Sunday, November 15, 2015

WEEK 6....

Hi everyone!

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES...

Well, the production of some WONDERFUL work for showing parents at the Student Led Conferences is well underway!
We will be working on this for most of this week, so as to have top quality work to show parents, and to build our confidence in presenting during our big moment!

If your child is presenting on a poster, would you mind supporting them by buying one or two pieces of poster card to put their work on please? They are available at most $2 shops, usually sitting in a rack display. It would go along way towards helping your child present their work with pride.

Below is a reposting of the Student Led Conference times and dates available... please be quick to book, so you don't miss out on this exciting event!

Date
Times
Monday 30th Nov
3.15, 3.30, 3.45, 4.00, 4.15, 4.30, 4.45, 5.30, 5.45, 6.00, 6.15, 6.30
Tuesday 1st Dec
3.15, 3.30, 3.45, 4.00, 4.15, 4.30, 4.45, 5.00, 5.15, 5.30
Friday 4th Dec
3.15, 3.30, 3.45, 4.00, 4.15, 4.30, 4.45, 5.00, 5.15, 5.30

You will be able to book your conference at www.parentinterviews.co.nz.  The code for this is 82NZV.  Bookings will open on 16th November and will close on the 27th November.

What is a student led conference?
The purpose of student led conferences is to put the student in the driving seat to share their learning with parents or caregivers. They are a celebration of learning and an initiative to further build on ‘student voice and empowerment’.  Teachers have observed how students enjoy taking more ownership over their learning therefore they will be present in the interview to offer support and prompts to the child if necessary. 

If you have behavioural concerns or matters you would like to discuss directly with the teacher, a time outside of the student led conference needs to be arranged.

The research around student led conferences
Research has shown that developing a student’s ability to talk about their progress and learning leads to greater student achievement.  At Arahoe we believe the learning needs to be visible and students need to be able to articulate their progress and respond to questions like:
• How I am going?
• Where am I going?
• What is my next learning step?

Professor John Hattie (formerly University of Auckland)  recently published a revised list of the most effective influences on student achievement which identifies student self-reporting as the most significant indicator linked to raised student achievement.  Two other international researchers, Black & Wiliam (1998) further comment, "the process of students reflecting on their learning, through effective questioning that promotes the articulation of student thinking, and is integral to classroom assessment practices that enhance student learning".

If the focus is to be kept on learning, and the ownership of the learning with the child, then the best person to talk about the learning is the learner.  Not only is the student the best person to tell their parents what they have learnt, but if we believe that students build their knowledge by communicating what they know, then providing an opportunity for the students to tell their family what they know can significantly assist with that learning (Absolum, 2006).

Research also shows parental involvement in schools and classrooms has a positive impact on children’s learning (Bastiani & Epstein, 1988).  In helping to strengthen the partnership between the learner, the teacher and the parent, we believe student led conferences promote some ways learning can also be supported at home. This is a key goal in the introduction of National Standards in New Zealand schools.

Important things to remember
  • Your child will run this conference—not you, not the teacher! Your child must be here.
  • As part of their regular learning, all students have been putting considerable time and energy into preparing for this. If you cannot attend, please arrange for another significant adult in your child’s life to come to the conference.
  • The conference is about showcasing your child’s learning through the key competencies and acknowledging their progress in reading, writing and maths and their goal for next year.

Follow up survey
After you and your child have participated in the student led conference you will have the opportunity to share your thoughts about how you think it went and what can be done to improve it for next time. A link to a Google survey will be attached to your child’s classroom blog.  

If you would like to find out further information on Student Led Conferences please visit the site below.


MATHS:

Please continue to support your child at home with learning their basic facts. We will be having our 3rd round of testing this Friday, and some people are SO CLOSE to moving up a level!

Mrs de Jong noticed from the last tests that the accuracy was improving, and now the speed needs to improve to get the pass mark.

Enjoy your week!





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