Semester Reports
Current Families
Issued twice a year, semester reports at Preston High School allow for teachers to share with students and families a summary of how their students have gone over the course of the semester.
Why reports are important?
Effective feedback, through semester reporting, assists students to reflect on their learning and their learning strategies so they can make adjustments to improve in the future. This process of improvement is enhanced when shared with families. Involving families in the learning process by providing them with detailed feedback about their child’s learning progress and strategies they may use to assist their child improve has been shown to be effective in improving student achievement.
Understanding your child’s Semester Reports
Semester reports consist of two parts;
- An overall level of achievement for students against the Victorian Curriculum Standards, and
- Learning Tasks result for the entire semester (See Learning tasks for more information).
Achievement on the Victorian Curriculum Standard is summarised using a graphic, an example can be seen on the left.
- A black dot underneath the corresponding year level represents the level that the student has achieved.
- A yellow highlighted zone shows the expected level of outcome for students in that subject.
In the left-hand example, the yellow zone is in the second half of Level 8, confirming that the student is receiving their semester 2 report for Year 8. The student, in this example, is working beyond the expectations for Writing in English this time of year. In Mathematics, the student is at the expected level for Measurement and Geometry.
Preston High School uses Compass “Learning Tasks” to communicate levels of achievement and feedback for students and families as and when assessment occurs across the term. This means that families can view the assessment of Learning Tasks as soon as the teacher completes them. Head to Learning Tasks to find out more.
How you can support your child
Semester reports provide an opportunity for families and students to talk about how the student has grown and where their level of achievement is. Once you have received your child’s semester report, take some time to read and discuss it with your child. Below are four starter questions that you can ask your child to begin a conversation about their semester report.
- What are the areas of growth that you are most proud of?
- What are the areas that you would like to focus on next?
- What actions can you/we take to help you achieve your goals?
- Is there anything you need extra help with?
Your child’s classroom teacher is more than happy to discuss your child’s progress along the Victorian Curriculum progression points. Please make contact with them regarding how we can work together to support your child’s growth.
