Reporting

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At Eltham North Primary School, assessment is ongoing and based on a continuum of learning and development. We strive to build on what has already been experienced, learned and developed to maximise children’s learning.

We aim to use assessment to build positive attitudes and self-confidence in children, by assisting them to see what they have achieved and the progress they are making. We use assessment to promote further learning and development by combining it with constructive feedback and opportunities for reflection.

At Eltham North Primary School, we enable students to see and appreciate the progress that they have made and recognise that they are being successful in their learning. We are eager to maximise collaboration and sharing of knowledge between families, students and teachers, to allow all parties to support and participate in the children’s learning and development.

Assessment and Monitoring

The Assessment and Monitoring Continuum outlines the compulsory literacy and numeracy assessment tasks to be completed by class teachers and the dates that the results of these tasks are due each term.

The Continuum crosses over years, enabling assessment and data to be better shared and analysed between teachers and teams. The results of these tasks are provided to class teachers, team and curriculum leaders and the accelerated/support team.

This allows co-ordinators to monitor the progress of students in these areas. Results provided to the accelerated/support team enable them to define which students may need additional support or enrichment through participation in a relevant program. Professional development is provided to class teachers to ensure they are competent in the administration, scoring and interpretation of student assessment results.

The Assessment & Monitoring Continuum ensures an appropriate balance of assessment tasks (eg. formative and summative tasks) and includes scope for class teachers to develop their own ‘rich assessment tasks’ to better cater for the children's needs.

Schedule

Click on the level to read a summary table presented term by term for the whole year.

Individual Learning Plans

Individual Learning Plans are developed by a class teacher for students achieving significantly above and below expected VicCurr levels. (If a student is achieving slightly above or below expected levels, it is expected that the class teacher will be able to meet the needs of these student with slight modifications to their normal classroom program). Detailed guidelines have been produced for teachers outlining the process of developing an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) for a student.

In summary, an ILP will be developed when a student is achieving well above or well below their expected levels of achievement or if there is an aspect of their behaviour that needs to be formally addressed. If the student is participating in a support program, then the support program teacher will develop the individual learning plan. Most Individual Learning Plans will be of one or two term’s duration, address one Key Learning Area (eg. literacy or numeracy), will identify the specific skills that the student needs to develop, provide an outline of the class activities that will assist to develop the skills and outline how the parent can support the student at home. The Individual Learning Plan is created and stored in a database. It is sent home (usually after an initial discussion with the parent) and is signed by the parent, the student and class teacher. Once returned, it is kept in the student’s confidential file.

Parent, Student and Teacher Conferences (PST)

Parent / Student / Teacher Conferences are held twice each year. The first Conference is held in term one (for students in Years 1 - 6). (Prep parents have a formal meeting with their child’s class teacher in the first weeks of school). The purpose of the Parent / Student / Teacher Conference is for parents to share relevant information about their child and for the class teacher to share information about their initial observations and assessments of the student’s progress.

Conferences are scheduled for 10 minutes, with the first 5 minutes held with the students involved, while the last 5 minutes is an opportunity to speak with the teacher alone. If a parent needs to discuss a significant issue about their child, an alternative time will need to be arranged.

Near the second of term 3, the second Parent / Student / Teacher Conference is held for all students in Years Prep - 6. The aim of this conference is to discuss the progress students have made in achieving their goals from the Mid Year Reports.

Student Reports

Semester reports are written at the end of terms 2 and term 4. These reports provide a summary of student achievement in relation to the Victorian Curriculum Achievement Standards. The Semester Report also contains a general comment from the student’s teacher’s about their overall progress.

We have made many modifications to our reports over recent years in an effort to provide the best information about student progress as possible.

At Eltham North Primary School, we aim to give parents a clear picture of their child’s development and the pathway we will work together on to best assist them to continue to thrive.

It is critical that parents realise that student learning does not always follow a perfectly linear pattern – improving a set increment at each reporting cycle. Children’s learning typically follows a more staggered approach, with periods of rapid development, followed by periods of consolidation.

Our reports will now reflect this development more accurately. It is not reasonable to expect that your child will automatically move up one increment each semester. There will be times when they may move up 2 or 3 increments and times when they may not move up at all. This is normal – and is not necessarily a reflection of brilliant or poor teaching, but a reflection of what is typical in terms of children’s intellectual growth and development.

Moderation

Moderation is an extremely important element of the assessment and reporting process and occurs formally and informally throughout the school.

Moderation occurs within teams and during whole school professional development sessions. Teachers are encouraged to seek additional support if they are unsure on how to report a student’s level of progress.

This support may come from within the team or from a member of the support team. Common assessment tasks within areas also provide opportunities for moderation as teachers ensure that the task and the assessment of the task is completed consistently.

Team Meetings and Team Planning Days also provide opportunities for teams to moderate and decide how various tasks in their Unit of Work will be assessed. Class teachers are also involved in moderation sessions with support staff in deciding which students should participate in a support program.

Assessment instruments

The types of assessments and programs we use to assess the students will continue to evolve. We use a mixture of observation, checklists, online assessments, interviews and hardcopy tests to form the most complete picture of each students' progress.

Each semester, we have an allocated ‘assessment week’ to spend time assessing students' one-on-one. We run regular teacher professional development sessions to analyse assessment data and develop programs and lessons to best assist students to improve. Teams use assessment to prioritise curriculum areas and groups of students to focus on.

Assessment and Feedback is crucial to the way we teach and develop students capability. We will continue to develop and source the best assessments we can to achieve that.