This is that time of the year when testing is prevalent, teachers are writing reports and schools are preparing for their parent teacher interviews. There is much talk and a buzz around this busy time of the scholastic year.

Assessment, assessment assessment.

There is no failure in the process of school assessment. Success is in moving forward.

Who needs assessment? Do we have an immediate sense of failure when we think about assessment? Perhaps it has associations with negative experiences for ourselves. Teachers rely on their regular testing regime as it is the key tool to help them plan their teaching. If they know where the child is at in their learning they can skilfully teach with accuracy. No question about it! This is a highly effective way to teach. Generally, children grow used to the weekly tests in class and the teacher puts the right emphasis on them. In fact children see it as part of their normal routine. Testing is all about where to go next in the learning. However, at this stage of the year it can be slightly overwhelming as parent teacher interviews loom high in the mind of the child and the school.

Consider that this is a positive time to learn about all the wonderful learning that has taken place over the year. It is time to celebrate the hard work the child has contributed to in terms one and two. It is also about learning where the child needs to go with learning in terms three and beyond. Call this learning, growth curves.

The interviews are not a check up time to determine failure nor is it a time to pick through issues that have occurred lately. Also, when the parent teacher is complete, celebrate with your child and talk about the amazing new concepts that you learnt about your child.

Here are a few thoughts around this focussed time of the school year:

Be positive about the school. Talk about how you look forward to chatting to your teacher about all the wonderful school experiences.
Talk about how you felt when you had reports sent home. It is valuable that the child understands that we have all gone through this process.
Remind your child that you see reporting as a positive tool to tap into all the great work you are doing at school.
Before the parent teacher interview discuss areas that you want to talk about. Let there be no surprises at the interviews. Also are their discussions that your child wants to have with you before the interview? Both parent and child should have clarity about what will happen at the interview.
Remind your child that you and the teacher are very much on their side, that is the side of learning.
If you have some form of evaluation at work talk about how that happens and how you handle it.

Finally, education is a life long journey. Stopping and taking stock of where the child is at, is an important time for reflection on where to go next. There is no failure in this process only success in moving forward.

“The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, ‘the children are now working as if I did not exist.’”

— Maria Montessori