REPORTING ON YOUR CHILDREN’S PROGRESS IN RELATION TO THE NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS IN 2015 AT KENAKENA SCHOOL

September 2017

He mihi tenei kia koutou nga matua me nga kaitiaki o a tatou tamariki. Tena koutou katoa.

Dear parents and caregivers,

The following information is to inform you of Kenakena School’s approach to the reporting of your children’s progress in relation to the National Education Standards for Reading, Writing and Mathematics.

WHAT ARE THE NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS?

The Ministry of Education has produced a set of National Education Standards in response to a policy by the government. The purpose of the National Education Standards is to raise student achievement levels at National Certificate of Education Achievement (NCEA) Level 2 at Year 12 at high school. The Ministry of Education has tracked backwards in a linear fashion from NCEA Level 2 to establish National Education Standards for Reading, Writing and Mathematics at each year level from Years 1 to 8 at primary school. Teachers are expected to report on your children’s progress in relation to the newly established standards twice per year.

HOW DO THE NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS RELATE TO THE NEW ZEALAND CURRICULUM?

The New Zealand Curriculum is the document that describes the achievement levels for children from Year 1-13 (beginning of primary school to the end of secondary school) in seven key learning areas:

·  English

·  Learning Languages

·  The Arts

·  Physical Education and Health

·  Mathematics

·  Science

·  Social Sciences

·  Technology

The curriculum also focuses on the development of five Key Competencies:

·  Thinking

·  Using Languages, Symbols and Texts

·  Managing Self

·  Relating to Others

·  Participating and Contributing

Up until 2010 we assessed your children against the achievement levels of the New Zealand Curriculum in all learning areas and reported that to you twice per year. In addition, we have reported on your children’s Reading Age and Spelling Age (in relation to their actual age). Now we must also report against the National Education Standards, which are generally graded higher than the levels of the curriculum. This means that your children could be reading at their chronological age, achieving at the relevant curriculum level for their Year Level at school in Reading, Writing and Mathematics, while also achieving below the National Education Standard.

The following graph demonstrates where the National Education Standards sit in relation to the New Zealand Curriculum.

8
/ / / 7 NCEA Level 2
/ 6
/ / 5
/ / 4
/ / 3 Curriculum
/ 2 Level
1
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13

Years at School

HOW DO WE REPORT TO PARENTS AT KENAKENA SCHOOL?

At Kenakena School we report to you in Terms One and Three.

The data sheet (written report) incorporates National Education Standards reporting though the format will differ between the Term One and Term Three reports.

·  In Term 1 We will show progress towards National Education Standards in an Interim report.

The Term 1 interim report provides the opportunity to set goals early in the year in consultation with the home community. Teachers will report how the student is tracking in relation to the National Education Standards and where support is needed as they work towards the expected standard.

·  In Term 3 we will report achievement and progress in relation to National Education Standards.

Teachers can identify areas of strength and weakness and inform parents what they will be working on with the children, and how they can be helped at home.

Why do we report in Terms 1 and 3 and not Terms 2 and 4 as many other schools do? We believe there is more value in reporting on student progress early in the year where teachers can identify areas of strength and weakness and inform parents what they will be working on with their children. A further report in Term 3 demonstrates the progress made and achievement gained while also identifying the focus for the remainder of the year. In this respect it is more useful than an end-of-year report because parents have two opportunities to be informed of relative progress and ‘next-steps’ in their children’s learning while the learning year is still ‘alive’. Our past consultation with parents supports this approach. Because the ‘Data Sheet’ and the National Standards Report will be issued just prior to the parent teacher conferences in Terms 1 and 3, the reporting and ‘next steps’ for learning are relevant and meaningful. A report sent home without a formal opportunity for discussion is of lesser value.

In Years 1 – 4 teachers must make a judgement of your children’s progress in relation to the National Education Standards at the anniversary of their 1st, 2nd and 3rd year at school (around the time of their 6th, 7th and 8th birthday). We will make the judgements at those times and report to you on those in the normal Terms 1 and 3 reporting cycle.

INTERPRETING THE NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS IN RELATION TO YOUR CHILD’S PROGRESS

It is important for you to note that we make our teacher judgements at Kenakena based on our interpretation of the National Education Standards following a great deal of work understanding how the standards match up with our current assessment tools and the levels of the New Zealand Curriculum. Given that every other primary school in New Zealand has undertaken a similar process to interpret and implement this, overall teacher judgements may vary between schools across the country.

The National Education Standards have been set at a higher level than the New Zealand Curriculum levels being used nation-wide. The Ministry of Education referred to the standards as ‘aspirational’. In other words, they have been deliberately set higher to encourage schools and children to achieve at a higher level than before. Essentially your child could be achieving well in relation to the levels of the New Zealand Curriculum while still being below the National Standard.

HOW CAN YOU HELP AT HOME WITH YOUR CHILDREN’S LEARNING?

As part of the National Education Reporting requirements, teachers have to report on what parents can do to support their children’s learning. The Ministry of Education has published some pamphlets for parents, which are available at the parent teacher conferences.

One of the most important things for children is that they have a safe, secure, loving and stimulating home environment. While teachers can make specific suggestions for how you can help your children at home, we are also aware that homes are busy family places and we want to be realistic about what you can do and do not want to overload you. The homework your children receive from Kenakena School is designed to support learning.

Bruce McDonald

PRINCIPAL