As we are past the mid point of Term 1 it is now time to prepare for our first set of student conferences for 2017. These will be held on the evenings of Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th of April, with one teacher also having several conferences during the afternoon of Tuesday that same week. 

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. In Terms 2 and 4 we send home a learning report through our ALF software, reporting on recent assessments, national standards and learning behaviours.

Please find booking information below, including the teacher each student needs to book a conference time with.

• School interview website - We use the 'School Interviews' website to allow parents to book conferences online. Please follow this link to the website, or go to the site at this address: www.schoolinterviews.co.nz.

• The school code is   tfxzv       Enter this code on the home page of 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 literacy teacher. You will have received an email regarding conferences from your child's literacy teacher - this is the person you book a conference with. All 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, including sharing their learning map with you. The teacher will be there to guide where necessary and answer any questions the parents or student 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 1-2 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 of them. 

• 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 closely followed 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.

If you have any further questions regarding student conferences please don't hesitate to contact your child's literacy teacher.

Warm regards,

The Amesbury team