Receiving your child’s school report can be a nerve-wracking or eagerly anticipated moment. It is the moment when you get a full report on how your child is performing at school. You can find out about their strengths and weaknesses, their predicted grades and their behaviour in the classroom.
Understanding your child’s school report can unlock opportunities to support your child further and boost communication with their school teacher. Our guide will explain school reports and help demystify what the teacher means.
The Structure of the Report
School reports differ between Primary and Secondary school, and also between schools. They can vary in style and depth. Some may be very personalised and others may use common phrases and comments. However, they typically include the same key information:
- Your child’s attendance, including late attendances and absences (usually as a percentage and number of days absent)
- A general comment about their progress in each subject (e.g. giving an overview of their achievements, strengths and developmental needs)
- A personal comment about their learning attitude, effort and behaviour
- The results of any tests they’ve completed such as SATs or GCSEs
- Target grades and predicted grades
- Ways to contact the school about the report
Primary School Reports
In primary school, the subjects included in the report typically include: English (reading and writing), maths and science.
Unlike in Hong Kong, students do not usually get an alphabetical or numerical grade or rank. Instead, the teacher may assess your child using one of these two styles:
Working towards/at/above the “Expected Standard”
- Working towards the expected standard – This means your child is underperforming and is working to meet the expected level for their year group.
- Working at the expected standard – This means your child’s progress is as expected for their year group.
- Working at greater depth/working above the expected standard – This means your child is performing above the expected level.
Emerging/Developing/Secure/Mastery
- Emerging – This means your child is working significantly below the expected level for their year group (e.g. one whole year or more below their year group) and is working to meet the expected level for their year group.
- Developing – This means your child is underperforming but is almost reaching the expected level for their year group.
- Secure – This means your child is performing as expected for their year group and they have a good foundation in the subject.
- Mastery – This means your child is exceeding expectations and is working above the expected level in all areas of the subject
The report may also include results from key assessments relevant to that year group such as those below:
Reception: Phonics
Year 1: Phonics screening check
Year 2: SATs English (Reading and grammar, punctuation and spelling) and Maths
Year 6: SATs English (Reading and grammar, punctuation and spelling), Maths and Science (optional)
For Year 2 and Year 6 SATs results, a scaled score is used to indicate their performance in each subject.
- A score of 100 means your child is working at the expected level for the end of the key stage
- A score below 100 means your child is working below the expected level for the end of the key stage and may need more support to reach the expected standard
- A score above 100 means your child is working above the expected level for their key stage
The report may also include your child’s own reflections and comments.
Secondary School Reports
In secondary school, students take a wider range of subjects than in primary school, and their report will include feedback from all their subject teachers in addition to comments from their form tutor. It is an excellent way of gauging how your child is performing across subjects.
A secondary report usually focuses more on these areas:
- Behaviour – how well your child behaves in class, whether they engage in the lesson and if they have a positive attitude to learning.
- Effort – how hard your child works in class, whether they complete their homework and make an effort to get help.
- Attainment – how well your child is doing academically, in class or on tests, and whether they understand what is taught in class.
- Current predicted grade – the grade the teacher expects your child will get if they keep working at their current level
- Target grade – the grade the teacher expects your child to achieve
- Exam grade – the grade your child received in a test (e.g. GCSEs)
- Mock grade – the grade your child received in a practice test done in exam conditions. These are usually more reflective of how your child will perform in their final test.
Your child’s report at secondary school can be an indicator of which subjects they should choose for GCSE or what they will likely get in their GCSEs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I compare my child’s performance with his friend’s at another school?
School reports aren’t often comparable between schools as schools set different guidelines for what they should include. The best way to gauge your child against their peers is to look at their performance against the national curriculum expectations – are they working at the level expected for their year group? Or if they are in secondary school, look at their predicted grades and mock grades.
My child’s report is very generic and it doesn’t have any meaningful, personalised comments about my child. What should I do?
School teachers are busy people and they often have many students. Teachers only have a few minutes to write each report and some schools may give teachers templates to use when writing the reports. If your child’s report comes across as very generic, the best thing to do is to speak to their teacher directly, either through a phone call or at parents’ evening, to discuss how your child is performing. This way, you can get immediate responses from the teacher who can also answer any questions you may have.
My child’s report looks fine. Does that mean I don’t need to do anything?
Your child’s report only gives a snapshot of how well they are doing. It is good to check in with your child regularly to ask how they are doing at school. Students from Hong Kong are often well-behaved and hardworking, so UK school teachers may believe they are fine and overlook things that may be of concern, such as how your child has settled into the school and whether they have good relationships with their classmates.
I can’t tell if the teacher’s comment is positive or negative. What do they mean?
