Student reports bring mixed feelings for parents. Pleasure and pride if children are performing well but possible angst when children are not progressing as hoped. Reports can mean anxious times for children too. Will my parents be disappointed or proud? This is the main concern of most children. Children of all ages take their cues from their parents, so your reaction to their school report can affect the way they see themselves as learners and as people.
School reports provide wonderful opportunities for families to celebrate children’s interests and achievements and offer valuable insight for parents regarding areas of focus and support their child may need moving forward.
At GCC we value the relationship between home and school and hope that our reporting system is:
- Simple to read and interpret
- Timely, allowing for meaningful and purposeful conversations at the next Parent Teacher interviews
- Highlights and opens conversations between you and child about their effort, behaviour, progress and general academic achievement
As a school, in addition to progress and academic achievement, we see the importance of high student effort and positive behaviour in the classroom and how this affects children’s learning. The next round of Parent Teacher Interviews will be held in Week 2 of Term 3, you will have a chance to discuss your child’s overall progress across the different curriculum areas and discuss focus areas and goals for your child for Semester 2. It is important that if and when you do discuss the school report with your son or daughter, to make sure that your expectations for him or her are realistic and in line with their ability. Also, take note of the student self-assessment section of the report as this will give you an idea of how your child sees themselves as a learner.
The Semester 1 report is a reflection of your child’s progression of learning, in all key learning areas, based on multiple formative assessments and evidence of mastery. The first section in each learning area provides a description of what has been taught this semester. The table below each description identifies the Australian Curriculum achievement standard requirements for that learning area and indicates how well your child is progressing against these achievement standards using a five-point scale (Extending – Emerging). The effort and behaviour grade is an indication of how the student is working in the key learning area. N/A or M indicates that assessment has been modified or that learning for a particular standard has not been assessed.
It is important to remember that students achieving at ‘Demonstrating’ are achieving at the expected level against the Australian Curriculum achievement standards at the time of reporting. This means that the student is on target to meet all the learning expectations and achievement standards for their year level by the end of the year.
The purpose of this Semester 1 report is to help both children and their parents/caregivers recognize areas of proficiency and competency, celebrate successes and identify where to focus attention in Semester Two.
I would like to commend those children who have worked extremely hard this semester and who have made significant progress and I encourage those children who know that they can do better to come back to school with a determination to work hard and do their best next term.
Gail Mitchell, Head of Primary