Student Reports

Fax to schools on 20/11/2006

To: FEDERATION REPRESENTATIVES AND PRINCIPALS - All Schools
(please bring this to the attention of all Federation members)

Re: STUDENT REPORTS CAMPAIGN

Dear Colleagues

Federation's ban remains in place.

Please find attached a pro forma letter to parents.

1. If you would like to adapt this letter to meet your school's needs, Federation can provide you with an electronic version. Please email g_communications@nswtf.org.au.

2. If you would like multiple printed copies of the pro forma letter, please fax Laraine Smyth on 92172486. You will need to state precisely how many copies you want on the fax.

NB The pro forma letter gives an explanation about comments on reports. Federation is aware that the example used does not spell out the Key Learning Areas of "Science and Technology" and "Human Society and Its Environment". This was done to keep the letter shorter. The letter can be adapted if schools wish.

Yours sincerely

John Irving
General Secretary

A LETTER TO PARENTS FROM TEACHERS

Teachers at ...........School have worked with local parents to produce the best possible student reports for this school community.

As teachers we are concerned about the effect of our actions on each and every student. Politicians, however, do not seem to be. They want children from Year 1 to receive an A to E (Outstanding to Limited) grade for every subject studied. Putting students through a competitive grading process twice a year from Year 1 in every subject is not educationally sound. For this reason we disagree with the mandatory, "one size fits all" student reports being pushed onto school communities by the federal and state governments.

Should a boy or girl only six years of age be labelled as having 'limited' (E) achievement just because they will take longer to learn to read than other children?

No matter what governments and politicians attempt to dictate, we can only do what is in the interests of the students in our care. Equally as important, we maintain the right of parents to have their say about our school's reports.

Parents must have clear and accurate information about their child's progress. This is not always simple because different students have different needs, abilities and backgrounds. Teachers understand the importance of catering for each child's needs.

The NSW Premier, Morris Iemma, has politicised this serious issue by posting letters directly to parents. The hundreds of thousands of dollars of public money wasted on his letter should have been spent on public school students. Public school teachers have used their own money to pay for advertisements and leaflets about this issue, placed on our behalf by the NSW Teachers Federation.

Recently, the NSW Government said that teachers do not want to provide written comments on students' reports. This is nonsense. Every report should have comments that cover all the subject areas being studied; it's just that learning is not always divided neatly into separate subjects. In primary schools, for example, the science and geography of rainforests are sometimes best commented on together.

The teachers at this school will keep working to improve our student reports. However, we want to make these improvements in collaboration with the parents of our students. We cannot do it while politicians give us no choices.

Teachers believe that there should be guidelines for reports that allow more options for schools. Until the politicians agree to listen, teachers in your school will continue to stand up for educationally sound student reports.

If you want the truth about student reports, please talk to your child's teacher.

Yours sincerely

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Last Modified: 22 Nov 2006