In New Zealand primary schools we follow legislated guidelines from the Ministry of Education and are required to report on student progress and achievement in two ways: for their first three years of schooling students are assessed based on their chronological age. This is called anniversary reporting, and it means that students are assessed as they turn 5 (school entry assessment), 6, 7 and 8. As students move into Year 4 and pass their 8th birthday, they are then all assessed at the end of Year 4, 5 and 6, regardless of their chronological age.
At Amesbury School we are now changing the timing of when we report to parents to ensure it aligns with anniversary reporting. Until now we have reported across the school at the same time: we hold student conferences in Terms 1 and 3, and we complete written reports in Terms 2 and 4. We will continue to report on student progress and achievement four times per year, with two sets of student conferences and two written reports. However, for students aged 5-7 years old, the written reports will be sent home through the year at the time of anniversary reporting - based on the child's birthday.
Children aged 5, 6 or 7, they will receive a written mid year report when they are half way through their first, second or third year at school (based on their birthday, rather than the school year) and they will receive their end of year report when they turn 6, 7 or 8. Reports will be completed, moderated by teams and sent home within four weeks of a student's birthday (or mid year anniversary).
Children turning 8 this year will receive their "After Three Years At School" when they turn 8, and they will then receive their "End of Year 4 Report" at the end of the year.
If your child has already turned 8, they will receive a mid year report in Term 2 and an end of year report in Term 4, as usual.
We appreciate that this can be quite confusing, as some students will be receiving reports at different points through the year. However, we want to assure you that all students will still receive a written mid year report, a written end of year report, and they will still have the opportunity to have two student conferences. The timing of the written reports will simply vary for 5-7 year olds, based on their chronological age.
If you are still unsure about this new reporting system, and you would like to talk further about it, please don't hesitate to contact your child's whanau teacher and they can talk through this system with you.
Warm regards,
The Amesbury Team
