School Report

[blessedmum]

We are applying to a different senior school for my daughter. She currently attends an independent school that goes up from 3 to age 18. Her current school have made it blatant they are not happy we are thinking of taking her out and not letting her continue in their own senior school next year but we are not happy with the senior school and want a change.
The schools we are applying too have requested a report from her current school and I am anxious they may not write a great report particularly as my dd is dyslexic and get additional support from the school.
I havent hidden this fact from the schools we are applying too and indeed I have sent them the ed psych report.
Do we have a right to see the report the current school will be sending to the schools we are applying too?

[hermanmunster]

It is pretty standard that schools ask for a report, and I don't think you will be able to see it. I suspect however they may pay more attention to their own assessment of your DD than rely on what is said in the report.

It may well be that the Head of the current school is known for being a little grumpy when kids leave at the year 7 stage and they will take comments with a pinch of salt. It is also foolish really for the current head to try to hang on to kids (and parents) who would prefer to be somewhere else, better that they move now than in a couple of years.

[blessedmum]

Thanks for your response. Will keep my fingers crossed. The current school generally doesnt have a lot of students going farther than the other local independent schools and we are looking at boarding schools in other part of the country.
i trust she will get a place at the right school for her. i was just really concerned when i got a letter from the current head saying he's dissappointed that dd will not continue at the senior school.

[Yamin151]

I can understand the head writing to you to express disappointment about your child leaving. It is a failure on their part to keep her and I am sure they want to know why. I am also sure that they would never be so unprofessional as to write an unwarranted poor report for your daughter. In the end anything controversial could cause bad feeling all around and possibly go further into greivance hearings etc. Ultimately they should be disappointed and would not be doing their job if they didn't express it, but I'd put £100 on them not allowing that to make them spiteful!
For the schools sake, it might be a helpful and constructive thing to write and tell them truthfully but in a constructive way, why you have chosen to remove your daughter. That gives you the chance to thank them for all that they HAVE done (maybe beef that up a little) and ensure a more amiable parting.

Hope you find a school more suited to your daughter.

[hermanmunster]

depends how the letter was written, possibly fairly standard to express disappointment that they won't have the child carrying on in the school. Some schools are struggling with numbers and really do want people to stay!

Am sure boarding school will focus more on their own assessment, I think you have to plough on and KFC!

ETA : X-posted with Yamin, whose post I totally agree with

[blessedmum]

Yasmin151 thanks a lot.
I have written back to the school to thank them for all their support and help and to express that we have chosen to move her to a single sex secondary school as we believe she will be more focused there As we are looking for a boarding school it means we have to look further than our local area. (current school has boarding but its co-ed). I expressed it is nothing personal against the school but rather where we believe she will thrive and be more focused.

[elevenlevel]

Without going off on a tangent too much, what do independent school reports tend to ask existing schools to say? Do they cover things such as social skills, friendship issues, as well as the more obvious and how do they quantify academic performance?

[Amber]

Don't forget that independent schools are businesses looking to make money; so a school turning down a prospective student needs to have good reasons for doing so. I don't think it likely that a 'sour grapes' kind of report from a previous school is going to put off a school from taking a child whom they have assessed themselves and decided they like the look of.

No idea about the social issues/friendship type things but as a lot of people go to the private sector because of precisely that kind of issue - feeling that the pastoral care is likely to be better - I don't think it is worth worrying over.

[elevenlevel]

Amber but that depends on how over-subscribed they are. If there are 4 applicants for every place, then they will be pickier than if they are struggling to get bums on seats.

Not worried as dc is good socially but curious about what's asked.

[Ladymuck]

Without going off on a tangent too much, what do independent school reports tend to ask existing schools to say? Do they cover things such as social skills, friendship issues, as well as the more obvious and how do they quantify academic performance?

Down to each school but the ones that I have seen are not really that detailed. Mainly about attendance, illness, whether fees have been paid up to date, whether parents are a nightmare (or rather "whether there are unresolved parental complaints"). They may ask for whatever recent scores there are, but usually they are assessing the candidates themselves.