Primary School Reports

I don't expect anyone remembers, but when we moved house (the second time) in 2008, I (re)discovered my old school reports, and said I would make a blog post out of them sometime. I found those school reports again recently, so here I am blogging the first batch. I'll just 'do' the Primary School ones today (for those in other parts of the world, 'Primary School' is where kids aged 5-11 spend their term times. They then move on to Secondary Education.) I don't seem to have any reports from my time in the Infants (age 5-7) I just have the ones from the Juniors.

I'm not sure anyone will actually be very interested in this, but it's the sort of thing I'd like to go in a future Blog Book for family, so please forgive the self-indulgence.

The earliest report I can find is from the year in which I was 8:

[Kitty] has made very good progress in all subjects throughout the year. She is very enthusiastic and joins readily in with all class activities. PE, games and swimming have been enjoyed. Apart from an unfortunate incident relating to school meals, I have found her a very thoughtful and reliable girl.

The Head has added to the back '[Kitty] is a very pleasant girl who has worked hard'

I'm sure your reaction is the same as mine ... what unfortunate incident relating to school meals? :-O It was obviously important enough for the teacher to note on my report, but what the hell ... ? I don't remember that teacher at all, other than that she had dark hair and big glasses; her name was Mrs Prior.

What do you think I did that might have been unthoughtful and/or unreliable and was related to school meals? All suggestions very gratefully received! I must ask Mum if she can remember.

The next report I found is from the year in which I was 9:

[Kitty] has worked steadily throughout the year. She takes great care over her written work and produces stories of imaginative content. She is an extremely able reader, capable of reading mature books, of which there is a good choice in the school. In Mathematics she has proved to be quite competent and has few problems in this subject. Always helpful in the classroom, she has many interests and belongs to several after-school clubs.

The Head has added to the back 'This has been a good year for [Kitty] and I am very pleased. Well done!

I remember this teacher a bit more than the last one. He was tall, thin, had very dark hair, and had a distinctly olive-coloured skintone. His name was Mr Payne. His wife also worked at the school but was never my teacher. I wonder what my stories of imaginative content were? Good training for blog-writing, no doubt. As for reading mature books - I would read anything at all, and still do. It sounds like I did a few after-school clubs but I can't recall them; wonder what they were?

The next report is dated the year in which I was 10:

[Kitty] is an able child. She has a pleasing attitude to all her work and has progressed very well this year. Her Mathematics is good and she tackles new topics with enthusiasm. She has worked well on her topic books which are varied in content and well presented. [Kitty] has a lively imagination and her English work shows throught and care. Her reading is very good, she chooses from a wide selection of books making good use of the school library. [Kitty] enjoys a wide range of school activities. She has produced some good Art and Craft work this year, is a keen Netball player, a member of the School orchestra and Judo Club. She enoys PE and works hard with her swimming.

The Head (who was a new one since the last report) has added 'Is there anything she doesn't do?! An excellent all-round report which augurs well'.

There is a space under the Head's words for a parent to make a remark if they so wish. On the two previous reports, neither of my parents had written anything, but on this one my mother has written 'The halo slips a little at home!'. Pah, cheeky baggage.

I really liked the teacher who wrote that report. Her name was Mrs Cox - and as well as being a teacher, she was an artist. I guess she was more on my wavelength than any of my previous teachers? She was blonde, attractive, and everyone liked her. I see she made mention of my imagination - just as Mr Payne had done. Interestingly that Head teacher was still the Head teacher when No.1 started at the same school a zillion years later!

The final report from that school is dated the year in which I was 11:

[Kitty] has had a good final year at **** School and shows promise for the future. She is a capable girl and works well at all times. Her mathematics is of a very good standard and she tackles new work with enthusiasm. Her English work is good. She shows a lively imagination and her work is always neat and well presented. She has worked with interest at her Topic and has produced some very pleasing results. She reads well with obvious enjoyment and her vocabulary continues to develop. She enjoys all forms of Art and Craft and has worked well with some very pleasing results. She is a good Netball player, and works well at her PE and Drama lessons. [Kitty] has showed herself to have considerable qualities of leadership this year - if sometimes turned into rather talkative directions! I hope she will channel these qualities to good use at her next school.

The Head has added 'A very good report [Kitty], but please heed the advice given. Good luck'.

That was Mrs Cox again - I had her for the final two years of my time at that school. Hmmmmm, wonder why she found the need to mention my 'rather talkative' trait. Ah well - not much has changed, has it - I can still witter for Britain! My imagination gets yet another mention; I'm wondering if I wrote some amazing stories! I'm amazed that she has mentioned qualities of leadership since I don't view myself to have any of those whatsoever. I've always thought of myself as ideal 'backroom' material; I don't have the courage, and am far too self-conscious to ever be a 'leader' of any kind.

So there we are - the reports from the 'first instalment' of my education. It makes me realise that not a lot has changed with regard to the core 'me': I still read, have the 'lively imagination', tackle subjects that interest me with enthusiasm, and enjoy all forms of art and craft. I don't, however, still do the netball, play in the orchestra, or do judo!

I wonder if my own children are already essentially what they will be as adults?

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