Reporting

Your child will receive a report on their brass progress as part of their Semester School Report. The comments are based upon both formative and summative assessment ie observations made by me in weekly lessons and a formal semester assessment. Please also see the letter below from the Principal of IMSS, Mr  Bruce Herriman, re how grades are allocated:-

"Dear Parents

Your instrumental teacher generally works across a number of schools delivering instrumental lessons to students in public schools.  Instrumental teachers are now making judgements against a “standard of achievement” for students depending upon their stage of development.

I ask that all parents consider the following information when reading their child’s report.  Over recent years, parents, students and teachers have become more familiar with a uniform process for reporting in all schools.

The use of a 5-point A – E scale is used by all instrumental teachers.

Please note that any student who shows evidence of meeting the achievement descriptor deserves that grade.

With this in mind teachers will grade students as follows:

• A “C or Satisfactory” no longer means that the student is simply in the middle of the class, it means that the student has met the criteria for a learner at the appropriate Year level.

• A “C or Satisfactory” means that the student is doing everything required at their Year Level.

The best description is that a “C or Satisfactory” means the student’s academic development is exactly where it needs to be – A “C or Satisfactory” is ON TARGET or AT YEAR LEVEL STANDARD.

With all of this in mind we must accept that it may be harder to get an “A” or “B” than it used to be. These grades are no longer awarded simply to the top students in the class; they are only given to students who show that they are independently capable of working beyond the expected achievement criteria for their Year Level.

So what does all this mean?

• Many parents are likely to see more “C or Satisfactory” grades on their child’s report cards.

• The “Effort”/”Attribute” comments are a really important reflection of whether the student is achieving the best they can.

• A “Consistent” for effort and a “C” for achievement indicates that your child is “On Target” for their age and “applying their best effort”. This grade should be celebrated with students because they have worked hard to be where they need to be.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact your instrumental teacher.

BRUCE HERRIMAN

PRINCIPAL

JUNE 2014"