The One-Stop Shop Guide to Interpreting Your Child’s Academic Report

You’ve almost made it! Nearly four terms of school lunches, running to make the bus, sick days, excursions, homework, mufti days, assemblies... the list goes on and on! The finish line for this year is in sight, which means it won’t be long until you receive your child’s Semester Two report. We know the anxiety that this can create – for you and your child! It arrives, you rip open the envelope searching for wonderful adjectives like ‘outstanding’, ‘excellent’ or ‘child prodigy!’ (kidding) and instead read terms such as ‘sound’ or ‘to improve...” You’ve seen movies where the highest achieving students receive A+, so why is your child, who you thought was on track, receiving a C? If you aren’t equipped to interpret what these terms really mean, it can be easy to become disheartened and skip the important parts!

Let us help! The components of a report may seem basic but there is a lot to unpack if you are committed to using them as a meaningful support tool for your child, so stay with me!

One of the trickiest parts of reading reports is that there is no prescribed reporting format that school’s are required to follow. Schools can work with their school community to choose the format of their reports based on their context and student needs. But there are some rules that need to be followed. School reports are legal documents so there are some key pieces of information that are required to be included:

1.       Student attendance – How many absences has your child had?

2.       Whole school activities – This can vary depending on context but examples include extracurricular activities such as ag teams, sporting competitions, leadership opportunities or community involvement such as ANZAC Day committees.

3.       Social development and commitment to learning – How do they behave and interact at school? This can be done subject-by-subject or completed by a main classroom teacher or year advisor. There is no mandated scale for this, so any scaling used should have an explanation on the cover page of the report in plain English for you to understand.

4.       Grades based on the 5-Point Common Grade Scale – Only reports for students in Years 1-11 require this. Your child’s Kindergarten teacher is required to report achievement against outcomes in a comment.

5.       Explanation of the grade scale used – more on this later!

6.       A report for each Key Learning Area, subject or course – each of these require:

• Outcomes your child was assessed against

• A-E Grade or Personalised Reporting Scale grade (I repeat... more on this later!)

• A comment specifically relating to your child’s achievement in that key learning area, subject or course.

Now to the nitty gritty! The reason you’re here! What do those grades actually mean?!

The Common Grade Scale schools are required to use is a five-point system that describes your child’s performance against the assessed outcomes. I will start by saying that if grades are awarded correctly, they will not tell you if your child is performing above their age/grade level. It is a common misconception that every grade above a C is an extra year above their current level and every grade below a C is a year level below. Not. True. So let’s get down to business.

Every report is required to have an explanation of the grade scale on their cover page. Schools generally use the same table, with big words such as ‘extensive’ and ‘competence’ that don’t paint a practical image of your child that enables you to support them at home, so I’ve created my own.

*This is a very basic breakdown in my words and not an official Department explanation.

Grade - A (Outstanding)

• Layman’s Terms - Critical thinker alert!

• What does this mean? Your child knows what they need to know, can do what they need to do, can communicate this in detail and apply it whenever they need to in familiar or new situations or assessments. Students achieving this grade are typically the ones who are able to teach others in this area. Your child requires extension in this area.

Grade - B (High)

• Layman’s Terms - Your child knows what they need to and can apply their knowledge

• What does this mean? Your child has a good understanding of the content of the subject area, is able to readily communicate the information and can apply their knowledge and skills to a variety of situations.

Grade - C (Sound)

• Layman’s Terms - Your child is right where they need to be!

• What does this mean? They’ve got an adequate knowledge and understanding of the main areas of learning in that subject, and their processes and skills meet what is expected of them according to the curriculum.

Grade - D (Basic)

• Layman’s Terms - Your child is on the right track but could do with some support

• What does this mean? They have a basic understanding of what has been taught and the processes and skills required. They may understand the content but are not quite ready to apply it just yet.

Grade - E (Limited)

• Layman’s Terms - Your child requires some adjustments or support in this area 

• What does this mean? This doesn’t mean the world is crumbling down around them! It simply means that for whatever reason, they aren’t grasping the content and are only showing a small range of skills and processes required of them. Quite often, if there are no external factors at play such as undiagnosed disabilities or personal complexities, a shift in teaching methods, learning routines or environment and some extra support at home can boost this grade really easily.

I hear you! “Tiarne... you mentioned earlier a personalised reporting something something... Please explain." I’m on it. Students with a disability whose learning program is different from the age or stage of their peers may have a report graded against a Personalised Reporting Scale. This means that your child’s teacher will report against personalised goals and syllabus outcomes determined in collaboration with you and your child. If the school is writing this style of report for your child, it should be communicated well ahead of time.

Once your child’s teacher has awarded them a grade based on a range of assessments, they will write a comment to create a picture of their strengths, learning progress against syllabus outcomes, areas for further development and ways in which their growth can be supported. Read that again! All students’ comments should include areas for improvement. So when you read that your child could improve on x, y or z, don’t be disheartened! We all have room to grow.

Teachers are encouraged to write reports from a positive perspective so you should never read that your child can’t do something, is naughty or even a disruption. Comments written for each subject are just that – to report on that subject. They are not a behaviour card or a personality assessment. You should be reading about where your child’s academic strengths lie and how you can support them, not that they have an amazing sense of humour (which they no doubt got from you!)

If you read the term working toward it usually means that this is something the teacher is working on improving with your child that they didn’t want to sound negative about so take note and ask for some elaboration down the track. While we’re on it.

So... you have all this information. You understand the report in front of you. Now what?

Schools are required by the Schools Assistance (Learning Together – Achievement through choice and opportunity) Act 2004 – Section 15 to provide a child and their parents, guardians or other persons who care for the child with the opportunity to meet with the child’s teacher to discuss the report and to receive constructive advice on how to support the child’s improvement. My advice? Take. This. Opportunity!

Take notes as you read the report. Write down questions you have such as:

“My child is working towards onset and rime to spell words. Awesome! What does that mean and how can I help?” (This is a specific example, but write down any subject-specific terms you have and seek clarification. It’s what teachers are there for!)

“What assessments did you use to determine my child’s grade and how can I be sure the grade is accurate?”

“How is my child performing compared to the rest of their cohort?” (Try not to get wrapped up in this question, but you are entitled to ask and schools are required to answer)

“What goals should I focus on most with my child at home?”

If you’re still with me you’ll agree with how I began - there is a LOT to unpack when reading your child’s report and even more to think about when considering how best to support your child. You

Have questions or want some practical advice on how to interpret your child’s report? We can help! 

Contact our wonderful reception team to book an appointment or get more information on how Tiarne and Brooke can assist you in interpreting your child’s report.