i am sure any feedback to them will be taken with the upmost respect .

Gingham_Ribbon

Unfortunately, this seems to be a common thing and I hate it too. When I was teaching I was forced to follow this pattern of useless, pointless waffle with no chance to express what I really thought. Nothing personal. Totally worthless.

I don't think there is anything you can do except complain and hope the school see sense. Chances are the teachers don't like it much either. I wish you luck with this. PArents need to know what is actually, really going on and this is too important to be reduced to ticking boxes.

amandada

My children get these reports too-we're in Scotland....and yes it's just a huge C+P job

Janepig

I got DD's school report yesterday (she's 5) and I don't know what it says because it's all in Welsh!! She goes to a welsh school (obviously) so I've got no problem with that - I was going to ask DH to translate it for me because he speaks welsh but (long story) it descended into a huge huge argument and I still haven't had it translated. But I suppose I'll have to go crawling at some point! How families where neither parent speaks welsh manage I don't know.

Sorry OP, I know that doesn't really answer your question. :rolleyes:

Jxx

In_Search_Of_Me

I would get in touch with the LEA or have a peek at the WAG website as may be some guidance there! Also could contact SNAP who are quite up on legislation but more so would express your concern to the school/teacher. Sadly seems the same all over but as for the report only being in Welsh - you gotta laugh havent you eh! I used to go to cnferences where they paid thousands for translators to attend with all the equipment & not one delgate spoke Welsh...what a waste of money!

Savvy_Sue

There are parts of my sons' reports which they have had to write themselves - the bit where you'd expect some sensible input from teachers about their general progress and development!

Poppy9

My DD now in secondary school in Wales and since Y1 has had computer aided school reports.

The teachers seem able to personalise the reports so that I know I'm reading about my DD. A few sentences look like stock phrases and they do set out what they have studied in each subject through the year. I did think it was OTT having a paragraph for every single subject they had studied in Primary school. I would have preferred a more general report that told me how she was doing . Hard to judge as they use phrases like "making excellent progress". Is this excellent progress for her ability? Is she behind etc. Hard to judge when you have only 1 child and I don't like comparing notes with parents as it can get competitive.

No offical formal SATS in Wales but at the end of Y2 & 6 they give her SATS levels which told me more about her academic ability.

In Y8 secondary school and I have been impressed how personal the school reports have been for such a large school (2000 pupils). Her name is used by most teachers, comments about her attitude, behaviour which are personal to her and they indicate what level she is achieving. There is an explaination sheet at the begining saying what all the levels mean and if there is a + or - and that lower levels normal for new languages like French, Spanish & German.

Zazen999

Perhaps they have done it badly on purpose - so that you complain - and they then get to send the message up the ladder in order to get the system changed.

Just a thought...

samarnesen

only just read this thread
im in wales and i have 2 daughters at primary school both reports were hand written and individual to my daughters abilities they do go to a very good school which has a fantastic headmistress who firmly believes in putting the childrens education first above time and financial matters so i dont know if that makes a difference

misty

My son is 7 and they two have a computer report. The teacher told me in reception that when the children reach a certain target, they log that on to the computer and it generates that section of their target into their report. Therefore if they can easily discuss other religions and cultures (I know!) it says that or if they can sometimes discuss other religions it says that - therefore many of the kids will get very similar comments on their subjects.

They do however, have a personal statement section (which is the bit I am most interested in) where the class teacher talks about the child on a more personal level - e.g what type of progress they have made, how they get on with their peers, things unique to them. All the parents I have spoken to have said that in this section the teacher really seemed to know their child very well and their little quirks.

There was also a section for both child and parent to fill in with their response to the report and what they feel about what was said and the layout. The schools in our LEA (not sure if it is nationally) have gone on to a slightly diif system this year - which is easier to read and follow but is still in the main computer lead.

I would complain about the poor production and proof reading of the reports though. The head teacher at my son's school reads and signs them off - and I know she has read them because she has mentioned to a number of parents - some of the positive things within the reports relating to the children. Having said that, she also knows each and every child's name (as do the other teachers - whether they teach them or not) and knows how they are doing all year long and not just at report time.