How is my child progressing?
Schools provide formal reports on a student's learning progress at key times throughout the year.
Most students will receive regular feedback throughout the year. This should ensure that the information presented in a report does not come as a surprise to students or their parents.
Feedback
Feedback on a child's progress may be formal or informal.
Feedback about a student's achievement and learning progress should be ongoing. It should reflect the needs of the student, the family and the school community.
Feedback may include verbal comments to students and/or to parents, written comments on work, letters of concern or congratulations, merit certificates, or interviews.
P-10 Reporting
Schools provide reports to parents/guardians/carers on the achievements of Pre-primary to Year 10 students in terms of the Western Australian achievement standards. They must provide formal reports at the end of each semester, informal reports throughout the year and reports where requested from the student’s parents/guardians/carers. In addition to this, students should receive regular feedback throughout the year.
If there is a legitimate reason for a student to be following a modified curriculum, in consultation with parents/guardians/carers, schools report on a student’s progress/achievement in terms of the modified curriculum.
For students with a disability or for whom English is an additional language/dialect, additional reporting on their progress/achievement in terms of year-level achievement standards is not required.
The School Curriculum and Standards Authority requires all schools to implement the mandated Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline to meet the learning needs of all students. The Authority’s Pre-primary to Year 10: Teaching, Assessing and Reporting Policy sets out the mandatory requirements for teachers to implement the Outline.
Schools are expected to provide their school community with an Assessment and Reporting Policy that is based on the Principles of Teaching, Learning and Assessment.
Schools are also expected to share reports from national and statewide assessments with parents and carers. Where appropriate, schools should provide opportunities for discussion between teachers and parents or carers about reports.
The Authority requires schools to use plain language to report to parents/guardians/carers. Reports must:
- give an accurate and objective assessment of the student’s progress and achievement
- include information about the student’s attitude, behaviour and effort
- any additional information the school considers relevant, including an overall teacher comment.
In addition, for Pre-primary to Year 2, school reports are to include a description of the student’s progress in personal and social learning.
Reports on the achievements of Pre-primary to Year 10 students must adhere to the mandated requirements of the Pre-primary to Year 10: Teaching, Assessing and Reporting Policy. Schools may also choose to report at a more detailed level than the minimum requirement identified.
In mid-year or Semester 1 reports, teachers make a professional judgement regarding the level of achievement that the student is demonstrating relative to the achievement standard, taking into account the curriculum that has been taught and assessed to that point in time.
What are the requirements for reporting on my child’s progress in Years 11 and 12?
The Authority requires schools to have a senior secondary assessment policy for Years 11 and 12. The policy must make clear how the school will report student achievement to parents/guardians/carers.
Schools are expected to provide their school community with their senior secondary assessment policy. The must be based on the Principles of Teaching, Learning and Assessment. Where appropriate, schools should provide opportunities teachers and parents/guardians/carers to discuss reports.
What should a report contain for Years 11 and 12?
Student achievement in the form of marks and grades is reported to the student, parents/guardians/carers and to the Authority.
The school’s senior secondary assessment policy for Years 11 and 12 must:
- describe the practices that will be used to report student achievement to parents
- specify the ways in which student achievement is reported to the Authority.
The commonly accepted practice noted by the Authority is that the school reports the school mark and grade for each pair of Year 11 and Year 12 pair of units completed (i.e. one mark and one grade) or for each Year 11 unit completed (i.e. a mark and grade for Unit 1 and a mark and grade for Unit 2). Typically this is provided in the school’s Semester 2 report and/or in a school-developed statement of results.
The school ensures that all students are aware that:
- the grades reported by the school are not finalised until approved by the Authority
- the school marks for ATAR Year 12 pairs of units are statistically adjusted (moderated) by the Authority. These adjustments reflect the ATAR course examination performance of students in a school that has Year 12 ATAR school marks on a scale that is significantly different from the scale of the ATAR course examination marks of those students
What can a parent/guardian/carer do if there are concerns regarding their child's assessment in Years 11 and 12?
Your child’s school must inform you in writing of their school mark and course grade for all courses studied in Years 11 and 12. If you or your child believe that the school mark and/or course grade is incorrect, your child or you acting on behalf of your child should make a request in writing to the school for a review of the result. An assessment review can determine if:
- the school’s assessment outline does not conform to syllabus requirements
- the school’s assessment policy does not conform to Authority guidelines
- the school’s assessment procedures do not conform to its assessment policy
- there are procedural errors in allocation of the school grade or computational errors in the determination of the school mark.
A teacher’s judgement about your child’s achievement (i.e. the mark) on an individual assessment task is not subject to review and as a result the school is not required to re-mark your child’s work. If, after an assessment review has been completed by the school, you still believe that your child’s school mark and/or course grade is incorrect, then your child or you on behalf of your child can lodge an appeal with the Authority. The Student Appeal against School Assessment Application online form is available on the Authority website https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/forms/forms.
A student appeal against school assessment is not considered by the Authority until an assessment review has been completed by the school.