What ECT teachers need to know about writing school reports

Nobody tells you about reports at university. You learn about lesson planning, behaviour management, assessment strategies — and then report season arrives and you discover that producing thirty thoughtful, personalised, accurate written assessments of children you've known for seven months, while also teaching full time, is one of the hardest things the job asks of you.

If you're writing reports for the first time (or the second time, which is only slightly less daunting), here's what it helps to know.

Your school has a format — follow it

Before you write a single word, find out what your school expects. Some schools have character limits. Some have a specific structure. Some expect particular language around attainment levels. Some have a reviewing process. Find out all of this before you start, not after you've written fifteen reports in a format that turns out to be wrong.

It takes longer than you think — build the time in

A first draft of a report for a child you know well might take twenty minutes. For a child whose progress is complicated, or whose home situation is sensitive, it might take forty-five. Multiply that across your class and you're looking at eight to fifteen hours of writing. Plan for this. Book out evenings in your diary. Tell people you'll be unavailable.

Don't copy phrases from colleagues without thought

It's tempting, when you're tired and running out of words, to borrow language from a colleague's previous reports. Be careful. Phrases travel around schools and parents sometimes compare notes — particularly in smaller communities. More importantly, borrowed phrases tend not to fit specific children, and parents notice.

Be honest, but remember this is a professional document

You will have instincts about children that are real and valid and that don't belong in a school report. The child whose behaviour has been exhausting. The parent dynamic that has made your year more difficult. These things are true — and they cannot be in the report. Write what is professionally true, specifically and honestly.

Ask your mentor to read a few before they go out

If you're in your ECT years, this is what your mentor is there for. Ask them to look at three or four reports before the batch goes out — someone else's eye often catches things you've missed, and a small correction now is better than a parent conversation later.

It gets easier

This is worth saying plainly: the first time is the hardest. By your third or fourth year, you'll have a rhythm, a phrase bank, and a much clearer sense of what you're trying to say. That's not far away.