Although I never enjoyed writing reports when I was a class teacher, I must confess that I do miss reading and commenting on them as a head. I spent a good few evenings doing that every year around this time, though, and whilst I was reading, I would wonder if the vast number of hours each teacher spent on writing them was actually a good use of their time. Early in my leadership career, I decided that it wasn't, but I don't think I got any further than that in terms of devising a better idea. So, with 12 months' distance now from the classroom, I want to revisit that today and see if I can come up with a proposal that would fulfil three criteria. Manageable for teachers in terms of time Useful for parents Fulfils statutory school responsibilities Let's get number three out of the way first, as it is the easiest to cover. In the guidance for schools on writing statutory end-of-year reports for parents, it states: "By the end of each summer term, headteachers must...