So I see that Jin Knight, schools minister, has announced that by 2012 all schools must provide "real time reporting" on every child. Now, I have nothing against technology - in fact I love the stuff - or against reporting as it can provide a valuable insight of a childs progress, but to turn the annual report to parents, and the face to face parents evenings, into a cold digit on a computer screen is wrong.
It's fine to use the "real time" technology to access a bank account online at anytime, but children are not bank accounts. They have good weeks and bad weeks, and their results can vary because of this. Speaking to a parent about a dip in progress can reveal unkown factors distracting the child. Explaining why a child has not progressed as well as expected in a subject can reassure a parent and avoid confrontations.
Take that away, and a black digit on a screen, given out of context with no explanation can do so much more harm.
Sometimes technology is not the right thing to use. This is one of those times.
