Making learning obvious | Reporting to Parents
We believe that learning and talking about learning should be an ongoing process involving the mentors, whānau and the child. Over the course of a year we deliver this in various ways which may include Learning Conferences, student reflections and learning updates on Hero, open days, whole school celebrations and informal conversations. We strongly encourage parents/whanau to contact their child’s mentor to discuss learning and progress at any time throughout the year.
The New Zealand Curriculum
The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) is divided into levels. The achievement objectives within each of the levels are broad statements for each learning area. Each of these levels takes 2-3 years for children to work through. Children in both Year 1 and Year 2, are expected to be working within Level 1 of the NZC. Children in both Year 3 and Year 4 are expected to be working within Level 2 of the NZC, and so on.
Parents/caregivers can see from the diagram below that each curriculum level is spread across multiple year levels. It is usual for a child to be working across two curriculum levels. They may still be mastering some learning goals at the lower level while also extending forward with goals at higher levels.
The children’s progress against the curriculum is shared with parents on the Progress Dials on Hero. These are updated once or twice a term to reflect each child’s current learning goals and also to show their recent achievements and progress.
What do the progress dials show me about my child’s progress?
It is usual for a child to be working across several curriculum levels. They may still be mastering some learning goals at the lower level, while also extending forward with goals at later levels. The collection of dials above illustrates what this might look like for some of our older children. Learning is not linear and the levels will not necessarily be ticked off before the next one is started.
A ticked level with a solid green circle means that the level has already been achieved.
This progress dial shows the quantity of learning goals at this level your child has recently mastered (green) or is currently focusing on (yellow).
This progress dial shows the amount of each level not yet achieved (grey).
The dotted line will appear around the outside of one of the dials.
This dotted line indicates the expected level range for your child.
To understand what a child might be working on to achieve their current goal, click on the question mark to the right of the goal. (Reading ‘indicators’ are still to be updated.)
How is this style of reporting different from traditional reports?
Shotover Primary School uses Hero to report in real-time about your child’s progress using goals that align with the NZ Curriculum Levels. Mentors and children will share examples of evidence of how your child is working towards achieving the goals. These posts are tagged so you can see progress over the years. To access these pieces of evidence look for the eye to the right of the goal.
“Please take time to leave a comment and interact with your child around their learning (a bit like Facebook). ”
Rather than receiving a summary report twice a year, posts about your child’s learning are in context to current learning and you will receive small regular updates from the mentors as well as reflections from children in Years 4-8.
Parents can access information anytime about their child’s progress and achievements throughout the term/year. These updates provide a wonderful link between home and school and help parents and caregivers to lead conversations from home. Please take time to leave a comment and interact with your child around their learning (a bit like Facebook).
How do I know which teacher is currently working with my child in the different curriculum areas?
Your child’s mentor is responsible for your child’s overall progress and well-being at school but children will work with different mentors for different aspects of their learning throughout the year. The Mentor’s photo by the comment indicates who is currently working with your child in Reading, Writing and Maths.