Dear Parents and Carers,
As adults we often seek feedback to ensure we are on the right track, doing a ‘good job’ or getting our message across. Children are no different. They seek feedback, and often reassurance, from their parents, extended family, peers and teachers.  One way in which we as a school are working to provide feedback to the students is through our Student Learning Questions. These questions provide prompts for the students to talk about their learning and ‘dig deeper’ when developing their knowledge and understanding of the concept being taught. These questions that are often used at the end of a lesson, enable teachers to gain instant feedback from the students about how they feel about their learning and their level of understanding. This in turn directs the teacher for future teaching and learning.

 The Student Learning Questions include;

1. What are you learning?
2. How are you doing?
3. How do you know?
4. How can you improve?
5. Where do you go for help?

Just as conversations about learning and feedback from teachers is vital to a student’s future learning, so too are conversations at home about what learning is happening in the classroom. As parents you may have experienced the shrug of shoulders or a grunt or an ‘I don’t know’ when you ask your child what they did at school that day and this is a common occurrence in many households. Sometimes all it takes is changing the time when you ask the question or the way in which you phrase the question that makes a difference. Children have spent the whole day having to be ‘switched on’ and sometimes waiting until dinner to ask about their day can elicit more information. Dr Ian Lillico, international consultant in gender, boys’ education and middle schooling, believes children will open up more when they are sitting or standing beside you such as in the car or washing up at the sink. Standing side by side with less eye contact seems to relax children and encourages them to chat more. Likewise getting outside and kicking or throwing a ball also encourages conversation. You might like to also try some of the following conversation starters instead. Perhaps everyone in the family can answer some of them:

1. What made you laugh today?
2. What did you do that was friendly?
3. What did you try hard at today?
4. What was something that made you think hard today?
5. What was something tricky that you figured out how to do better?
6. What was something helpful you did for someone?
7. What was a problem you had to solve today?
8. What was something you were grateful for today?
9. How did you bounce back from something that went wrong today?
10. What was something you enjoyed in the classroom? Out of the classroom?

God bless.

Rachel Smith
Principal