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Write a progress update

A short written note on how a child is getting on, which the parent can read and download.

Progress & assessments Instructor, head instructor 3 min read

A progress update is the instructor's own words about a child — distinct from an assessment, which is a pass or a fail. Parents read these more carefully than anything else you produce.

1. Open Progress Updates

Student Progress → Progress Updates, then Add Progress Update.

ScreenshotThe progress update list with recent entries by coach and level

2. Fill it in

3. Write something specific

The difference between an update a parent values and one they ignore is entirely in the detail:

unaided. Next we're working on breathing to the side, which is the last skill before her Level 3 assessment."

Name what improved, name what is next, and name what it unlocks. It takes an extra sentence and it is the sentence the parent repeats to their spouse.

Write it for the parent, not the file. Avoid internal shorthand and level codes they have never seen.

What the parent gets

Updates are visible to the parent in their portal, and can be exported as a PDF — either from the update itself or from the child's profile, where PDF produces the progress report.

Related: Tick off a skill · What parents can see and do.