Learning & Teaching

Strengthening Our Partnership: Regular Updates on Your Child’s Learning Progress

At Holy Cross, we are continuing our commitment to strengthening our partnership with families by providing regular, transparent updates on children’s learning progress. Through Seesaw and the Parent Portal on Essential Assessment, we share timely assessment data and annotated work samples in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics every few weeks, giving parents a clear view of their child’s achievements and areas for growth.

 

We encourage parents to stay connected by accessing these updates through Essential Assessment and Seesaw, where notifications will guide you to each new post. Your engagement and insights are valuable, and we invite you to reach out to your child’s teacher if you wish to discuss any updates further. Thank you for joining us in supporting your child’s learning.

 

How to Interpret Your Child's Essential Assessment Update:

Sample:

Victorian Curriculum Achievement Level (Top right hand corner - see yellow circle)

This provides an estimation/snapshot of your child’s current achievement level in this particular topic in relation to the Victorian Curriculum.

 

Areas of Success:

This provides a summary of what your child currently understands within this topic.

 

Areas for Improvement:

This provides a summary of your child’s current learning goals within this topic. 

 

Areas of Growth: (Only visible when a teacher shares results from a Post Assessment)

This provides a summary of the new learning/skills your child has acquired after completing a unit of work.

Victorian Curriculum Level Standards

Please access the below attachment (Victorian Curriculum Level Standards) to assist you in interpreting your child's Essential Assessment updates.

 

Professional Development in the Science of Reading

Next week, our teachers will begin professional development in the Science of Reading with a training day from Decodable Readers Australia. This evidence-based approach combines cognitive science and educational research to build strong literacy foundations through systematic teaching. The Science of Reading emphasises the use of decodable texts—books that use controlled, phonetically regular words—to support early readers in practicing decoding skills.

 

In 2025, our teachers will apply the Explicit Instruction model to teach synthetic phonics, breaking down words into sounds and letter patterns in a clear, structured way. Through this targeted approach, we aim to strengthen every child’s reading skills, laying the foundations for confident, independent readers.