Northcote High School Newsletter

Parent Teacher Student Conversations - Bookings now open

Parent Teacher Student Conferences (PTSC)

A reminder to families that bookings are now open for our PTSC in Week 8 and 9 of this term. Bookings will close at midday on Monday 18 March. 

 

This year we will continue to run two modes for Parent Teacher Student Conferences. The feedback around this structure was the choice and flexibility this provided to families.

 

Day 1: Week 8, Wednesday 20th March: 10.30am - 7.30pm – via Teams video call

Day 2: Week 9, Thursday 28th March: 9.00am - 3.00pm – face-to-face onsite at NHS

We will continue to review practices for future PTSC.

 

How the conferences will work on the online TEAMS day – Wednesday 20th March

  • Staff TEAMS Meeting links can be found through the booking portal. Please use this to access the online room for your meeting. Teachers will leave you in the virtual waiting room until your appointment time.
  • In coming weeks, we will provide a ‘how to’ guide for accessing the conferences via a Teams link.

How the conferences will work on the face-to-face onsite day – Thursday 28th March

  • Staff will be allocated a classroom during the meeting times.
  • The day before the interviews there will be a Compass Newsfeed with a list of all staff classrooms and a school map. Please use these to plan your route around the school.
  • TIP: we strongly encourage you not to book back-to-back appointments for this day so that you have the time to move from one appointment to the next.

Supporting keeping to time

  • As appointments run back-to-back, it is important that the conversations keep to time. To help this, each conversation will last 7 minutes. Teachers will let you know that they are setting an audible alarm at the start of the conversation. When it goes off, this is the signal that the allotted time is up. The teacher will then need to finish the conference so that they can move to their next appointment. Please be understanding of this and support our teachers in keeping appointments running smoothly. If a longer conversation is necessary following the appointment, please ask the teacher if you can arrange another time outside of PTSC to speak.

Other important information:

  • Regular classes will not run on PTSC days. Students should continue with existing tasks and are encouraged to participate in the Conversations.
  • Teachers will not be available to answer emails/other communications on those days, as they will be occupied with the PTSC.
  • The day before PTSC there will be a Compass newsfeed listing any staff who are away and cannot make their PTSC. This will be updated on the day with any late changes.

Bookings

Families will be able to book via Compass (see instructions below):

  • Booking portal opens: 9am Monday 4th March
  • Booking portal closes: Midday, Monday 18th March

1. Log in to Compass. On the welcome page click the 'Book Parent Teacher Interviews' button available next to the student photo, or click the Dashboard Alert at the top of the Newsfeed. 

2.You will see “SEM 1 PTSC Wednesday 20th March, 2024” and also “SEM 1 PTSC Thursday 28th March, 2024”. Click on your preferred day for PTSC.

 

3. A panel will come up, as shown. 

4. To book by timeslot, click the timeslot and then select the teacher from the right who you would like to book with for this specific time. The teachers who are available during this timeslot will be shown in white. 

  

5. To book by teacher, click the teacher's name in the list at the far right. The schedule to the left will display only the timeslots that the teacher is still available to be booked with. All timeslots that the teacher is already booked out for will be greyed out. Just click an available timeslot on the left to make a booking. 

  

6. You will receive a confirmation popup to confirm the details 

of the booking. Click the OK button. If you don’t click the confirmation button it won’t save your bookings). 

 

Tips

  • It’s a good idea to print or copy down your bookings! We do not keep a copy for you at school.

Who to see

Student-Parent-Teacher Conversations are always well supported at Northcote High School. However, if you are new to the process, here is some advice:  

 

  • Appointments book out quickly for some staff. Please don’t delay to make your appointments.
  • Select teachers to see on the basis of need. For example if you are concerned about how your child is going in a particular subject, contact with that staff-member should be a priority. If you miss out on seeing a teacher but need to see them, please contact them for another appointment via Compass.
  • Some other teachers work part time and may have limited availability on both days. Look for availability when you log on to Compass. If the teacher’s name does not come up as an option when you look on Compass, it means they don’t work that day. Please contact these teachers by Compass if required. There may be other reasons that teachers are not available for one or both of the Student-Parent-Teacher Conversation dates. They will be blocked out on their schedules.
  • Please check Compass on the day for any unexpected absence announcements.