At Amesbury School we report on student learning and progress every term.
In terms 1 and 3 each year we hold student conferences, where students discuss their learning with their parents and one of their teachers, and set learning goals.
For terms 2 and 4 we publish a learning comment through our LINC-ED Hero software, in addition to the learning information that is always available on Hero about progress and goals in the key learning areas of Communication Arts (literacy), maths, and social and emotional development.
Please find booking information below, including the teacher each student needs to book a conference time with.
- When the conferences are running - all teachers will be running conferences in the evening (3:30pm onwards) of Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th April. For Eilis's conferences, the timing of her conferences will be slightly different, with fewer conferences available each night and an additional block of conferences on Tuesday 13th April.
- School interview website - we use the 'School Interviews' website to allow parents to book conferences online. Please follow this link to the website.
- The school code for this round of conferences is fhhzu. Enter this code on the booking page of the website and it will take you to the booking process for this round of conferences.
- Who to book with - we are asking parents in all hubs to book a conference time with their child's whānau teacher. Please click on this link: Student Conference Groups, which shows the whānau groups for each team. Whānau teachers will be able to discuss your child's learning in all areas of the curriculum, even if they don't necessarily teach them for all learning areas. In the case of Year 3-6 students your child will be doing a lot of the talking about their own learning. The teacher will be there to guide where necessary and answer any questions whānau or students may have.
- Who attends the conferences - for Year 3-6 students we ask that students attend the conferences as well as parents. They will be encouraged to participate in the conference as much as possible, where appropriate. For Year 0-2 students we encourage students to attend the conferences where possible, so that they can be part of the process. However, we do appreciate that the time of the conference may be a little late for some students.
- Multiple bookings/timing - if you are booking conferences with more than one teacher we do not recommend you make back-to-back bookings. The conferences tend to be tight on time, as there is a lot to get through in 20 minutes! The schedule needs to be very closely adhered to in order to ensure that all students get their requisite period of time with their teacher. If you are late or coming from another conference this will reduce the amount of time you have for the conference; teachers will still need to end each conference at the scheduled time, as other people will be disadvantaged if we go over time. However, please note that if your children have the same whānau teacher, it is fine to book back-to-back bookings with them.
- If we move to alert level 2 or above - we will hold conferences as online interviews if we move to any other alert level. All teachers have online 'rooms' through Whereby software, and it is easy for parents to access these rooms through a link - you do not need to have a login or password. If we move alert levels, all conference bookings will remain the same, and teachers will simply contact you via an online video call. If you would prefer a phone call instead, we can arrange that. More details will be sent home regarding this, if alert levels change.
- When the conference bookings are closed - Conference bookings will be closed at 8am on the morning of the first day of conferences - Tuesday 13th April (please note, conferences are only available on this day for Eilis). This allows teachers to be prepared for the conferences they have scheduled. Last minute surprise bookings can mean teachers are not able to be fully prepared for a conference, so conference bookings are closed the day that the first conference begins.
If you have any further questions regarding student conferences please don't hesitate to contact your child's whānau teacher.
Ngā mihi,
The Amesbury team
