School Reports - Then and Now

whitewave “is with the class in body, but not in spirit” 😄😄.

I’ve always preferred being outdoors.

No. But my parents did keep dozens!

“ should read the parable of the talents and take its message to heart”. Never did !😒

Must try harder

Could do better

I could have done better and should have tried harder but didn't!

Best ones, made public by former pupil who goes on to achieve outstanding success, "will never amount to anything" Eat your words dismissive teacher

I think that it depends on the teacher. And how much time they have for the reports.
DS is a teacher and tries to be helpful and personal. He says he always tries to include something only the student knows about - an in joke.

DH's teachers were obviously scraping the barrel to come up with something positive to say : 'Best soup eater in the school'! He's never forgotten that accolade and still loves soup.

I dreaded school report day. I was painfully shy and quiet and very middle of the road not excelling in anything. I was too scared to put my hand up in class in case people laughed at me. Always had comments like could try hard could do better. I always felt I did my best.However I went on to a further education college and held down responsible jobs all through my working career and was never out of work. I blossomed later than some 😂

‘Done really well this term but could do better’
Never a positive without a negative
But the reports now are just numbers and totally impersonal

I ve got all my kids reports and some of my own

The worst (of many unflattering) reports said “R talks too much”.

My old school reports has so many short comments - "Fair only " and " Tries hard" and "Average" or "Good". Report writing must have been a much shorter process for teachers back in the sixties!

“Calendar must learn to work and not talk in a practical lesson”

This was written by my Domestic Science teacher, referring to the Needlework classes.

I hated sewing, still do, gave those classes up at the earliest opportunity.

I remember the red underlining there were always several on my reports.

"Must curb his tendency towards flippancy." Never did, I'm glad to say.

Mine always said I was very quiet.

l. has progressed well in swmming this term. Only I hadn't because I never did it!

Poor concentration was often mentioned. I was concentrating with ever fibre of my being. Maybe spending my dinner money on donuts didn't help?

It's a shame all the little personal touches have been lost from reports.

Back then a single line or, if the writing was tiny a two line comment for each subject.
I remember occasional praise, some could do better, but my least favourite was the one that mentioned how much better my brother was at chemistry!
Nowadays:
There is, on our primary reports, a block for personal comment (arial, size 12, please do not alter the box size).
Writing report comments with next steps for English and maths are well received by some parents and greeted with, “Well I hope you’re going to teach them that then!”

Worried couldn't draw a straight line with the aid of a ruler. Harsh as although I was no good at art I could draw a straight line with the aid of a ruler.

TerriBull

Best ones, made public by former pupil who goes on to achieve outstanding success, "will never amount to anything" Eat your words dismissive teacher

I remember Emlyn Hughes on This is your life. They brought on the teacher who'd said something like "if Emlyn is as good at football as he thinks he is he'll captain the England team". And he did!

An English teacher commented on a report once, that my writing was "too dry and factual"! She was probably right - I ended up in science, where dry, factual writing is the norm.

My primary school report said “ her sewing is good but she finds knitting a trial” …… nothing has changed!!

My school reports were glowing when I was at primary school but were less so at grammar school where I was often described as “quiet”! DH finds that amusing!

This week, DD2 forwarded reports regarding DGS2, aged 15 and DGD, 12 who attend single sex high schools in the same town. Both looked more like spreadsheets from a business with columns containing numbers that had to be cross referenced to explanations of levels on a different page of the document. These were related to DfE expectations for that age group. The only personal comment was on DGD's report and that was from her form tutor.

At the top of one column on DGS2’s report was A2L meaning attitude to learning. Similarly, on his sister’s report we see R2L for readiness to learn. DH and I found this concerning not least because it would have been as easy to use the letter T in place of ‘to’! It reminded us of ToysRUs!! Dumbing down appears to be the order of the day.

Academically, mine were all good - but I'm pretty sure 'talks too much' was mentioned on more than one occasion.

When I was a child and growing up it was not the norm to praise children ever. Neither at home nor at school was I ever told I had done well or that they were proud of me. I think parents believed praise would make you big-headed.
School reports were all about pushing you to work harder. Fun, satisfaction and pride were unnecessary.
I hope things are different now.