Communicating Student Learning – What does it all mean?

Communicating Student Learning (reporting) has morphed significantly in the province and in West Vancouver over the last number of years to better reflect the changing landscape of our revised curriculum.  Students no longer are graded based on percentages or marks, but rather along a continuum of development in their accessibility and demonstration of both the Core Competencies and the Curricular Competencies.

As you receive your child’s first report card of this school year on Friday, we wanted to take a moment to explain the proficiency language to you, so that as you read about all the things we have done, and see words like: Beginning, Developing, Applying and Extending, you know exactly what that means and exactly how your child is performing in certain areas.

“Beginning” does NOT mean a child is not passing; it means the child is not YET performing the learning task independently.  Extending does not mean a student has an “A”; it refers to the fact that a child has grasped the skill set/topic to the point that s/he is able to go even further with their explanation or application.  Every outcome is assessed both formatively and as a summative.

It is rare that a child is “Extending”.  As most students are immersed in a new classroom environment and face new curriculum/vocabulary and increasing skill demands each year, especially in the French Immersion setting, most children are “Developing” and/or “Applying”.

If your child is “Beginning” in a number of areas, please consider further conversations with your child’s teacher to find ways of supporting their growth and development. You will notice the section of “Supporting Student Learning” on your child’s report card.  These are the areas your child finds challenging and explains how they will be addressed at school, along with suggestions for how to support them at home.

In a number of grades for Terms 2 and 3 you will notice some repeated Curricular Competencies (learning tasks). We keep those there, as they are worked on through the entire year, with the hope that there is improvement. If your child is showing “Developing” in Term 1, we hope that they are able to maintain a “Developing” in Term 2 and move towards “Applying” as they near readiness for their following Grade/year of schooling.

All children develop school readiness at different rates, and it is our job as educators and parents to work together to help our learners be their happiest, most confident and capable selves while at school.

Our doors are always open to you.  Please contact your child’s teacher for more specifics.

Mme Zielinski