Reporting to Parents

 

When teachers report to you on your child’s progress in relation to the National Standards, the following needs to be taken into consideration:

 

• Each year your child’s progress and achievement is measured against the standards for that year level
• At this time of the year we are reporting on progress and achievement so far (on what has happened in the first 14 out of the school year’s 40 weeks)
• The level of achievement at the end of last year may very well differ from the level of achievement at this stage in a new year and a different class level
• The teachers use very clearly determined criteria against which your child’s progress and achievement is measured
• At the parent/teacher/student conferences your child’s teacher will refer to the criteria we use
• There are many skills and strategies the children have to master in order to reach a given standard
• There is not just one test or assessment task that is used to determine your child’s progress and achievement
• Teachers accumulate a whole raft of information about each child before a decision is made in relation to their progress and achievement
• This system is not a pass/fail system; it is very clearly about the progress and achievement your child is making towards a particular level
• If your child was identified as being just below the standard or well below the standard at the END of last year, additional support will already be in place and your child’s teacher will have spoken to you about that
• If your child is identified as well below or just below at this time of the year, this is not necessarily a matter of concern, as he or she is only just over 1/4 of the way through the learning for this year level

 

Please listen to the whole picture and avoid becoming fixated on a grade or measure. Your child is a precious human being, not a product that can be fitted into a standard or industrial measure. Remember the Plunket Book when your child’s height and weight was graphed. How much more variance we have with the development of the brain, the ability to learn academically, the styles of learning and any other factors that may impact on our ability to learn.

 

Rejoice in what your child can do. Listen carefully to what your child’s teacher considers are your child’s next steps in learning and also to possible ways that you can help.

 

Thank you for the ways you support your child and his/her teacher. It makes such a difference.

 

Phil O’Connell-Cooper

Principal