National Standards
As you will be aware from the media 2010 is the first year of the implementation of National Standards into New Zealand primary schools.
There is much debate and confusion on this topic and we will be doing our best to keep you informed of requirements and developments during the year.
At Chaucer we will be working with the National Standards and merging them into our existing assessment and reporting systems which I consider provide parents with quality data about their child's progress and achievement.
A parental survey of our reports last year indicated that 90% of our parents were happy or very happy with our reporting format.
It will be a shame to make major changes to this when it was working well for our children, teachers and parents.
Below is a summary of the requirements of National Standards from the Ministry of Education (MOE).
Many of these requirements Chaucer was already doing.
In the first year of implementation, schools will:
- "Help students understand the standards and their goals in relation to them"- Ministry of Education
Chaucer already does:
Already, teachers use assessment to inform planning and set goals with students. A three way conference between the child, teacher and parents takes place on the 11th March and the main focus of this conference is goal setting.
Changes/ modifications that may take place:
The conference will now focus on learning goals set against the national standard of reading mathematics and writing
- "Assess students progress and achievement in relation to the standards, using a range of assessment tools"- Ministry of Education
What Chaucer already does:
A wide range of assessment tools are already in use at Chaucer and these are used to assess achievement against the national curriculum levels.
National standards will now provide another layer to assess students'
progress and achievement
- "Ensure that students understand their progress and achievement and what the next steps are in their learning"- Ministry of Education
What Chaucer already does:
Goal setting occurs at the beginning of the year for all children and this is done in consultation with the child, parents and teacher .
The next steps are outlined for their learning and what can be done to achieve these.
- " Provide at least two plain-language, written reports to parents, family and whanau about their child's progress in relation to the standards"- Ministry of Education
What Chaucer already does:
Chaucer currently offers two comprehensive written reports a year and opportunities to attend two parent/child/teacher conferences.
Changes/ modifications that will take place:
The written reports will now detail progress in relation to the standards.
We will continue to work hard on making the reports in plain language so that they can be understood by everyone.
The written report schedule may change in the junior school to coincide with a child's 6th, 7th and 8th birthdays rather than in the middle and end of year.
This change is being worked on by junior school staff and may not be implemented until 2011.
- "Support parents, family, and whanau to understand the process and format of reporting and how they can work with schools to support their child's progress"- Ministry of Education
The school will work with its community to provide information about the introduction of the National standards at Chaucer.
This will be done through newsletters, our website and parent evenings during the year.
To view the National Standards online click the following link http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/National-Standards
David White
Principal
