“He got 8 out of 10.”

That is information. But is it really an answer to the question a parent is asking: “Is my child making progress?” Not always.

A mark can show that a child succeeded or failed at an exercise at a given moment. It can be useful. It can sometimes measure a piece of knowledge or a skill precisely.

But it does not always tell the story of the journey.

A child who goes from 4 to 7 has not followed the same path as a child who goes from 9 to 10. And a child who gets 8 after grasping an idea they could not handle a few weeks earlier has not had the same learning experience as a child who gets 8 without really understanding what they are doing.

That is why following a child’s progress at school deserves to go further than a series of results.

A mark measures a result. It does not always tell the story of progress.

Take a very simple example. Two children both score 15 out of 20.

The first already has a very good command of the skill being assessed. The second was really struggling a few weeks ago and has just reached an important milestone.

The mark is the same. The progress is not.

Conversely, a child can get a very good mark while having made little progress, because they had already fully mastered the idea.

This does not mean marks are useless. They can be helpful. But they are one piece of information among others.

To really understand how a child is developing, you also need to look at where they started, what they can do today, what is still difficult and how they react when they meet a new difficulty.

The first essential point: knowing where the child starts from

You cannot talk seriously about progress without knowing the starting point.

One child may arrive in a class already reading very fluently. Another may still be decoding slowly. A third may understand perfectly what they read but find it harder to write.

They do not need the same support.

So the teacher’s role is also to observe, at the start but also throughout the year:

what the child has mastered;
what they are beginning to master;
what is still fragile;
the strategies they use;
the difficulties that keep coming back;
the progress that appears.

This way of looking helps avoid confusing current level with potential for progress.

Progress is not always visible

This can be frustrating for parents. For several weeks, it feels as if nothing is changing. Then suddenly, something clicks.

Reading becomes more fluent. A maths idea becomes obvious. The child finally dares to speak English. They start asking for help instead of giving up. They work alone for a few more minutes. They explain their reasoning.

This progress does not necessarily show up straight away as a better mark. Yet it is real.

That is why serious tracking must also look at the skills that allow a child to learn, not only the results they get today.

Progress can be academic… but not only

When we talk about progress at school, we naturally think of:

reading;
writing;
maths;
languages;
knowledge.

But children also learn to:

concentrate;
organise their work;
solve a problem;
explain their reasoning;
work with others;
ask for help;
correct a mistake;
gradually become independent.

These dimensions are sometimes harder to measure. They are no less important.

A child who learns to persevere in the face of difficulty is developing a skill that will help them in many future areas of learning.

Observing how the child learns

This is probably one of the most valuable pieces of information for a teacher.

Imagine a child who regularly makes mistakes in maths. There are two possibilities. In the first, they don’t understand the idea. In the second, they understand it but rush and make careless mistakes.

The result on paper may be identical. The teaching need is not.

In the same way, a child who doesn’t answer a question may:

not know the answer;
need more time;
not have understood the instructions;
be afraid of getting it wrong;
find it hard to put their thoughts into words.

So the visible result is not always enough to understand the difficulty. You have to look at the reasoning behind it.

Individual follow-up shows what results hide

This is where small classes can be particularly useful.

When a teacher really knows the children in the class, they can notice details. A child who is taking part more. Another who is starting to show initiative. Another who finally dares to speak in front of the group. Another who no longer needs the same help to complete a task.

These observations do not replace assessment. They complement it.

The real goal is to gradually build a fuller picture of the child.

Assessing should not only mean “checking”

The word “assessment” is sometimes associated with judgement: “Did the child succeed or fail?”

But assessment can also answer another question: “What does this activity tell us about what the child needs to do next?”

Seen this way, a mistake is not just a mistake. It gives the teacher information. It may show that an idea needs more work. That another method would suit better. Or that the child is ready to go further.

Assessment then becomes a tool for steering learning.

Feedback matters as much as the result

Saying “That’s wrong” gives limited information.

Saying “Your reasoning is right up to here, but look at what happens at this step” helps the child understand more.

Likewise, “Well done!” is nice to hear. But “You tried a first strategy that didn’t work. You changed method and found the solution” offers something much more precise.

The child understands what they did to make progress. And that makes them more likely to use the strategy again.

Parents need more than a report

A report is useful. But to really understand how their child is experiencing school, a parent may need more concrete information. For example:

What are they good at?
Where are they still struggling?
How do they react when something is hard?
Are they independent?
Do they take part?
Do they dare to ask questions?
How do they work with others?
What strategies do they use?
What can they do now that they couldn’t do before?
What is the next step?

These questions change the conversation. It is no longer just about whether the child has “worked well”. It is about their real development.

What if my child is progressing slowly?

That is a perfectly legitimate worry. But “slowly” does not necessarily mean “badly”.

Children do not all progress at the same pace. A child may move very quickly in one skill and need much more time in another.

That is exactly why constantly comparing children with each other can give a misleading picture. The most useful question is often: “Where was this child before, and where are they now?” Then: “What can help them reach the next step?”

Tracking should also identify children who need to go further

Individualised teaching does not only mean helping children who are struggling. A child may also need more stimulation.

If they have already mastered a skill, having them repeat the same exercises over and over is not necessarily very rich learning.

Tracking then reveals another need: going further. An extra challenge. A different problem. Some research. A responsibility. A project.

So the aim is not only to “catch up”. It is also to let every child keep progressing from their own starting point.

In a bilingual setting, tracking needs even more care

In a bilingual environment, a child’s level must be interpreted carefully.

A child may understand a great deal in English without yet expressing themselves with the same ease. Another may speak easily but need more time to write. Vocabulary may also be spread between the two languages depending on the situation.

So it is important to look at all of a child’s language skills, not just one piece of work. The aim is to know what the child understands, what they can express, in which situations they use the language and how their ease develops over time.

How can you find out how a school really tracks progress?

It is an essential question to ask before choosing a school. You might ask:

“How do you know a child is making progress?”
“How do you identify their strengths and difficulties?”
“How often do you review their learning?”
“How are goals shared with parents?”
“What happens when a child isn’t progressing as expected?”
“How do you support a child who is moving ahead faster?”
“How much weight do you give to the teacher’s observations?”
“How does the child get feedback on their own work?”

These questions help you understand whether tracking is really individual, or mainly based on the same tests for the whole class.

In the end, the question may not be “what mark did they get?”

The most interesting question might be: “What can my child do today that they couldn’t do yesterday?” And right after: “What is still hard for them?” Then: “What is the next step?”

It is this view of progress that lets you see schooling as a journey rather than a series of results.

Because a child is not an average. They are not a mark. They are not a ranking. They are a child who is learning, who sometimes moves fast and sometimes slowly, who can make mistakes, start again, discover a new way of doing things and suddenly reach a milestone.

A school’s role is not only to measure where they are. It is also to know how to help them move forward.

At Da Vinci Private School

At Da Vinci Private School, following each child is part of an overall approach to their learning.

Daily observation, activities, pieces of work, conversations and assessments help us better understand what each child has mastered, what still needs consolidating and what the next steps might be.

In a small school, the aim is to know each child well enough not to look only at their final result, but also at the path they take to get there.

Because in the end, the most important question is not only “Where are they?”, but: “How can we help them go further?”

Find out how progress is assessed at Da Vinci.

How to follow a child's progress at school beyond marks