Student-Led Conferences
Hannah Reid
Our Student-Led Conferences are set for Wednesday of this week; these conferences will feel a little bit different to our last set - and that’s just a taste of the changes still to come. After receiving feedback from families, staff and students that the conferences weren’t as valuable as we were aiming for, we have revised our whole-school approach to conferences. We are excited about the improvements we have put in place now and for the future.
Why are we doing Student-Led Conferences instead of Parent-Teacher Interviews?
Student-Led Conferences are an important part of our students’ development of their critical thinking, self-reflection, goal-setting and developing a metalanguage about how they learn. It is an opportunity for students to share their ideas, goals and celebrations with the important adults in their learning-lives and helps them see we are all there to support them in their learning.
What’s different about the approach now and/or next year?
Some of the main differences you will notice is that we have really heard families when they have shared the importance of being in the classroom, meeting the teacher and touching their child’s schoolwork. Although our Senior Student-Led Conferences will remain online for this round, everyone else will be accessing the classroom. From next year, the first round of our Senior conferences will also be held in person. We also have a number of events planned this term where classrooms will be open for parents and carers to come and meet the teacher and see their child’s work in a less formal capacity.
Another change you might notice in our approach is that the work samples shared may not always be a shining example of what your child can do. To encourage authentic reflection and goal-setting, it is important to share different types of work, including those that we can see lots of room for improvement.
A change you will notice more next year includes more reflection on learning styles for our Middle and Senior Students, as we encourage them to become agents of their own learning.
What can we do as parents or carers to make the most of this opportunity?
Your engagement in these sessions is always a brilliant start! Most of our students adore the opportunity to show their parents or carers things they are proud of and even though they can sometimes appear a bit meek as their home and school life connect, for many of our students this is a moment of huge pride.
The questions you ask your child can make a big difference to the way they share their thoughts and reflections. If your child shows you a piece of work that is not their best work, make sure you are not chiding them for their efforts or output, instead asking them about what they want to see from themselves in the future. How can you help them achieve this?
The conferences are Student-Led, so they are setting the agenda. If you have anything that you want to discuss with your child’s teacher, it can be helpful to send a message to them through Sentral, asking if there will be time to discuss what’s on your mind. If there’s no time (or if it’s not appropriate to have your child present for the conversation) another time can be made on another week to meet or to chat over the phone. Our doors are always open!
What about the Specialist classes?
Another big change you might have already noticed is that the specialist appointments are now happening by invitation. Our Specialist teachers have reached out to families of students they feel it is important to meet with, to discuss engagement or extension opportunities. Our Specialist Teachers never have enough time to meet with all 400 students, so we know people will always miss out. To address this we will be running online information sessions where the Specialist Teachers will briefly present information about their specialist program this year. Please feel free to drop in and out of these sessions as you please. These sessions will also be recorded and uploaded to Sentral after Wednesday.
Specialist Information Session Schedule
10:00 am - Indonesian (Kasenya Grant)
10:15 am - Enviro Science (Alicia Flynn)
10:30 am - Performing Arts (Jenny Wheatcroft)
10:45 am - Physical Education (Max Williams)
11:00 am - Visual Art (Kate McCormack)