From next year, school reports across New Zealand will have to include the same important information. Apparently "doing well" is no longer enough detail.
There is a sentence adults put in school reports that manages to sound positive and mysterious at the same time:
"Abby is making satisfactory progress."
Satisfactory compared with what? Progress towards where? Is there an unsatisfactory mountain behind me that I narrowly escaped?
This week, the Ministry of Education announced that school reports are going to become more consistent across New Zealand.
From 1 January 2027, schools will have to report to parents twice a year. The reports will include assessment results, progress and achievement, attendance, the student's next learning steps, and information about extra support if a student is well below curriculum expectations.
That means a report should answer more useful questions.
What can I do now? What am I finding difficult? What should I work on next? Am I getting the help I need?
Attendance will be there too. That makes sense because it is hard to learn something if you were not in the room when it was taught. But the number needs context. Ten days away with glandular fever is not the same as ten days away because a student feels unsafe at school. The total might look identical. The story is not.
I think the best report should be a map, not a verdict. A verdict says, "This is what you are." A map says, "This is where you are, and here is a possible next step."
There is one risk with making reports more standard. Students are not standard. Some people understand fractions in five minutes and need five weeks to speak in front of the class. Somebody else is the exact opposite. A useful report should make learning clearer without turning a whole person into three scores and an attendance percentage.
So yes, give us better information. Please also give it to the student, not just the adults talking about the student.
It is our report, after all. We should be allowed to understand it.