Having retired as a primary head teacher & following the suggestion of my dear friend Paula this post is part of an occasional series about the highs & lows of my headship career & my opinions now I am no longer there! It spanned 13 years & included 3 schools. I hope you enjoy my tales!

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Could Do Better!

All over the country in schools up & down the realm teachers are suffering from the same illness known within the profession as EOYR. It has no known cure! It surfaces annually at the same time as that seasonal visitor of hay fever but requires more stamina than is needed to cope with a few sneezes, runny noses & weeping eyes.

The medical profession has been unable, nay unwilling to provide a remedy. What is this ailment to which I refer? The End Of Year Report! They are the bane of every teacher who has to write one.

The major flaw in the whole time consuming, finger paralysing exercise is no-one has asked what they are for! Miles of ink, forests of trees have been sacrificed to tell parents what? That Little Johnny studied the Victorians or is able to do simple calculations? Surely if the parent took an interest in their child’s schooling, they would know the sort of topics covered over the year.

Years ago (old chestnut coming up!) we had 2 marks- one for achievement and one for effort. So you looked for the A+ and kept your fingers crossed for as few D- as possible! In these days of political correctness, marks that clearly differentiate children’s abilities are more than frowned on – they are banned.

Some schools have reverted to software to ‘write’ their reports. Staff have a bank of comments to choose from & just hope that whoever proof reads them (usually the Head!) notices if the wrong name or gender goes through.

So what is the purpose of the EOYR? What Parents, do you want reported? How would you like it reported – face to face meetings? That sounds like a parents evening to me (cue for another post me thinks!)