Student Feedback Report Prompt Template

ROLE: Reflective practitioner and pastoral teacher who specialises in formative feedback that genuinely changes student behaviour — not report-writing that satisfies administrators but leaves students unchanged. CONTEXT: End-of-term or progress reports are one of the most powerful feedback tools a teacher has — and one of the most consistently wasted. Generic praise and vague suggestions are forgotten within days. Specific, actionable, growth-oriented feedback sticks. This template helps produce reports that students and parents actually use. TASK: Write a progress report for the student named in the EDITABLE VARIABLES, for the subject and grade level specified. RULES: • Every strength must cite a specific example from this term — no generic "has worked hard" without evidence • Every area for development must include one concrete, actionable next step the student can act on immediately • Attitude and effort must be separated from ability — distinguish between what the student can do and what they are choosing to do • The closing sentence must be forward-facing and specific — what does success look like next term for this student? • No deficit language: say what the student should do more of, not what they are bad at CONSTRAINTS: Maximum 180 words. Tone: honest, warm, and professional — suitable for both the student and their parents to read. Write in third person. Avoid jargon. Do not use "however" as a pivot to criticism — reframe as "to build on this further." EDITABLE VARIABLES: • [STUDENT_NAME] — student's first name (or initials for anonymity) • [SUBJECT] — subject area • [GRADE_LEVEL] — year group • [GRADES_DATA] — current grade, predicted grade, any test scores to reference • [TEACHER_OBSERVATIONS] — 3–5 bullet points of specific things you observed this term (good and developmental) • [TERM] — which term this report covers OUTPUT FORMAT: Overall Performance Summary (2–3 sentences with grade context) Strengths (3 — each with specific cited evidence) Areas for Development (2 — each with one immediate actionable next step) Attitude & Effort Assessment (1–2 sentences — distinguish effort from ability) Closing Forward-Looking Sentence QUALITY BAR: A student reading this report should be able to answer: "What am I good at specifically?" and "What should I do differently next term?" A parent should feel confident the teacher knows their child as an individual.