I dont understand the school report!

bikebarbie

My son brought home his first secondary school home report.

Its divided into 3 sections for each subject:

Inspirational Target working on the Judgement grade from HHH to LLL
Attitude and Motivation: A to E.
Tutor Report: E (excellent) G (good), S(satisfactory) and U (unsatisfactory)

I am grasping to understand the Inspirational target and the relation the above have on Grades like 3a/4 etc...I believe the grades go from 4 to 8 but cant see any reference to this anywhere in the report. However a couple of teachers mentioned some numbers when describing his level....

Im very confused. :huh:

mrcow

Sounds like you need a GCSE in report reading to understand that one!

The grades 4-8 are national curriculum levels. Depending on his ability, he'll be working towards one of those levels for each subjects. Google the levels - they are very easy to find, along with what is expected at each level for given subjects. The school should be using these?

The school should have guidelines for the rest of the codes on the report. Hopefully there were comments to help you monitor his progress too?

Courgette

I don't understand it either and I'm a Secondary teacher!

Seriously, I would get on to the school in the New Year and explain that you don't know what it's on about - it's a complete waste of paper and yours and the teachers' times writing them if parents don't know what they mean and so it needs to be flagged up

bikebarbie

Let me give you an example if I may

Aspirational target grade: The aspirational target is decided by the subject teacher and is individual to each student. The purpose of the aspirational target is to challenge the student to make better progress than students of similar ability nationally. It sets a target for the student to achieve a grade at least equal to or even higher than the standard achieved by the top quarter of students of similar ability nationally. The aspirational target therefore presents a degree of challenge, but it is also realistic because one out of every four students of similar ability nationally was able to achieve this grade in previous years. The aspirational target may be raised by the teacher during the key stage. This will usually happen at a point when the student is securely working towards achieving the aspirational target, at which point we feel the student would rise to the additional challenge of working towards an even more aspirational target grade.
Progress: This is a judgement that answers the following question: ‘If your child continues to work as he or she is doing at the moment, is he or she predicted to achieve their aspirational target grade at the end of the key stage?” Please note that the Progress Grade is not a comment on effort. For example, it is quite possible for a student to be graded L, but this is not necessarily a criticism, especially if the aspirational target has been previously raised by the teacher because the student had made good progress

The judgement may be:
HHH
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is three grades higher than the aspirational target.
HH
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is two grades higher that the aspirational target.
H
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is one grade higher than the aspirational target.
O
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is equal to the aspirational target.
L
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is one grade lower than the aspirational target.
LL
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is two grades lower that the aspirational target.
LLL
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is three grades lower than the aspirational target.

---

Attitude and motivation: Teachers will report a single grade for ‘Attitude and Motivation’.
Grading is on an A to E scale as follows:
A
Very good attitude/motivation. Your child is working independently, imaginatively and with sustained self-motivation.
B
Good attitude/motivation. As above, but not sustained.
C
Your child is completing tasks set, but often does the bare minimum. Your child demonstrates minimal self-motivation and independence in work. At this level your child is likely to be coasting.
D
Unsatisfactory attitude/motivation. Work is often incomplete and your child shows lack of care and pride in his or her work.
E
Your child’s attitude/motivation is a serious cause for concern.

---

Form Tutor Reports: Form Tutors will report a single grade for the following areas:
Punctuality Contribution to School Life Effort during Form Time Activities Participation in Personal Development and Well-Being lessons
E
Excellent
G
Good
S
Satisfactory
U
Unsatisfactory.

bikebarbie

In English he got this

Aspirational Target:
5
Progress:
O
Attitude and Motivation:
A

But no mention of grades :huh:

LandyAndy

Courgette wrote: »

I don't understand it either and I'm a Secondary teacher!

Seriously, I would get on to the school in the New Year and explain that you don't know what it's on about - it's a complete waste of paper and yours and the teachers' times writing them if parents don't know what they mean and so it needs to be flagged up

Quite right. Ask the school for a written explanation of the meaning and significance of the grading. You won't be the only parent in the dark;).

LandyAndy

bikebarbie wrote: »

Let me give you an example if I may

Aspirational target grade: The aspirational target is decided by the subject teacher and is individual to each student. The purpose of the aspirational target is to challenge the student to make better progress than students of similar ability nationally. It sets a target for the student to achieve a grade at least equal to or even higher than the standard achieved by the top quarter of students of similar ability nationally. The aspirational target therefore presents a degree of challenge, but it is also realistic because one out of every four students of similar ability nationally was able to achieve this grade in previous years. The aspirational target may be raised by the teacher during the key stage. This will usually happen at a point when the student is securely working towards achieving the aspirational target, at which point we feel the student would rise to the additional challenge of working towards an even more aspirational target grade.
Progress: This is a judgement that answers the following question: ‘If your child continues to work as he or she is doing at the moment, is he or she predicted to achieve their aspirational target grade at the end of the key stage?” Please note that the Progress Grade is not a comment on effort. For example, it is quite possible for a student to be graded L, but this is not necessarily a criticism, especially if the aspirational target has been previously raised by the teacher because the student had made good progress

The judgement may be:
HHH
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is three grades higher than the aspirational target.
HH
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is two grades higher that the aspirational target.
H
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is one grade higher than the aspirational target.
O
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is equal to the aspirational target.
L
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is one grade lower than the aspirational target.
LL
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is two grades lower that the aspirational target.
LLL
Working towards an end of key stage grade that is three grades lower than the aspirational target.

---

Attitude and motivation: Teachers will report a single grade for ‘Attitude and Motivation’.
Grading is on an A to E scale as follows:
A
Very good attitude/motivation. Your child is working independently, imaginatively and with sustained self-motivation.
B
Good attitude/motivation. As above, but not sustained.
C
Your child is completing tasks set, but often does the bare minimum. Your child demonstrates minimal self-motivation and independence in work. At this level your child is likely to be coasting.
D
Unsatisfactory attitude/motivation. Work is often incomplete and your child shows lack of care and pride in his or her work.
E
Your child’s attitude/motivation is a serious cause for concern.

---

Form Tutor Reports: Form Tutors will report a single grade for the following areas:
Punctuality Contribution to School Life Effort during Form Time Activities Participation in Personal Development and Well-Being lessons
E
Excellent
G
Good
S
Satisfactory
U
Unsatisfactory.

Dear God.

No criticism of you bikebarbie;).

How does anyone find out from that the answers to the questions.

'Will my child pass some exams?' and 'Is my child trying their best?'

mrcow

Right - so in the example, he's working towards a level 5 and should achieve that by the end of the key stage?

That's quite/very low. Is that expected? It doesn't sound right.

I'm a secondary teacher too and I'm struggling to see the point of it all.

Sagz_2

Was this reporting system designed by a comittee by any chance?

bikebarbie

But 5 out of ??? How is the scale calculated? What should it be on average? High or Low performance??

Went yesterday to Parents evening, it was a little like those speed dating I saw on tv, you got 5 min then the bell rings and you keep shuffling, shuffling No time for any meaningful, in depth conversation...

Courgette

I think it probably means level 5