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School reports- what were yours like?

(104 Posts)
Pigglywiggly Sat 14-Jan-17 19:56:25

Sorting the house ready to move, I came across my school reports. They are rarely encouraging (although when I came top of the whole year in English I was treated to 'A very pleasing exam result.' No kidding.)
Mostly it was 'Could do better' - how did they know? Or once in RE 'Good but not outstanding' hmm
Then I went to Tech where I suddenly became 'Intelligent, articulate and thoughtful'.
Teachers were never held to account or expected to take any responsibility, hence my Geography teacher writing 'Shows no geographic sense whatsoever'. Didn't occur to him that it was because he was such a boring teacher. I remember copying endless things off the blackboard, which didn't even pass through my brain.
It all seems quite funny now, and I don't think I was scarred for life. I went on to become a teacher!

Galen Sun 15-Jan-17 16:06:57

Perhaps. It's even worse now! Even I can't read it.

grannypiper Sun 15-Jan-17 16:20:22

Every single one had chatterbox written in red ink, the same happened with my DD and now her daughter gets the same comment blush

Lindajoy Sun 15-Jan-17 16:31:15

For French: Linda has a good flow of language! Well, I did go on to be a translator!

Lindajoy Sun 15-Jan-17 16:31:16

For French: Linda has a good flow of language! Well, I did go on to be a translator!

Lindajoy Sun 15-Jan-17 16:31:16

For French: Linda has a good flow of language! Well, I did go on to be a translator!

Lindajoy Sun 15-Jan-17 16:31:16

For French: Linda has a good flow of language! Well, I did go on to be a translator!

Lindajoy Sun 15-Jan-17 16:31:16

For French: Linda has a good flow of language! Well, I did go on to be a translator!

Falconbird Sun 15-Jan-17 16:40:28

"Falconbird is definitely prefect material but shows absolutely no inclination to assume that role."

I'm definitely not a leader. smile

Maggiemaybe Sun 15-Jan-17 16:50:19

Well, Lindajoy, I have a piece of paper somewhere saying that I had the most English French accent my tutor had ever heard grin

I really only did languages because of the funded European study visits on offer (those were the days!).

sussexoldbag Sun 15-Jan-17 17:11:26

Our physics master always started the lesson with "...Right you load of scum".

JackyB Sun 15-Jan-17 17:14:51

My reports were always very favourable, I just kept myself to myself and didn't step out of line, but my saving grace was that I was really good at exams, so the marks were really high. Actually I wasn't particularly brilliant in class, I just remembered everything when it came to exams (I never could work out what you were supposed to do when revision time came around.) That sounds rather arrogant, I suppose, but it was useful at the time!

My mother still has her school report from ca 1938. It was also very good (she was even great at sports, which I never was!). She chuckles when she quotes the note from her headmistress which says "Iris will make a very good shorthand-typist". This was the most a girl could aspire to in those days. (I don't know if the headmistress was still alive to see one of my mother's female contemporaries become Prime Minister.)

Our Grammar school reports were huge pale blue, bound books (not loose-leaf) with the county's coat of arms and the name of the school embossed on the front in gold.

Morgana Sun 15-Jan-17 17:30:14

Always got could do better for anything sporty
Hated sports and used to hide in toilet or have constant period! Found my sons school reports recently and was very upset to see how little they understood him. He is hyperactive. In the sixth form they told me he had 'over performed' as if it was his fault!

pollyperkins Sun 15-Jan-17 17:30:50

My reports are in a booklet like that JackieB. Ive got them all and all of DH's. The children used to love to read them! My very first report aged 4-5 simply says poor or very poor for everything but I did quite well later - except in Maths. After I passed O level maths (resit) my maths teacher, instead of congratulating me told me it must have been a fluke!!!! Cant imagine saying hat to a child, ever!

pollyperkins Sun 15-Jan-17 17:32:22

I definitely tried to get out of games by similar means Morgana.

Tokyojo3 Sun 15-Jan-17 17:42:55

I had " Christine must stop trying to attract attention to herself""......I became a teacher!!!!

ClaraB Sun 15-Jan-17 17:46:43

One of my said - Clare works well but what a chatterbox she is.

CrazyDaisy Sun 15-Jan-17 17:52:53

Even when I did well in exams I got, "Could do better" on my reports, so in the end I gave up trying. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't taken those remarks to heart as I did. I really regret not going on to university.

grandMattie Sun 15-Jan-17 17:52:57

Apart from having thrown away all our papers, my parents never let me see my reports unless they were bad, for fear of giving me a swollen head. I assume, they weren't too bad!

seadragon Sun 15-Jan-17 18:53:44

art teacher: "......just cannot keep paint between lines" - said more about her than me, I reckon!

marionk Sun 15-Jan-17 19:02:50

Could do better, every time - at least I was consistent!

Judthepud2 Sun 15-Jan-17 19:50:02

Satisfactory or could do better were my usual comments. I was middle of the top class and always struggling to satisfy my father's expectations. He was a primary school teacher and knew my IQ results which apparently were very high. Could do better has always defined my thinking about myself until I retired. If only teachers had explained how!

I saw this played out again in my DS, who still is very bright but struggles with self esteem despite being much loved and encouraged by us. And now I see it again in DGS1. sad

Teachers have such an important influence on the futures of children. They are much improved since my generation's day but some still need to be more aware of this.

Nanna58 Sun 15-Jan-17 21:42:59

Loved my needlework (needlework! How Victorian! ) teacher's comment" " if Deborah's needle worked as fast as her tongue she would be my star pupil" Priceless!

Pigglywiggly Mon 16-Jan-17 06:52:54

One term in needlework I got 'Good, but painfully slow.'

thatbags Mon 16-Jan-17 07:26:39

I don't think I ever got to read mine. Or did I? Whatever. I was a good student and knew that both my parents and teachers had confidence in me as a person regardless of school results.

JackyB Mon 16-Jan-17 11:31:48

We had to take ours home so we got to see them before our parents did. How did you not get to see them?