Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Tuesday 18 February and Wednesday 19 February. The focus for this conference is to provide you, your child and your child’s teacher a one-on-one opportunity to discuss...

1. Your aspirations for your child this year
2. Any historical information you feel the teacher needs to be aware of that may impact on or support your child’s learning (this is particularly important for year 7 students or year 8 students new to the school)
3. For your child’s teacher to pass on initial settling into school observations.

The conferences will be 10 minutes and start at 3:10 pm on Tuesday 18 February and 2:10 pm on Wednesday 19 February.

You can book a conference online by following these easy instructions:

1

Login to the website

Login to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code and enter our school code: 7drny

2

Enter your details

First, enter your name, your student’s name, and your email address.

3

Choose your teacher

Select the room and teacher from the ‘drop down’ list.

4

Choose Times

Select a time that suits you from the timetable by clicking on the time.

5

Finish

When you have finished, your interview timetable will be emailed to you. If you need

to make a change, you can return to the site and change your interview whenever

you want. (Check your junk mail if not showing in your inbox.)

To allow for all parents to have a conference opportunity we finish at the earlier time of 2 pm on Wednesday 19 February. If alternative arrangements cannot be made for your child, we do offer an alternative programme for students who will need to remain at school between 2 pm and 3 pm. After school buses will run at the normal times. You should have completed the permission slip if you want your child to leave school at 2 pm on Wednesday 19 February. All other students will remain at school and supervised until 3 pm.

Conference bookings will close on Tuesday 18 February at midday. Should you not have the facility to book online, please get your child to collect a booking form from the library for completion by you and return to the class teacher.

Here at WIS assessment is done with the student, not to the student. This is not unique to WIS and many of you will be familiar with the changes to assessment practice from your involvement at our contributing schools. In schools who promote this, you will see that assessment is a collaborative process between teachers and students – where both have a say in identifying what the student knows and what might be learnt next. Research shows that student motivation and engagement is increased as a result of involving the student in such discussions. Our formal conference reporting times (end of Term 1 and mid-year) are a great opportunity for you, as a parent, to see this in action and also be involved in the process.

Before the Conference

· Be aware of what you want to get out of the conference.

· Is there anything your child is concerned about?

· Be prepared to share any information you think may help the teacher work with your child.

· If there is something you want specific information on, let the teacher know beforehand.

What if I need to speak to my child’s teacher without my child present?

From time to time parents are keen to talk with their child’s teacher without their child present. Usually this does not coincide with our formal conference times however if it does and you are keen to have a conversation without your child being present please consider one of the following approaches, as this will ensure that your child will be able to be part of the conference and build on the work they have been participating in during their class time.

· Email, call or pop in and talk to your child’s teacher at a different time when a focused discussion can take place

· Email the teacher and ask that the last few minutes be made available without the child present – please note that this option will mean there may be time pressures as a result.