School reports not telling the truth for fear of angering parents

Aside from taking exams, the moment I most dreaded during my time at school was report day. In the evening my parents would travel to my school, and have a short meeting with my teachers, each of whom would tell them in clear and frank terms how good (or bad) I was performing. I can remember sitting at home in trepidation, waiting for my parents to return, listening for the sound of the key in the lock, the slam of the door, and my name being called.

Even though I was a fairly good student, my parents never seemed to return home in a good mood from any of these report evenings. My school seemed to use these sessions as a way of expanding their sphere of discipline, attempting to induce even competent students to work as hard at home as at school by giving them a less than perfect report.

It seems many school these days work according to a different philosophy, with parents evenings and report cards containing little more than false praise and vacuous jargon, failing to give parents any credible information about their children`s performance. The reason for this seems to be that schools don`t want to face any kind of backlash from pushy parents, who might complain and make a scene if they think their children are being criticised.

Dr Julian Murphy, headteacher at the Loughborough Amherst Private School, has said that reports are largely `waffle`, and don`t provide any meaningful information about the student.

In an interview Dr Murphy explained how standards have slipped - `when I went to school you would get reports that say `so and so is extremely lazy or arrogant`. But now no one says that as it would upset parents.`

`It is a cultural change now parents are more likely to say to teachers: `You have upset my child, you have damaged their confidence, the problem isn`t my child, it`s you`.`

I have spoken to colleges of mine regarding this issue - all of them secondary school teachers in London - and most admitted that they would exercise caution before censuring a pupil, either behaviourally or academically, for fear of provoking a backlash from their parents. Some of them told me that they have even been physically threatened by parents when they detained their child, or issued them with a poor school report.

There seems to have been an attitudinal shift in recent years - instead of parents respecting a teacher`s opinion, and understanding that there are times when a pupil needs to be disciplined, many parents will see the teachers as creating the issue, and consider their child to be wholly innocent. Of course this attitude is extremely detrimental to the pupil - not only does it sanction bad behaviour, but it also undermines a teacher`s authority and control within the classroom.

Dr Murphy said the problem of teachers placating pupils may be more endemic in private schools than state ones, for the simple reason that `we don`t want to lose customers`.

Through conversing with my colleagues I have learnt that the use of euphemisms in reports can facilitate criticising a pupil in a subtle and inoffensive way. `Energetic`, `chatty` and `high spirited` are terms apparently employed to describe a pupil who is disruptive.

In November last year a Government advisory panel reached the conclusion that lengthy school reports are `incredibly burdensome` for teachers, and need to be replaced by more concise versions. The Education Secretary Damian Hinds was only able to find `limited evidence` that long and detailed reports provide any real benefit for the student.

`Lengthy written reports to parents and carers are usually burdensome for teachers to produce, and there is insufficient evidence to suggest that this is the best or only way to engage parents and carers in education.`

Many people believe that school reports provide a vital opportunity for teachers to communicate with parents concerning what is good and bad with their child`s performance. The director of The Good Schools Guide, Bernadette John, explained how reports gave parents and guardians the chance to `to gain a better understanding as to how a child is doing at school` and could give `the first indications that things are not going to plan`.