Parents Navigating reviews

[Pasteltiedye]

Hi all I’m fair new to this world of gymnastics and am wondering if there are some points I can run past more experienced mums.

Daughter has been in gymnastics club since 3 and she is now 6.

Started rec 1hour a week then to mini development 2hours a week now in development 6 hours a week.

Gym is a lovely setting and I know they aren’t the oldest of gymnastics clubs but they are striving for a professional level.

We last had a review in August 2024 and it was a very positive one.

Since September the development class has more than doubled in size with a head count 17

A lot of the new students are a year younger than my daughter who is 2018

April review has come through with some slight negative feedback

Some points made…..she can sometimes loose focus and mess around with others in the class
She can sometimes become upset when she is being corrected.
She is unable to recall the warm up order and has to ask which can cause disruption.
Attendance since January is 1day absent but 10x late and this has brought her attendance to below 80%

I have replied to review email just asking for some clarification in a few of the negative comments.

But what I would like to know from mums is would your mind go in the same direction as mine?

Could the increase in class size directly affect focus of the girls and possibly the coach as they often have to wait a lot to take turns and coach is only one who can maybe not keep 17x 5 /6/7 year olds focused?

Do girls of 6 years old usually lead a warm up session of approx 30 mins?

And is it a normal practice to have a few mins late marked as absent which affects the overall percentage?

Any views and opinions/ suggestions are welcomed

 

[bookworm]

She went from perfect attendance and glowing reviews to late 10 times and less than stellar reviews? For starters, in a group, if someone is running in late all the time it can be disruptive to the rest of the group and your daughter as she hasn’t heard the instruction from the get go … and you mentioned the groups were larger so there’s that too.

And glowing reviews in a rec class are one thing but she’s in a developmental program now so those expectations are different and higher so again, not too surprising.

 

[HurricaneLR]

The group size could absolutely hurt attention - there should be more than one coach with that many girls. But, being late is a big deal. So I'm not surprised they count that against attendance. And girls at any age can lead the warmup. Being late will affect her ability to learn the warmup properly, so I would work on that. But she's young, she'll get there. It's a big transition going from 2 hours a week to 6.

 

[Pasteltiedye]

She went from perfect attendance and glowing reviews to late 10 times and less than stellar reviews? For starters, in a group, if someone is running in late all the time it can be disruptive to the rest of the group and your daughter as she hasn’t heard the instruction from the get go … and you mentioned the groups were larger so there’s that too.

And glowing reviews in a rec class are one thing but she’s in a developmental program now so those expectations are different and higher so again, not too surprising.

No im sorry maybe I need to explain more….. the attendance wasn’t on her last development review which was in August 2024 and she had been training in development for a whole year prior the that review.
As soon as the girls get into the gym they need to do 5 gym run laps and whoever is the fastest leads the warm up…… so there isn’t instructions to miss as such.

Her being late is literally minutes she is never the last one there and I’m asking if that is common practice to be an absent mark in the register.
Her attendance will not be the worst in her class for sure but I didn’t realise 5 or so mins late results in a absent mark.
If this had been a clear house rule last review I’m sure I would have wrapped my head around it sooner.

 

[SupportingHerDreams]

No im sorry maybe I need to explain more….. the attendance wasn’t on her last development review which was in August 2024 and she had been training in development for a whole year prior the that review.
As soon as the girls get into the gym they need to do 5 gym run laps and whoever is the fastest leads the warm up…… so there isn’t instructions to miss as such.

Her being late is literally minutes she is never the last one there and I’m asking if that is common practice to be an absent mark in the register.
Her attendance will not be the worst in her class for sure but I didn’t realise 5 or so mins late results in a absent mark.
If this had been a clear house rule last review I’m sure I would have wrapped my head around it sooner.

Reviews are done so as to make things better moving forward. Sucks that you didn't realize how big of a deal 5 minutes late was, but now you do. Use this part of the review as something you can help improve. Which should be something you celebrate. A LOT of things in this sport cannot be changed by us, as parents... being late is something we can totally take control of. Try to look at it that way maybe. Be happy that you know something that you can totally correct on your own.

 

[Pasteltiedye]

Reviews are done so as to make things better moving forward. Sucks that you didn't realize how big of a deal 5 minutes late was, but now you do. Use this part of the review as something you can help improve. Which should be something you celebrate. A LOT of things in this sport cannot be changed by us, as parents... being late is something we can totally take control of. Try to look at it that way maybe. Be happy that you know something that you can totally correct on your own.

Thank you this is a very helpful and useful response x

 

[NutterButter]

My DD's gym didn't start letting parents know they track attendance until her junior year when it was brought up for the 1st time during a random email with attendance stats and then again during the end of season parent/coach meeting. I took issue with it as we've always been very conscientious on when DD missed gym. Plus sometimes you just hit a bad round of illnesses and need to take days off. I was told that it was a new thing they were doing because there was a correlation between attendance and athlete's not hitting goals. This didn't apply to my DD and after that meeting I never heard about her attendance stats again.

I would also say that being 5 min late was never a problem at my DDs gym. The gym is in a metro area. Kids were coming from multiple directions, up to 30 min away with different school release times. 1/3rd of the kids were leaving school up to 30 min early and sometimes just couldn't get out of the classroom when they needed to or they needed a little extra time changing. It's not ideal being 5 min late but unfortunately also a reality of being a commuter.

 

[Pasteltiedye]

Thank you x

 

[Dahlialover]

I think it is great that your gym is taking the time to communicate with you about your child’s progress. Not every gym does that. There is no need to get defensive here. They are just identifying some age-appropriate areas for growth. As for the attendance issue, it is perfectly reasonable for the coach to take attendance promptly at the beginning of class and to not to take time to update the sheet every time a late student strangles in. Please keep in mind that how you respond to feedback can impact the way the coaches view you and your daughter. Your response here should be gracious, grateful, and brief.

 

[Pasteltiedye]

Thank you x