‘I never read his school report; it just sits in the drawer.’
It’s amazing to think that you might put all that effort into writing and composing a school report and parents don’t even read it.
One reason why is that they might assume it is written for the students rather than the parents. Another obstacle is the language used within it: secondary schools might talk about ‘levels’, ‘predicted grades’ or ‘below-average progress’, or use acronyms that are completely meaningless to parents. Before you write a report, remember that parents want to know:
•you know and value their child
•you appreciate the child’s potential and are working to help nurture it
•you appreciate all the positives but want to work with the student and parents to help the student where they may be struggling.
These ideas may help:
•Never say that a student has an issue without suggesting ways in which parents can help! It is fruitless for parents to hear that Jessica never puts her hand up in class without receiving some ideas for how they can help.
•Reports can sometimes aggravate parents unnecessarily through inaccessible language, an unhelpful tone, relaying information that parents would have liked to have known earlier or by only talking only about the struggles and never where the student has thrived.
•Parents are more likely to read a school report when it is electronically accessible and there isn’t a report to print out. The beauty of e-reports is that you can use hyperlinks to signpost students and parents to useful revision videos for subjects where children are struggling, for example.
Teaching Tip
If you do use e-reports, ensure that they are optimised for reading on a phone and that there is another option for parents who can’t access the report in this way.
Taking it further
The skills you already have can help you – approach writing a report like you approach any other learning situation. What’s the outcome? How are you going to help the parent get there?