Important update from TheSchoolRun
For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.
What this means for subscribers:
- Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
- In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
- As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.
A few changes to be aware of:
- The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
- The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.
If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.
*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.
School reports decoded
When you receive your child’s report you might be pleased, concerned or – like many parents – downright confused, as they can be tricky to decipher. Here's what you need to know to understand what the report really means.
“Annual reports are a statutory requirement,” explains head teacher at Gilwern Primary School, Roger Guy. “The format varies significantly between schools but the main area to focus on is the 'General Comment'. This is usually a short paragraph which provides a summary of academic and social strengths and areas to develop.”
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So what exactly do those general comments mean? We asked teachers to ‘decode’ five commonly used phrases.
‘Lacks spatial awareness’
What it means: Your child may spread themselves out in class and knock into others on the playground. “With younger children this relates to their ability to control their movements and the development of gross motor skills,” explains Reception teacher at Gilwern Primary, Brady Edwards.
What you can do: “Jigsaws, climbing frames and obstacle courses help develop gross motor control,” says Brady. “Also introduce distance vocabulary. So ask, ‘What is closer, the teddy or the bike?’ and allow them to find out.” With older children, help them to understand the concept of ‘personal space’. “Explain that everyone has their own space, like a ‘bubble’ around them,” suggests Brady.
‘Needs more sustained listening skills’
What it means: “Often children start the lesson well but then begin daydreaming,” explains Bethan Prosser, a year 5 teacher at Cleveland Junior School. “When you ask a question they look confused.”
What you can do: “Try baking cakes together,” suggests Bethan, “Read out the instructions step by step. If they listen, the end product will turn out right.” And they get a tasty reward!
‘Must adapt their speech to a broader range of situations’
What it means: “They might often speak without thinking, shout out or talk over others,” explains Brady.
What you can do: “Try the ‘turn-taking story game’,” suggests Brady. “Each person gets to make up three words of a story at a time. For example, one person says, ‘The pig said’, and the next continues, ‘hello little goat’. This makes them think carefully about what they want to say.”
‘Needs to take a more active role’
What it means: “They will quite happily sit and watch the rest of the class do an activity and not participate unless told to,” explains Bethan.
What you can do: “Suggest games where they play a leading role,” she suggests. Try follow the leader or Chinese whispers (getting them to start the chain). Or set them and their siblings or friends a task, such as building a den, and get them to take turns to be ‘boss’, instructing the others.
‘Must concentrate more’
What it means: “This could also be worded as ‘needs to manage distractions’,” says Brady. It usually means your child is easily distracted by toys, what’s going on outside the classroom, etc.
What you can do: “‘Kim’s game’ is good for developing concentration,” advises Brady. “You show five items to your child for 10 seconds, then they turn around and you remove one. They look again and have to work out what’s disappeared.”
