Assessment and Reporting at Sumner School
The assessment and reporting of student achievement plays a very important role in the education of our children. We have made a number of changes to the way we will be assessing and reporting students achievement in the future. Please watch the brief video below which outlines these changes.
We use a cyclic approach to assessment and reporting at Sumner School. This is illustrated by the diagram below. This cycle ensures continuity as children transition through the school. It also gives teachers a comprehensive picture of each incoming class and allows them to commence teaching and learning programmes right from the beginning of the year.
Learning Conferences
Learning Conferences take place at the beginning and mid-way through the year. The conferences are student-led and have a strong emphasis on discussions around current achievement levels and next learning steps. At Sumner School we believe that it is very important for the children to be involved in this process, after all, it is their learning we are talking about.
As the focus is on learning we would hope that any concerns (academic, social or behavioural) have been addressed prior to these conferences.
The Goal Setting Conferences usually take place in the first two weeks of the school year and are 15 minutes in duration. They provide an opportunity for parents to meet their child’s new teacher, review progress from the previous year and set learning goals for the future.
The mid-year conferences are 20 minutes long. The first 15 minutes are for the children, teacher and parents to discuss learning, with the last five minutes being reserved for parents to talk to the teacher, without the child present, if the parent desires it.
To help illustrate how they are progressing, the students will share a range of work from their books. They will also share some of the assessments used in class such as pre-test/post tests, formative tools like e-asTTle and rubrics which help identify next learning steps. These authentic examples of student learning replace the one-off type samples that were included in the now defunct portfolios. This change was made as a result of the feedback we received from parents, teachers and children.
Bookings for Learning Conferences will usually open a couple of weeks out from the conferences and can be made online using the school interviews website or by contacting the Office directly. Please note that classes will cease at 1.30pm on Learning Conference days. Supervision until 3pm will always be provided for those students who cannot be collected early.
Written Reports
Written reports are provided twice a year. They are presented at the mid-year Learning Conferences and sent home at the end of each year. They provide parents and children with an overview of progress and achievement in the following sections:
National Standards
Achievement data about the progress against the National Standards in reading, writing and maths is provided in the written reports. For Years 4-8 students the mid-year report will indicate whether the child is on track to be above, at, below, or well-below the relevant standard. At the end of the year an overall teacher judgement will be made about the child’s achievement level in relation to the standards.
The key difference with the Years 1-3 reports is that progress against the National Standards is measured after 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120 weeks at school and not at the end of each school year. This information will still be shared in the mid and end year written reports however, with the date that these assessments were made, recorded next to the standard. The comments about progress in the areas of reading, writing and maths along with the next steps and how to help at home will be current.
Please note, at Sumner School all children in Year 4 will be assessed against the the end of Year 4 National Standards regardless of how long they have been at school.
For more information on the National Standards click here for the Ministry of Education’s wesbite
Other Learning Areas
The other learning areas are Science, Technology, Health and Physical Education and the Arts (Dance, Drama, Visual Arts and Music). Achievement in these areas are measured against the New Zealand Curriculum Levels (see diagram below). Although related, there are no National Standards for these areas.
General Comments
These comments reflect a range of aspects about the children and have strong emphasis on the Key Competencies and SURFER Values. The general comments will often make reference to involvement in life outside the classroom eg lunchtime activities, school-based responsibilities, sports/cultural groups and leadership roles the children may be involved in.
How can you help at home?
The partnership between home and school is a crucial one. Parents often ask how they can help with their child’s learning at home. Below are a number of ideas for how this can be achieved. Click on the picture to take you to a PDF version of the parent guides or click on the More info on how to help button for further details.
Please also explore the other links below to useful resources and ideas for how parents can help at home.
