Bookings opened on Wednesday for Early Years Student-Led Conferences. These will take place in Week 9, on Wednesday 23 March and Thursday 24 March. You may be asking what the purpose of these conferences are, and why they have replaced the former Parent Teacher Interviews. Our Visible Learning work at OLSCC is based on the work of Professor John Hattie, a well-known educational researcher who has published a list of the most effective influences on student achievement. This means that we can put all our energy into engaging in practices that are proven to raise student achievement. Sometimes, this can be very challenging to our long-held beliefs, however the same growth mindset we encourage in our students can be helpful to adults as well! A student’s ability to talk about

• what they are learning
• how they are going and
• what goals they can set for themselves

have all been identified by Professor Hattie as highly significant indicators linked to raised student achievement. This is the purpose of the Student-Led Conference.

An email earlier this week outlined how these conferences will work, and a few essential points are repeated here:

• Students will attend with a parent /carer
• Students will take a lead role in the conference setting
• Teachers will support the students throughout the process as needed
• Students will share with you what they are currently learning
• This will look different from Prep through to Year 4 and may include showing you how they learn with concrete materials, a work sample to discuss, a focus on a particular subject area, or a personal-social goal they are working on.

It is important to let your child know you are an interested participant in the Student-Led Conference – it is a very important time for them and impacts positively on their learning, as well as showing your child how much you value their education. Spend some time discussing the conference at home in the days leading up to the actual conference date.

As part of their regular learning, all students have been putting considerable time and energy into reflecting on their learning and preparing for this. If you cannot attend, please arrange for another significant adult in your child’s life to come to the conference.

In addition to your child’s regular classroom, I will be available in the Drama room (Blue 6 – your child will know where!) for any students who would like to drop by to discuss learning that has taken place in specialist lesson time. I would love to have you call by if it fits between your other appointment times!

The conference is about learning, not behaviour or social issues. As always, your child’s classroom teacher remains your first point of contact and parents can arrange appointments to meet with teachers at any stage throughout the year and we encourage you to do so if you have any pressing concerns, updates or wish to discuss anything beyond the scope of these Student-Led Conferences. 

Student-Led Conferences will occur again in Term 3. Formal written reports, with a focus on achievement against the Australian Curriculum achievement standards, will be available twice per year as a written report in Terms 2 and 4.