Assistant Principal's report

Student reports

Kalinda teachers are working hard gathering evidence to publish thorough and descriptive Semester Reports in the last week of Term. I would like to send a grateful shout out to staff, these reports take many many (many) hours both in and outside of school hours to prepare and I know they look forward to you reading them. These reports will give you information about your child's academic progress, positive learning behaviours and social interactions. We are committed to 'no surprises' at Kalinda, so you will hear from your class teacher well in advance if there are any areas in which your student may not be making the expected growth. This is an opportunity to discuss with the teacher strategies for supporting them at home, as well as hear about what is being done at school to support their continued progress. 

Understanding your child's progress with the Compass Continuum

One of the valuable tools we use to communicate student progress is the Compass Continuum, which we use as a companion to the Semester Reports and should be read in conjunction with that report when published.  

The Compass Continuum provides a clear and detailed picture of how students are progressing in the key areas of English and Mathematics. The Continuum breaks learning down into specific skills and concepts as per the Victorian Curriculum. This allows both teachers and families to see exactly which skills and understandings in each area a student can demonstrate and which ones they are still working towards. 

The Compass Continuum empowers parents with:

• Clarity – You can see which specific skills and understandings your child is developing, and what the next steps in their learning will be.
• Consistency – Progress is tracked using a common framework across the school, making it easier to understand how your child is growing year by year.
• Targeted Support – By identifying areas of need, you can better support your child at home and celebrate the progress they’re making. The unchecked skills and understandings form the 'next steps' in your child's journey.

I have included an example below of a Foundation child's Mathematics Continuum (Algebra strand). You can see by the green ticks and green heading that this child can successfully demonstratall parts of the Foundation Algebra curriculum, and has started work on the Grade 1 Algebra continuum already. That green arrow on that second checklist item indicates that they are 'working towards' demonstrating the use of symbols and objects to create a repeating pattern. 

The grey crosses indicate the areas of the Algebra strand that this student has not demonstrated evidence of yet, or has not learnt about yet this year. These form this child's 'next steps' of learning in Algebra.

We believe that learning is a partnership between home and school. The Compass Continuum is just one of the ways we aim to strengthen that partnership, making learning visible and progress meaningful.

Instructions for accessing this report companion will be included with the end of Semester report. 

Lauren Hopkins

We are kind. We are resilient. We are respectful.