As we enter the second half of Term 1, many students will be completing some of their first assessment tasks for the year. I would like to offer a few tips that will help students demonstrate what they have learnt in classes so far this year.
Tip 1: Know your due dates
Firstly, as a parent, I suggest the first valuable tip is to know when the tasks are due. Many students will likely have several tasks due over the next few weeks. Helping students to manage multiple deadlines is an important skill, and the occasional prompt from parents at the dinner table can be an effective motivator and reminder. If your child isn’t great at telling you the due dates, the Assessment Schedule booklets released by Ms Karis will help. Each booklet has a Term Planner, which can be removed and posted in a prominent place around your home. These booklets are also available digitally on the school Portal.
Tip 2: Review work
When students hand in assignments, my other tip is to let their parents read over their work before submitting it. It is probably the last thing that students want their parents to do, but it can make a big difference in the final result. Getting the perspective of someone else when editing can significantly improve the quality of their writing. Parents do not need to be an expert in the subject matter being studied to help their children.
Tip 3: Assessments are a learning tool
Finally, it is important to remember why we have assessments. Teachers are continually observing how their students are learning in class. These tasks are another form of data that helps teachers identify how well a student is learning, and it helps identify areas where support is needed. A poor result on a task should help the student and teacher identify future improvement areas. Students and parents should keep results in these tasks in perspective. After every task, the question that needs to be answered is ‘what would I do differently the next time I have a similar learning task?’
David Collins
Head of Senior School