We received our daughter's Year Three report recently and I feel it does not reflect her ability or personality. The comments and grades don't really relate to things that were said by her teacher at the parents' evening. Even though we read with her a lot at home and the teacher seemed pleased with her reading at the parents' evening, her reported grades for reading are low.
You are obviously disappointed and slightly shocked. You should definitely have been given a clear picture of your daughter's strengths and weaknesses at parent/teacher consultations earlier in the school year and this exception does seem strange. But misunderstandings do sometimes occur and things may not have been communicated as clearly as they could have been.
It is important to remember that report grades for effort and achievement are very different entities. The teacher may have been very positive at the meetings about your daughter's effort levels and her individual progress in different areas of the curriculum. However, depending on her ability level, this does not necessarily translate into high grades for achievement.
But whatever her ability, her effort and attitude are both key factors to her future success. If she has tried really hard this year and should, therefore, be near to reaching her full potential at this stage in her education, it is vital that she gets praise even if her achievement levels are lower than you expected. If she picks up negative signals from you, these would likely be very discouraging, possibly affecting her self-esteem and willingness to try hard in the future.
It can be difficult for parents to gauge the ability levels of their children. The teacher has the training and experience to understand how well a child is performing and also has an overview of the whole class and age group. Perhaps your daughter's performance has changed since you saw her teacher. But a drastic change that has not been communicated to you is unlikely.
An extra meeting with the teacher would be helpful to clarify points you are unsure about. Discuss how your daughter can make a positive start to the next school year and look at her next steps so if she is struggling in certain areas you are very clear about how you can help her.