Academic Focus

Learning Progress Conversations

As we head into the final weeks of Semester 1, students continue to engage with assessment programmes and teachers are stepping into report writing for their  7 – 10 classes. While Semester 1 Learning Progress Reports and Learning Progress Conversations have been completed for students in Years 11 and 12, I would like to outline the arrangements for these key processes for our younger students.

Semester 1 Learning Progress Reports for students in Years 7 – 10 will be released during the first week of the term break. In addition to recording students’ contribution to Sport, Co-curricular and House programmes, the reports offer rich academic information for parents and students in terms of individual learning growth:

• Deliberate engagement in each academic course:
  • Self-management
  • Task management
  • Learning focus
  • Persistence
• Progress in mastering and applying the knowledge, understanding and skills required by each academic course
• Personalised next steps for learning: the concrete actions a student is advised to take up for continued growth

Learning Progress Conversations follow the release of these reports and provide another avenue for families who would like to discuss further questions. This year, the School will trial a different arrangement for scheduling these conversations. Recognising that we can maximise value when they are held near the release of reports and as soon as possible in the new semester, Learning Progress Conversations will take place on the following dates:

• Years 8 – 10 on Tuesday 19^th July, 8.15 am to 8.15 pm. As indicated in the School calendar, students are not in attendance on this date; the first day of Term 3 lessons take place on Wednesday 20^th Continuing the practice of the last two years, the conversations will take place online via MS Teams. Parents and students will be able to join together virtually by booking a five-minute interview with relevant teachers, during the day or evening, as best suits them.
• Year 7 on Monday 1^st August, 4.00 pm – 8.15 pm. These conversations will also take place online via MS Teams; parents are able to book a five-minute interview with relevant teachers.

Further information about the Semester 1 Learning Progress Conversations, including the link to the online booking platform, will be provided in the email communication sent to parents upon the release of the Semester 1 Reports onto the parent portal.

Looking ahead to Semester 2, students in Years 11 and 12 will receive their Learning Progress Reports for the second half of the year during the first week of the October term break. Opportunities for Year 11 families to meet with Housemasters, online, and discuss these reports will be provided on the following dates:

• Archer to Latham Houses on Monday 17^th October, 4.00 pm to 8.00 pm
• Murphy to Young Houses on Tuesday 18^th October, 4.00 pm to 8.00pm

Students in Years 7 – 10 will be receive their Semester 2 Reports during the final week of Term 4, ahead of the last day of term on Friday 2^nd December. Following this release, parents will be able to contact teachers with whom they would like a brief conversation in relation to a critical concern before the end of term, or book an online meeting with their son’s Housemaster, in a limited schedule, on Monday 5^th December. It will also be possible to meet online with Housemasters in January, before school commences for the 2023 academic year if parents cannot be accommodated on 5^th December.

Deborah Williams | Academic Dean