School reports are generally positive and concerns or complaints about your child may be hidden in the language that they use. These are some common phrases that may suggest a concern:
- ‘Shy’, ‘quiet’, ‘reserved’ – usually means your child is not participating in class discussion and may only contribute in class when asked
- ‘Eager to please’ – usually means that your child is consistently trying to make their teacher happy but may not be thinking critically or doing things creatively
- ‘With support/assistance/help’ – suggests that your child is not able to work independently and needs support to complete tasks
- ‘At times’ – suggests that there are moments where your child struggles with something and aren’t able to consistently do something
- ‘Is challenged by/finds challenging’ – usually means that your child finds this difficult and it’s an area for improvement
- ‘Reasonably well’ – means they work well but could do better
If you are not sure what your child’s report means, get in touch to speak to one of our team who will be able to decipher what the teacher means and help form a learning plan for your child.
Making The Most of The Report
Your child’s report can reveal a lot of information about your child’s progress and experience at school.
The report is a helpful tool to help you support your child further and any feedback your child receives is not set in stone. If your child is underperforming, they still have the opportunity to make significant progress and if they are excelling, they will still need to continue to work hard. Therefore it is important to reflect on it positively to support your child’s learning journey.
If your child needs extra catch-up support or tutoring to excel further, get in touch. Our team of tutors are on hand to cater to students with varying needs. We can work with you to make sure your child reaches their full potential.
Read our guide on parents’ evening.
了解你孩子的學校報告
收到孩子的學校報告可能是一個令人緊張或熱切期待的時刻。作為一份反映孩子在校表現的完整報告，你可以從中了解他們的優點、缺點、他們的預測成績以及他們在課堂上的行為。
了解孩子的學校報告可以進一步幫助孩子並增加與學校老師溝通的機會。我們的指南將詳細解釋學校報告的內容並幫助你讀懂老師評語背後的含義。
學校報告結構
小學和中學之間，以及學校之間的學校報告都有所不同。它們的風格和深度可能有所不同，有些可能非常個性化，而有些可能使用常見的短語和評論。但是，它們通常包含相同的關鍵資訊：
- 你孩子的出席情況，包括遲到和缺席（通常以百分比和缺席天數表示）
- 關於他們在每個科目進展的總評（例如概述他們的成就、優勢和發展需求）
- 關於他們的學習態度、努力程度和學校行為的個人評論
- 他們任何已考核測驗的成績結果，例如 SATs 或 GCSEs
- 目標成績和預測成績
- 就報告問題聯絡學校的方式
小學報告
在小學，報告中包含的科目通常為：英語（閱讀和寫作）、數學和科學。
與香港不同，學生通常不會獲得按字母或數字排列的成績或排名。相反，老師可能會使用以下兩種方式之一來評估你的孩子：
努力達到/符合/高於“Expected Standard”（預期標準）
Working towards the expected standard（努力達到預期標準） – 這代表你孩子表現不佳，正在努力達到其年級的預期水平。
Working at the expected standard（符合預期標準）– 這代表你孩子的進步符合其年級的預期。
Working at greater depth/working above the expected standard（高於預期標準） – 這代表你孩子的表現高於預期水平。
