End of Semester Reports
This week you will have received your child’s Semester One report. The following is an explanation of the report and should be read in conjunction with the information attached inside the reporting folder in which your child’s report came home in.
This end of semester formal report is just one part of our Reporting to Families Policy at Aubin Grove. It provides a summary of the progress your child has made so far this year and should be read in the context of all the other information communicated to you by your child’s teacher throughout the year. This information has been conveyed to you in formal ways such as the Term 1 Parent/Teacher Interviews and Progress Folder and in informal ways including doorway chats, classroom visits, phone calls and emails.
All this information is intended to give you a clear picture of the progress and achievement your child has made so far this year.
- Grades
All our teachers collaborate very closely to moderate their judgments. This is to ensure that the judgment they have made of your child’s level in a particular Learning Area (e.g. English) and Learning Area component (e.g. Writing) accurately reflects their performance that semester. If you compare reports from previous years and feel there is a discrepancy, you are encouraged to discuss this with the teacher. Please bear in mind though that judgment making is not an exact science and does vary somewhat from school to school and teacher to teacher.
At Aubin Grove, we place much effort and time into ensuring that our teachers are well informed of what comprises each level and have developed a deep knowledge of those levels by engaging with the Judging Standards exemplars contained in the Australian Curriculum. This gives us a lot of confidence in their decision-making.
- Teacher Comments
In line with Department of Education policy, comments are only required in three areas: English, Mathematics and a General Comment.
At Aubin Grove we also include comments for students who receive an ‘A’ or ‘D’ for a Learning Area. This is to explain the rationale for the judgment. An ‘A’ is quite rare and as such deserves explanation. A ‘D’ indicates that a child is performing below the expected level for that subject area in that year level and therefore demands further explanation. Our own policy also contains a ‘no surprise’ policy for students who receive a ‘D’ for a subject. As parents, I expect that you will have had some contact or conversation with the teacher so that the grade is not a surprise.
If you have any questions or concerns about the report, please make an appointment with your child’s classroom teacher early next term. He/she would be happy to discuss and clarify them with you.
- Effort
This rating (Consistently, Often, Sometimes and Seldom) is particularly important and should be a major focus and discussion point when looking over the report with your child. If we see a child applying effort at a ‘Consistent’ level, regardless of the grade, we should be congratulating them as they are clearly doing their best.
Happy Holidays
The end of Term 2 seems to have come around so quickly, as is always the case. So much has happened and so much accomplished again. I have been delighted with the application and attitude of all our students. The sense of pride in our school and dedication to their learning is clearly evident across the entire school and reflected in their reports, all of which I have had the pleasure to read.
Our focus on implementing visible learning practices across the entire school is being successfully and effectively carried out, resulting in enhanced teaching and learning practices and a consistent language of learning throughout the school that includes the use of, and references to, negotiated goal setting, effective feedback, clear learning intentions and success criteria.
I am particularly excited to see this grow even further and result in even more positive learning outcomes for our students.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our staff for the enthusiastic and professional manner in which they have approached this professional learning and the highly effective way they’ve implemented it. This has always been the way with Aubin Grove staff and is a major reason our school has been so successful.
Thank you also to all of you, our parents. You are equally important in your child’s education and your support for the teachers and our school has been extremely important and greatly appreciated.
I hope you are looking forward to the school holidays and are fortunate enough to have some time off to spend with your children. I wish you all a safe and happy school holidays and look forward to seeing everyone back, safe and sound, next term.
Please remember that students commence school in Term 3 on Monday July 17. There is no School Development Day in Term 3.
Kind regards
Frank
NAIDOC Week
Students at Aubin Grove have marked NAIDOC Week with a number of activities.
NAIDOC Week is held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Classes decorated paper hands which were then laminated and stuck on popsticks before being “planted” in the flowerbeds of the Little Boy courtyard, creating an amazing sea of colour.
Students from Pre-Primary to Year 6 also attended a special incursion where the Gorna Liyarn Dance Group, made up of students from Presbyterian Ladies College, performed two traditional dances.
Some Year 1 classes even combined to give children the opportunity to sample kangaroo and damper.
Pencil Sculptures
It is not often that new pencils cause the level of excitement seen around the school grounds this past week.
But it is pretty hard not to be impressed by the super-sized sculptures that have been installed.
The eight brightly coloured pencils are in two groups of four- one group are inscribed with the school’s LEAF principles- Learn, Enjoy, Aspire, Focus; and the other with the Fish Philosophy- Play, Be There, Make Their Day and Choose Your Attitude.
A big thank you to those dads who gave up their time, including Stewart Eddy, Luke Garbutt, Kyle Woosnam, Geoff Bowers, James Green and Darren Bush, to come in and get the pencils in position before the end of term.
