Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Should school reports go online?

Parents in England could receive online "real-time reporting" on their children's progress at school according to government proposals. Will this improve standards?

The new system would enable parents to have access to frequently-updated information on their children.

A pilot scheme will also be set up to ensure that families from poorer backgrounds have access to a computer.

Schools Minister Jim Knight says this will "break down barriers" between school and home, but a teachers' union has warned about possible data security risks.

What do you think of the proposals? Are electronic school reports a good idea? Are you a teacher or parent? Send us your comments.

Read the full story (on the BBC website)

Click here if you have any other story ideas (on the BBC website)

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

20083

I swear that the quality of these threads gets even worse.

Reply 2

Invocation

Sounds like a very good idea.

Reply 3

alice22

As the daughter of two teachers, I think it sounds absurd.
Where, pray tell, are the teachers going to get time to write a mini-report thing on the children in their class, on top of the marking, planning, staff meetings, and 8:30-5 ish school days? Not to mention if they have other responsibilities in the school and the extra work that entails.
Sure, in an ideal world it would be nice to know exactly what your child is up to, but I still think the termly overview you get in reports/parents evenings as it is enough.

Reply 4

fredmcbob

This is a pretty good thing because it is argued that the school system is becoming subject to greater marketisation in modern society. Because of this parents can basically shop around for schools that they think would be suitable for their child which is said to be more evident across middle class parents rather than working class ones.
By providing this scheme it allows the working class families (with a computer) greater knowledge of schools in their areas. This will in turn benefit the child and break down the class barriers.
I do agree though that it is quite inefficient in terms of teachers time and spending school resources etc.

Reply 5

ice_cube

I teach one day a week in an incredibly run down school. Not only do the parents not have have access to the internet (thus rendering the entire thing pointless) but they dont turn up for parents evenings, or take any interest in their children's education. In affluent areas where parents take that kind of interest then sure, it may work. But the areas where it could be useful it wont be used in the slightest. And that not to mention the incredible waste of time it is.

Reply 6

Blue Rose

No. Parents might never meet the teachers. Children might send messages pretending to be the parent and cover up bad grades and behaviour etc.

It might end up in the wrong hands. E.g. it being sent to the wrong person, the original child might get bullied about it.
No, shouldn't be online. Once something is online, how safe is it really? Anyone in the world could hack into the school system and everything could be revealed.

Think there needs to be real communication. Things being online breaks barriers. Parents will make less of an effort, it is making it easier for parents to not get involved in their kids lives.

Reply 7

Bubblebee

No, because when you are a kid you don't want your parents to know your grades.
I like to think I learnt alot from trying to hide/destroy/lose my reports at the end of year. :biggrin:

It would have taken all the fun out of it if they'd just been able to check up on me like that.

Reply 8

jointhedots

It assumes, rather too much, that the all of the parents actually care.

Reply 9

L i b

Bubblebee

No, because when you are a kid you don't want your parents to know your grades.
I like to think I learnt alot from trying to hide/destroy/lose my reports at the end of year. :biggrin:

It would have taken all the fun out of it if they'd just been able to check up on me like that.

Agreed. There's something to be said for parents not knowing all that goes on at school. It's healthy for a child to misbehave, fail tests, skip classes and so forth. I don't see why society seems to make such a massive fuss over such minor problems.

ice_cube

I teach one day a week in an incredibly run down school. Not only do the parents not have have access to the internet (thus rendering the entire thing pointless)

Library?

but they dont turn up for parents evenings, or take any interest in their children's education.

There's the problem. However even in the worst sort of schools, I imagine there are a good few parents who do in fact care.

SillyFencer

I swear that the quality of these threads gets even worse.

Yep.

Reply 10

ice_cube

L i b

Library?

There's the problem. However even in the worst sort of schools, I imagine there are a good few parents who do in fact care.

Library? Not a chance. I doubt there even is one in the area, ive certainly not seen one near by. If you are a single mother of 4 kids do you really have time or the energy to trudge to the library to look up a report you dont really care about?

And yes, there are a few... but its very very small. And those that do care regularly communicate with the school, attend termly parents evenings, call if there are any issues. Teachers are more than happy to do in excess of what is required, but only for the people who will actually bother to read it.

And to be honest, my parents cared a lot about my education, and there's no way in hell they would have read an online report every week.

Reply 11

alice22

I asked my mother about this - she teaches in a quite rough school. Her reaction: "If they do that, I'm resigning". Teachers have far too much to do already. Plus there are few parents at her school that actually care enough to read them.
My father works in a quite posh private school, and there the parents do take an active interest in their child's work but even so, a report every week is excessive. Parents there are quite happy with the termly report or parents evening and if they ever want to talk about their child's progress in more detail they can always arrange a meeting with their teacher (which they hardly ever feel the need to do, and we're talking about parents who are the most interested in their childs education)

Reply 12

Avalarch

I think it's a system that will be forgotten soon after the launch. Reports should be constructed on a termly basis in order to write an evaluated, balanced paragraph on pupils/students. As others have stated, teachers will simply not have the time for this.

Reply 13

Miss Mary

It's a good idea because parents should know how their kids are doing at school, but I believe it would not be practical because it would be one extra job for teachers.

Reply 14

tommorris

The data security thing is an important issue. Considering that a ridiculous number of people I know keep their passwords on bloody Post-It notes next to their computers (and write things like "NATWEST VISA PASSWORD" on it!), we are going to need some serious work to get school reports online in a secure way. And what, pray tell, is the point? Technology doesn't magically solve social or educational problems. Use the money on actually improving the training of teachers, hiring better teachers, more resources - whatever is necessary to actually fix the problems, rather than sticking an IT plaster on it. I say that as a programmer.

Reply 15

L i b

alice22

I asked my mother about this - she teaches in a quite rough school. Her reaction: "If they do that, I'm resigning". Teachers have far too much to do already.

So they always say. Forgive me, but I don't really believe them any more.

Reply 16

tommorris

Now, if it wasn't mandatory weekly reports and they just made it so that parents could register their e-mail address(es) on record with the school so that teachers could e-mail them to discuss the progress of their children, it'd be a different matter.

There's a seed of a good idea here - it's all about the implementation as to whether it'd work. Why not ask teachers and parents, try it out and see whether or not it works?

Reply 17

alice22

L i b

So they always say. Forgive me, but I don't really believe them any more.

Has it occurred to you that they say it because its true?
They have to teach from 9-3.30 ish, often having no lunch break because they have to work through that, run clubs or sit in with children who are on a "detention".
On top of that they have marking, photocopying and organisation, and planning which takes hours (especially when you have a mixed ability class where the reading age stems between 6ish to 13).
Then there's staff meetings they have to go to each week, and they also have to run them too.
And two terms out of three at my mother's school there is a production, one full school and one year six. Both of which she has to write or adapt and direct.

So no. I wont "forgive" you. Try teaching before you say they don't have too much work.

Reply 18

aaron-monk

I saw this on BBC news recentley, but... my school has had the same system for a fair few years now, and in my opinion, it has its good points (easier reports, student data all in one place, eaiser for registers etc) but also has its bad points.. can be faulty, parents/students dont use it.. could be "hacked" into...

Only my opinion anyways

Reply 19

Jimothyjim

Don't like the idea, if they are doing particularly bad letter home, other than that the exams give a pretty good inclination of how they are doing. Teachers should spend time on making lessons interesting so people learn instead of writing out lame stuff like that.