How To Decode Your Child’s School Report
An insider’s guide to help you read between the lines
As a teacher, I have come across all kinds of people. Nice people, funny people, clever people, mean people, silly people, sad people, happy people, awkward people, strange people, nasty people… and that’s just the other teachers!
Writing reports about student progress is part of our job. It’s not one of the perks. We have to write well-formed sentences that provide parents or caregivers an idea as to how their little precious spawn are doing in our subjects.
It’s not one of the perks!
Two to four times a year we have to make word magic! We are like alchemists.
I was recently reading a lovely piece by Christina Ward 💗 about how to write a good book review. She suggested many very good points about how to respond to a book on a review platform EVEN IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE IT!
Constructive feedback is important. Not everyone will like every book they read. So how to write it nicely?
This is a lot like teaching. Not every student will be your cup of tea!
It might sound mean.
And it is! There can be students that enrich your life, make you feel happy about coming to work, who care about others, who show interest in your subject and life, who improve their skills and knowledge.
Then there are some others who make you question your will to live.
True fact. And there are some that are disruptive, some who quite clearly don’t want to be there but have to, so they do everything in their power to let you know it. Some who barely have a pulse. Some who ask you unending questions to try and distract you from your topic.
It’s tiring.
Then comes report writing time. This is our time as teachers to use all the wonderful writing skills we have developed to form beautiful sentences to describe the progress of every single student we teach.
The following are a few tips on how to read between the lines.
Adjectives
- lively — never stops talking
- exuberant — never stops moving
- positive — there is a slight chance they said something uplifting once
- caring — doesn’t stop touching other kids
- sensitive — doesn’t stop crying
- motivated — is on time to class
- passionate — argues pretty much every class with every student
- engaged — looked at me at least twice this term
- enthusiastic — answered a question once, put their hand up too!
Descriptive phrases
- “works consistently to improve” — handed up the homework at least once
- “could improve their focus” — needs to be tied to a chair to know remotely what is going on in class
- “has shown a keen interest” — an interest in something! Because they were staring at their phone a lot!
- “interest has fluctuated” — was not sure whether to call for an ambulance or check a pulse
- “good attention to detail” — really small handwriting, perhaps shouldn’t use size 6 font when word processing
- “well-developed public speaking skills” — please, can they just be quiet!
- “asks insightful questions” — can’t resist asking highly personal questions of anyone in the room
- “excellent organizational skills” — rivals German bureaucrats in their love for order
- “works well with others” — no punch ups
- “is developing [insert skill]” — couldn’t work in an iron lung
The positive phrase followed by the area of improvement
- “worked well on most tasks but did struggle with organization” — couldn’t hand a thing in on time, barely knew when the class was on, never had the right books, I’m only putting a positive first because I have to
- “friendly yet could improve their focus” — talks constantly and possibly needs glasses or some kind of special bubble to work in, like the cone of silence in Get Smart except solid.
- “caring and empathetic. Working on their communication skills.” — Is being an Emo still a thing? Because I think your child is showing definite signs. They cry. A lot. And never speak. To anyone. I suggest some serious counseling.
- “energetic and enthusiastic, working on their focus on the task at hand” — Have you considered circus school? Because this kid is a perfect clown! Keeps the class entertained for hours, sometimes I can even pop out for a coffee whilst they hold everyone’s attention. But they don’t get the work done.
So there you have it, a read-between-the-lines guide to your child’s school report. Good luck!
Lisa is a teacher, writer, poet, lover of history and travel. If you like this, you could keep in touch.
Or read some other things Lisa has written:
