School Report - what is criteria for marking and comments

[Turkish Delight]

Hi All,

Yes, the school does follow the VELS and i do understand the marking criteria as mentioned above. But what i don't understand is why they make such comments as i had mentioned earlier but still give him C's??

I did explain to DS that it is quite normal for him to get C's now and that he is on the right track. I also told him that i do not expect him to get As or Bs until high school.

Rainforest - the comments do use words such as "exceptional" and "above average perfomance, so i would have thought that they give him at least Bs in subjects where they used those words and mark him as Cs in all the others.

Kitt3n- I do agree that using the A.B.C grading is a bit harsh for primary levels. In my time we got S or US i.e. satisfactory or unsatisfactory and then the comments below.

[Chocaholic]

Maybe talk to the Principal or Deputy and ask why there is a lack of consistency? Is there a Year Coordinator (don't know how big the school is) who you can talk to?

Seems strange that the words and grades don't match.

[Phteven]

It's possible that his teacher is comparing him to other 6 year olds in the comments but the marks reflect his performance compared to his classmates. He may be exceptional for a 6 year old but he probably has exceptional 8 year olds in his class whos parents have chosen not to advance them - it's unlikely that he could achieve the same grades as a gifted child who is 2 years older.
I hope i"m not overstepping the mark here but do you think that his reaction is more about you and his perception of your expectations than about him? In each of my schools there were a few students for whom report card days were the worst 2 days of the year because of their parent's expectations, despite the fact that they weren't bad students. Most of my report cards said 'could try harder' lol but I can confidently say that I enjoyed education far more than they did. The brainiac who won the scholarship in my year got into medicine and then dropped out when she realised that she didn't have to spend her whole life living out her parent's dreams. These days she works in a bar in Fortitude Valley.
I truly believe that our success and and more importantly our happiness is based on our EQ far more than our IQ so report cards aren't the be all and end all and we never need to expect our children to bring home A's.
If report cards are making your son unhappy why not rip the next one up and throw it out without reading it. If there are any issues you really need to know about they will let you know.

[~Raven~]

The grading of school reports especially in primary school level isn't the same as when we were there so I think the opinions of your work colleagues should be forgotten!

This is an extract from the literature that came with my sons report card. Hopefully you got the same. If not the go to the school and ask for it!

The A-E ratings and comments that are on your child's report show what your child has achieved, not against other students in your child's class or year level, but against state wide standards.

In reading your child's report, it is important to remember that the A-E ratings have a specific meaning that is consistent in all Victorian schools. For example, on the report card, no matter what school your child attends a B rating will always mean your child is above the state wide standard expected at the time of year.
A 'C' rating will always mean your child has achieved the state wide standard expected at this time of year and their learning is on track. (This is highlighted on the literature so I highlighted it too as they are obviously wanting to emphasie it).

I think if you talk to him and explain to him that he is being graded against every other little boy and girl in the state and not just his grade then he should have some understanding of why he got the grade he did.

Just typing this out I can think of an example in High Shool where I was very good at running cross country at a school level but come inter school sports I didn't do very well at all!


I have a 6 year old that achieved straight C's for the first semester. He achieved above the average expected so we are really happy with that. We were a bit taken aback but after reading the comments couldn't be more happier.
He doesn't care one iota so I guess that is the main difference between your son and mine

I would be working on your son to try and teach him to focus less on the letter grade and more on the written appraisal from the teachers.

Why has he been put up a grade? Maybe he isn't ready emotionally to compete with older children even though he is doing well academically.