Emerging（初起步）/Developing（發展中）/Secure（穩當）/Mastery（精通）
- Emerging （初起步）-這代表你孩子的學習水平明顯低於其年級的預期水平（例如，比其年級落後一年或更多），並且正在努力達到其年級的預期水平。
- Developing （發展中）- 這代表你的孩子表現未如預期，但幾乎都達到了其年級的預期水平。
- Secure（穩當） – 這代表你孩子的表現符合他們年級的預期，並且在該科目上有良好的基礎。
- Mastery（精通） – 這代表你孩子的表現超出了預期，並且在該學科的所有方面都超出了預期水平。
報告還可能包括與該年級相關的關鍵評估結果，如下所示：
Reception（學前班）: 自然拼讀法
Year 1: 拼音測試
Year 2: SATs 英文（閱讀和文法、標點符號和拼字）和數學
Year 6: SATs 英文（閱讀和文法、標點符號和拼字）、數學和科學（非必須）
針對二年級及六年級的 SATs 成績，會使用比例分數來表示他們在每個科目上的表現。
- 100 分表示你孩子在關鍵評估結束時達到了預期標準
- 分數低於 100 代表你孩子在關鍵評估結束時的水平低於預期標準，可能需要更多幫助才能達到預期標準
- 分數高於 100 代表你孩子在關鍵評估的表現超出了預期標準
該報告還可能包括你孩子的自我反思與評論。
中學報告
在中學，學生選修的科目比小學更廣泛，所以他們的報告除了班主任的評論外，還會包括所有科目老師的反饋。這是衡量你孩子在各個科目上表現的絕佳方法。
一份中學的學校報告通常更集中這些方面：
- Behaviour（在校行為表現） – 你孩子在課堂上的表現、他們是否投入課堂以及他們是否有積極的學習態度。
- Effort（努力程度） – 你孩子在課堂上的努力程度，他們是否完成作業並在需要時努力尋求幫助。
- Attainment（學習表現） – 你孩子在學業、課堂或測驗中的表現，以及他們是否理解課堂所教的內容。
- Current predicted grade（目前預測成績） – 老師預計如果你孩子繼續保持當前水準的話，將會取得的預期成績
- Target grade（目標成績） – 老師期望你孩子達到的成績
- Exam grade（考試成績） – 你孩子在考試中獲得的成績（例如：GCSEs)
- Mock grade（模擬考試成績） – 你孩子在模擬考試中取得的成績，這部分通常更能反映你孩子在期末測驗中的表現。
你孩子在中學的成績可以作為他們應該選擇甚麼GCSE科目，或他們在GCSEs中可能取得成績的指標。
我可以將我孩子的表現與他朋友在另一所學校的表現進行比較嗎？
學校之間的學校報告通常不具有可比性，因為學校有不同的指導方針。 衡量你孩子與同齡人相比的最佳方法，是根據國家課程期望來檢視他們的表現——他們的學習是否達到了其年級的預期水平？如果你的孩子正就讀中學，可以參考他們的預測成績和模擬考試成績。
我孩子的學校報告非常籠統，沒有任何關於我孩子且有意義的個人化評論。我該怎麼辦？
學校老師需要兼顧很多學生，工作繁忙，他們通常只有幾分鐘的時間來撰寫每份報告，有些學校可能會為教師提供範本，以供他們在撰寫報告時使用。如果你孩子的報告非常籠統，最好的方法是透過電話或在家長晚會上直接與老師交談，討論你孩子的表現。這樣，你便可以得到老師的即時反饋，老師也可以回答你的疑問。
我孩子的學校報告看起來沒甚麼大問題。這是否代表我不需要再額外做任何事？
你孩子的學校報告僅反映了他們的日常表現。作為家長，最好還是定期關心你的孩子，詢問他們在學校的表現。來自香港的學生通常表現良好且勤奮，因此英國學校的老師可能會認為他們沒甚麼問題，卻忽略了一些隱憂，例如你的孩子如何適應學校，以及他們與同學的關係是否良好。
我不知道老師的評論是正面的還是負面的。 他們想表達甚麼意思？
學校報告通常是正面的，對你孩子的擔憂或批評可能隱藏在他們使用的慣用術語中。 以下是一些可能需要關注的常見短語：
- ‘Shy’, ‘quiet’, ‘reserved’ （「害羞」、「安靜」、「內向」）- 通常代表你的孩子不積極參與課堂討論，只有在被要求時才可能在課堂上展現自己。
- ‘Eager to please’（「積極附和」） – 通常代表你的孩子一直在努力讓老師高興，但可能不會批判性地思考或發掘創意。
- ‘With support/assistance/help’ （在支持/協助/幫助下）– 表示你的孩子無法獨立工作，需要別人的支援才能完成任務。
- ‘At times’（「有時」） – 表示你的孩子有時會受其他事情影響，而無法堅持做某事。
- ‘Is challenged by/finds challenging’ （受到挑戰/發現具有挑戰性）- 通常表示你的孩子在某領域中遇到困難，而這是一個需要改進的部分。
- ‘Reasonably well’（恰到好處） – 表示他們表現良好但可以做得更好。
如果你還是不確定你孩子報告的弦外之音，歡迎聯繫我們的團隊，他們將能夠解讀老師想表達的含義並幫助你的孩子製定適當的學習計劃。
充分利用學校報告
你孩子的報告可以透露大量有關你孩子在學校的學習進度和經歷的信息。這份報告無疑是重要的工具，用以幫助你進一步協助你的孩子，你孩子收到的任何反饋都有變改的餘地。如果你的孩子表現不佳，他們仍然有機會取得飛躍的進步，如果他們表現出色，他們也仍然需要繼續努力。因此，積極反思以幫助孩子的學習之旅是非常重要的一環。
If your child needs extra catch-up support or tutoring to excel further, get in touch. Our team of tutors are on hand to cater to students with varying needs. We can work with you to make sure your child reaches their full potential.如果你的孩子需要額外的補習支援或輔導以進一步取得優異成績，請聯繫我們。我們的導師團隊在任何時候，都會盡力協助不同需求的學生。我們可以與你合作，確保你的孩子充分發揮潛能。