22/05/2020
Dear Parents and Carers
As you are all very aware the past couple of months have been extremely challenging, however students, teachers and families have demonstrated amazing levels of resilience and agility to continue to learn from home. There has been some great learning occurring across the college, with students working towards the Victorian Curriculum outcomes as well as developing a wealth of other skills, such as digital literacy, time management, organisation, persistence and self reliance. Assessment and Reporting of student learning during Semester 1 is going to be a complicated process due to the interrupted face to face program at the end of Term 1 and for the majority of Term 2.
Over the next few weeks students will begin to transition back to face to face learning. Teachers will do their best to report on student learning for Semester 1, however the Department of Education has clearly communicated to schools that this will be at a minimal level. There are obvious reasons for this, including the lack of opportunities to assess students in person in the Primary years and the authenticity of remotely administered assessments in the Secondary years.
As you would be aware Yarrawonga College P-12 has transitioned to an Ongoing Reporting structure, (Formative Assessment) where students receive a task with a rubric outlining levels of success they can achieve. Through the Ongoing Reporting process students receive feedback from the teacher on tasks completed in the form of a rubric. Students across the college complete varied amounts of these tasks for Ongoing Reporting per term, depending on their year level. VCE, VCAL and VET, which are not Victorian Curriculum related will be reported on in the same way.
Students also receive an end of Semester Report, (Summative Assessment). This report identifies an individual student’s Victorian Curriculum level. This level is referred to as the student’s progression point as per the Victorian Curriculum and is monitored to identify how much individual students have progressed over a year. As we have moved to the new reporting model, Ongoing Reporting, the Semester 1 Reports for students will not have any comments on them, only progression points.
As mentioned earlier, teachers will do their best with the work samples and assessments they have to identify student progression points for the end of Semester 1 Report. Due to the different home learning experiences students had whilst learning remotely and online, student progression points may not change from the end of 2019 in some cases. However, any re-adjustments to progression points will be reflected on your child’s report at the end of the year.
Over the coming weeks it will be vitally important for students to reconnect with their teachers and their peers to re-develop a feeling of connection to school. Teachers will be working to re-establish vital relationships with students to help them feel safe and connected. As a college we will be minimising the amount of assessment tasks students undertake, ensuring we only do the minimum necessary to be able to determine progression points.
Families will still receive a Semester 1 Report for their child/ren at the end of Term 2, reports will be live on Compass from Friday June 26th. Thanks again for your cooperation and support throughout the past couple of months, it is highly valued.
Kind Regards
Damien Keel|
College Principal
