Reporting to Parents 2022
March 2022
Dear Parents and Caregivers
As part of our consultation with parents, in November 2021 an online curriculum survey was undertaken by our community. This included giving us feedback on how we Report to Parents. The collated survey feedback has been shared with our community, teaching staff and Board this term.
Over the last few months’, in response to Community Feedback (see Newsletter 1 attachment), we have begun implementing changes, such as sharing ‘just-in-time’ curriculum feedback and we are now ready to share with you the changes that we are trialling this year with regard to how we will report to parents.
Legislative Requirements
Current legislation for primary schools requires that we provide written reporting about each child’s progress and achievement twice per year across the curriculum. This information needs to be based on good quality assessment information. In the past we have shared student reports at the end of Terms 2 and 4, as well as holding parent interviews mid-Term 1 and at the beginning of Term 3.
Community Consultation Feedback
For Reporting to Parents, the key request from parents was that they wanted ‘just in time’ feedback on progress, rather than progress and achievement at two points in time. They wanted to know the learning that was taking place during the term and requested that Seesaw posts be used to share information such as this. This feedback also supports some of the oral feedback that we have had from some parents, in that they find it difficult to understand how to support their child to achieve their expected curriculum level.
Using this feedback, the teaching staff, with Board input, have drafted a new Reporting to Parents model to trial in 2022.
Key aspects that pertain to parents and caregivers include:
Written Reporting (see table below)
- Earlier written Reporting to Parents, as well as throughout the year
- Throughout the year annotated pieces of each student’s work (see example at bottom of this report), in reading, writing and maths – linked to curriculum areas, where possible – will be posted to their parents prior to the Mid- Year conference and End of Year written report. These progress samples will include teacher comments and share the curriculum level that each child is currently working at. For students who have been at school less than 10 weeks before mid/end of year reporting dates, there will be fewer annotated pieces posted.
- Seesaw posts against other curriculum areas will be posted throughout the year e.g. Science and Social Sciences, but these will not usually be annotated. As this is the first year of this trial, there may be fewer posts whilst we refine our processes.
- An online end of year report will be shared as to each child’s End of Year achievement in reading, writing & maths, including other general areas, such as Active Learner Skills, RIDE values and cross-curricular learning.
Whanau Oral Interviews – 3 Way Conferences (see table below)
- Earlier in the year interview conferencing with parents – pre-Term 1 start and within term 2 (rather than during Terms 1 and 3)
- These conferences are an opportunity for students to share their current interests and completed work, as well as ‘just in time’ discussions with parents & caregivers regarding current progress and next steps for learning.
- Within the Term 2 interview, parents will be given the expected curriculum goals for their child’s reading, writing and maths.
- Parents are welcome to request informal discussions/meetings with their child’s teacher during the year to discuss progress and achievement.
In brief…
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