Reporting to Parents at Bayswater School

While on-going communication between all staff and families is a greatly valued aspect of daily life at Bayswater School, we also have a formal arrangement for reporting to parents.

 Three Way Learning Conferences

At the end of Term 2, 2010 Bayswater School again offered Three Way Learning Conferences between students, their parents and the classroom teacher.  Each child spoke to their family about the learning they had undertaken in the areas of reading, writing and mathematics, they shared evidence of their learning progress and they discussed their next learning steps within the same three curriculum areas.

We then surveyed parents/whanau as to what aspects of the conference they valued and why. The following feedback was received.

What aspects of the Three Way Learning Conference did you value? Why?

I enjoyed seeing my daughter engaged in her learning.  With the teacher's guidance in some areas, she showed understanding of what she was learning and what areas she needed to work on. 

It was lovely for ..... to be able to talk about his learning. It was good to see where he is in terms of national standards.

Three way conferences are great.

Yes, I believe the goals were met. I was very impressed with ....... progress and especially how he explains so clearly what he's learnt. He used to be so shy and quiet, and I was quite surprised when he started explaining the learning concepts and how he applies them to his work.  Also appreciate pointers from his teacher on areas..... can improve further.  Will definitely work on them with .....  Overall a very good conference for us.

..... felt very comfortable and positive about discussing his progress.  This is much better than the old parent teacher interviews where kids were often traumatised while worrying about what parents and teachers would discuss.

.....'s interview was amazing - just loved the power point presentation and how he was so proud to watch it with me. Loved seeing what the class had been learning this way. He was very proud of his work and this was shown in his writing.  Both teachers have instilled a real love of learning for .....   I was very impressed.

I valued ..... 's explanations of what his goals were, how he was achieving them, his understanding of his progress to date and his participation in creating a goal to achieve that blends his home/school environments.

I loved seeing my child discussing his work and watching his relationship with the teachers as they assisted him to present this. He expressed pride in this presentation and his work and achievements this year. Obviously a lot of work was put into this by all of them.

The time taken between teacher and student before the conference obviously helped pin-point strengths and weaknesses for the student.

I appreciated being able to talk with the teacher and request further information which I will use at home to emphasise my child's individual progress over the year-to-date.

Fantastic to have the children involved and my child was excited/nervous about sharing what he could do. Certainly makes them aware that learning is their responsibility and it is an ongoing process.  Clear about where he sits in relation to NS (for what it is worth!!)

Its good having the kids there and able to explain what they've learnt, what they're having difficulty with and what they're aiming to achieve for the rest of the year.  Is also good that if they then have any issue that they need to bring up with parents/teachers they're able to.

I valued that the children, showed me they had thought, about how they were learning and that they had obviously discussed this with their teachers.

They could also explain to me what, and how they had learnt.  This is a new way of reporting for me and although I was a little reluctant, I was pleasantly surprised at how much input the children had made and how well they spoke to me in front of the teacher. Both children seemed to really understand the whole process of self evaluation.

It is very valuable to give any person the opportunity to talk about what they have learned.  The specific act of recalling the learning in order to talk about it helps cement the learning further.  The three way partnership of the learning process between school, student and parents is very important.

It would be good to boost the level of communication in this area even further.

It was great to hear the boys talk about their own learning, and for them to realize, as well as us, that they have learnt a lot this term!  Good ideas to support their learning at home!

Admittedly I have little interest in comparative 'national standards' with regard to my child's learning, so I don't care about this so much. The main thing is that she is progressing, and enjoying learning-this was clear in the conference.  I valued the chance to ask direct questions of her teachers with regards to specifics e.g. attitude to learning, socialisation. Being able to sight/go through her classroom work and discuss. Having ......   watch, listen and contribute to our discussion about the work she's done.

I loved the 3 way conference.  I felt, because the children had an important input into the conference, that this made them aware of what they need to work on too.  I learnt a lot. e.g. what they are learning, what needs to be worked on, how I can help my child and where she is placed on the national standard.

I absolutely loved the conference. I agree the goals were met.

I most valued hearing my daughter tell me about her learning.  I think it sets a wonderful framework for her empowerment as a learner.

Nice to see the kids 'owning' their own progress. The teachers were really good at adding information where needed.

Well structured so time is not wasted.  Easy to understand their learning needs and what position they are at by the years at school.

Over all a great experience!  My daughter is really enjoying the school and I value the work that everyone puts into making her schooling experience a happy and educational one.

The chance to speak one-on-one with the teacher who can answer my questions. It was very positive and the feedback is essential in being able to re-enforce the learning at home.  Also being made aware of my child's behaviour at school is reassuring.

We liked the way the children were able to explain what they had been learning about.  Also they had given thought to what areas they needed to improve on.  All this makes their learning much more meaningful to them.  Seeing where the children are in relation to the National Standards helps us understand what the children's strengths and weaknesses are and I think helps us to pin point the areas of their learning we need to encourage them to improve in.

The explanation from the teacher of how my children are progressing in relation to national standards as it is difficult to get an idea of their progress without such a reference.