Learning and Teaching

Essential Assessment in Maths

Teachers' assessment of student learning has changed dramatically over the past several years. Where once teachers used to assess how well a student had progressed after the learning (post-assessment), teachers now conduct assessments before they even teach (pre-assessments).

Teachers use the data they gather in pre-assessments to gauge where students are in their learning, which helps them plan tasks that support students to learn the essential skills they need to know next.

The school is currently part of a maths project, and as part of this initiative, we are trialling an online maths assessment tool called Essential Assessment. 

This term, teachers have been practising administering pre-assessments to students and then analysing this data to plan units of work that best cater to all students' learning needs. 

The students have been very receptive to the assessments and know that teachers give them pre-assessments to collect information about what they need to teach them. The students have enjoyed showing what they understand and can do in the different topic assessments that they have done.

One of the features of Essential Assessment is an 'I don't know' button, which students can press when they get to the content that they don't understand. This also aligns with the work teachers have been doing around 'Growth Mindset', where they teach students that it is OK not to know things YET but that one day when they are ready, they will learn them.

By using Essential Assessment, students also experience a sense of achievement when they see the difference between their pre and post-assessment scores and the progress that they have made during each topic.

It is hoped that at the end of the year, parents will receive access to an online report about the maths assessments their children have completed through Essential Assessment. This will provide parents with information about their children's progress throughout the year in each area of numeracy.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Semester 1 student reports will be coming home with students in the last week of school, before the holidays. These reports show how your child is progressing towards the Victorian Curriculum Achievement Standards for each curriculum area that was taught in Terms 1 and 2. 

Student reports are one way that teachers communicate with parents about how their child is progressing in their learning. Each family will also have the opportunity to discuss their child’s growth and progress during the Parent-Teacher Conference on Wednesday 20 July from  2:30 pm -6:30 pm. 

Please note that school finishes at 2:30 pm for students, on this day. 

This year families will have the option to come to school to have a face-to-face parent-teacher conference or to do it from home over Google Meet. More information about the interviews will be coming home this week.

Pauline Moran

Learning and Teaching Leader