Dear Parents,

Children and teachers are very excited for the new way of reporting achievement to parents. Children have been practising what they need to do to lead the conversation about their learning. They are all looking forward to showing their parents just how much they have learnt and how much progress they have made this year.

Your role is to ask questions. As this is new for all of us – children, parents and teachers, the teachers have opted to help you out by developing some prompt / starter questions for you as parents. We are not insulting your intelligence; we know that VAS parents already know how to ask great questions about their child’s learning. We also know that just occasionally, the conversation veers towards what their child can’t do rather than what they can do, the progress they have made to date and what is needed now to help them move forward.

Here are the questions:

Years 1 and 2

• What do you find tricky with your reading / writing / maths?….
• How can I help you with that at home?….
• I really like the way you tried hard at / to / with / when….

 Years 3 and 4

• What would you like to tell us about your learning?
• Why is that your favourite piece of writing?
• What is it about ….(your times tables) that you find tricky?
• How can we help you at home?
• How can we make …….. more fun for you to learn?
• What do you need to do next?
• What’s a positive thing that you could do if you make a mistake?
• I really like the way that you …
• Are you happy with the progress that you are making?

Years 5 and 6

• What are you proud of?
• What has helped you achieve your goal?
• I have noticed this year that you have worked hard on ________, this has made me feel very proud of you.
• I’ve noticed you have improved in _____, what do you think your next steps are?
• Is there anything you want to address?
• Why do you find that difficult?
• What can we do at home to help you achieve your goal?
• How can I support you?

Here is a reminder from the Ministry of Education’s TKI website  – Assessment Online which clearly outlines the benefits of our new approach to reporting.

Student-led conferences and three-way conferences

This form of reporting, in which the student is very actively involved in the learning and reporting process, reflects the intent of the NZ Curriculum.

Many schools in New Zealand are using some form of student-led or three-way conferencing to report to and share information with parents. This reporting procedure, in which the student is very actively involved in the learning and reporting process, is a fundamental shift away from the one-way transference of information from teacher to parents, and is consistent with the characteristics of effective assessment in the NZ Curriculum. Most schools involved in such conferences report a significant rise in parent satisfaction with and attendance at conference times.

Student-led conferences and three-way conferences take the form of a conversation between the student, their parents and their teacher. Both approaches give students an opportunity to share with their parents their growth as a learner. They accept accountability and responsibility for their progress and achievement, and demonstrate a growing understanding of their development as independent learners.

Kind Regards
Janice Adamson