Wednesday 28 September 2022, 3:20-6pm
(Children are required to wear school uniform)
Student Led Conferences (SLC) are an important part of our overall reporting framework at Maraetai Beach School. These are structured conferences led by your child focused on their learning where they outline in some detail their progress to date, learning goals and use their work in a range of forms to demonstrate progress. This is an opportunity for them to show you what they are most proud of! As a school we believe, and research shows, that children who take responsibility for their own learning and can talk about their progress throughout the year are more engaged in their learning.
The conference is designed to give the opportunity and time for your child to share their learning with you. While the teacher will be present to support the students this is not a parent/teacher conference. The conference focuses on students and their learning.
Each Student Led Conference is planned for up to 20 minutes, with more than one family in the classroom at a time. This approach has proven to be successful, making the children feel more comfortable by creating a less formal atmosphere. This also gives you the time you need with your child for them to share and discuss their learning. During the course of the conference, please feel free to ask your child questions, or seek clarification of a point, without upsetting the continuity of the process.
The pupils have put in considerable work and effort so that they are quite au fait with their learning journey. As such, it is very important that on the day of the presentation they have someone to present to. This is a time to celebrate learning and have conversations with your child around the next steps in their learning. If you have other matters you wish to speak to their teacher about, please fill in the form on the teacher’s desk and they will be in contact to make a time. We also ask that other siblings are not present at the conference, so as to avoid any possible distractions. Please have alternative arrangements in place for younger siblings. It is strongly encouraged that you wear a mask during the SLC.
Parents are welcome to take home any of their children's books to view at their leisure but should be returned to school the next day to enable work to continue.
Conference times need to be booked online as per below.
Interviews are booked online. You will need to book online at www.schoolinterviews.co.nz.
The school code you will need to enter is 38zkt . You will need to enter your details and choose your child’s classroom teacher. If internet access is a problem or you need help please contact Caitland or Tristan in the office: (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or phone on 536 6570. This will need to be done by Monday 26th September.
He waka eke noa
(We are all in this together)
Mark Keenan
PRINCIPAL
Further Information
What is a Student Led Conference?
A student led conference (SLC) is a meeting run by the student for his or her parents, entirely focused on the student’s recent learning. During the conference the student presents work in different curriculum areas, discussing the process of learning and the progress made to date.
Why Have Student Led Conferences?
Research shows that one of the ways to improve student achievement is developing students’ ability to talk about their learning and their progress - it makes a difference.
Professor John Hattie 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 further comment, “the process of students reflecting on their learning, through effective questioning that promotes the articulation of student thinking, 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)
Absolum, M (2006) Clarity in the Classroom Auckland Hodder
Black, P & Wiliam, D (1998) Inside the Black Box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, October, 139-148
Hattie, J. (2009) Visible Learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York: Routledge
How Do They Work?
Conferences can last up to 20 minutes, although you do not have to stay this long if your child has finished sharing their learning. Four student led conferences will be held at the same time in your child’s classroom.
You could be involved in a variety of activities during the time - looking at samples of learning, doing an activity to support learning, talking about goals and what your child, you and the teacher might do to support these goals, looking at work around the classroom. At some point during the conference, your child’s teacher will check in with you to help support but remember that your child leads the conference.
What will I need to do to support my child?
Before the conference:
- Book a time online and put it in your diary
- Check the prompts & important things to remember list (below)
- Discuss attendance with an estranged partner if necessary - each child will run only one conference
On the conference day
- Come with your child
- Listen - your child will do most of the talking
- Keep the conversation focused on learning
- Use the prompts below or from the teacher
- Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate
- Switch your phone to silent
After the conference
- Keep up the conversation about learning goals and successes
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Prompts to a learning focused conversation with your child:
- What were you learning to do in this piece of work?
- What were the steps you went through to learn this?
- What helped you to learn this?
- What do you need to learn next?
- What are you most proud of? Why?
- Tell me about your learning at the moment.
- Which area of learning do you find easiest? Why?
- Which area of learning do you find trickiest? Why?
- What could we do together to help you with this learning?
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Important Things to Remember
- Your child will run this conference - not you or the teacher/s. Your child must be here.
- Children are always proud to celebrate what they have been learning. Some things they show you will be incomplete or may have ‘mistakes’ as we encourage our children to see learning as a process, not a finished product.
- The conference is about learning, not behaviour or social issues. If you have concerns around these areas, please fill in the form on the teacher’s desk and they will be in contact to make a time to speak with you. Likewise, the teacher/s will contact you if they have any concerns in this area.
- Senior Leaders may take photos and/or videos of conferences to support teachers in their learning about SLCs.
