Term one academic conferences will be held on the afternoon and evening of Wednesday 14 March and  Thursday March 15.

Academic conferences are a 20 minute meeting involving parents, their student and their student’s form teacher. Form teachers will discuss where each student’s is at with their learning and their academic strengths and weaknesses as a first step towards identifying and agreeing on learning goals for the year.

The academic conferences were introduced last year as a further development on the goal setting and mentoring programme that was introduced in 2010. The term one conferences will focus on each student’s academic achievements to date using data such as their end of 2011 reports from this or their previous school, Junior Diploma information, NCEA records of Learning, results from Year 9 entry tests.

Prior to the conferences, each student will be asked to reflect on their own academic achievements so far and prepare learning goals for discussion with their parents and form teacher. These are to be prepared on pages 12 and 13 of the 2012 Student Planner which all students have been issued with.

Successful conferences are ones where students have discussed their achievements and goals with their parents / caregivers and have thought hard about what they need to do to achieve academic success this year.

Academic Conferences – what is involved:

• Students will finish school at the normal time of1.50 pm on Wednesday 14 March and will not attend school on Thursday the 15^th other than to attend their academic conference.

• Parents/guardians will be asked to attend appointments during the day and to this end we will be providing parents/guardians with a letter to give to employers seeking their support by allowing time off to attend these conferences.

• Before the conference, each student will be asked to do some preparation by completing their own evaluation of their achievements.

• At the conference, information about the student and their learning will be available ( such as last school reports, achievement data such as NCEA results, Junior Diploma information).

• Also available in the school on these days will be other displays and personnel able to provide information on things such as careers, students courses, and NCEA.

Within the next week each family will receive a letter that includes an appointment time for their student. These will be arranged so that appointment times for siblings will follow one after the other. There will also be a letter for parents/guardians to give to employers.

What is it?

It is a 20 minute meeting that focuses on the student’s learning. At the meeting a target plan is developed that identifies the things which a student needs to do to progress towards their academic goals.

Who is it between? 

It is between the student, the student’s parents/guardians and the student’s vertical form teacher. The student’s vertical form teacher is the person who will monitor the student’s academic progress.

What is its purpose?

To help every student reach their academic potential by personalising their learning. “Personalising learning is about students understanding what they know, how they know it and what they need to learn next.”

Why are we doing it?

This is a way of strengthening the connections between the school, the student, and their whanau, in a way that has them working together to support their student’s progress.

When will it be?

The meetings will be arranged by appointment and these will be held in the student’s vertical form room.

How will appointments be made?

The school will send an appointment letter, containing appointment time and date, to each student and their whanau.  There will also be a letter that can be used to give to employers asking for their support by allowing parents/guardians time off work to attend.

What will the first conference follow-up be?

During the remainder of the year, vertical form teachers will discuss each student’s Target Plan with them at least once per term to check if they are meeting their learning targets, provide strategies to help them, and if necessary, make contact with parents.

In term three there will be a second opportunity for each student, their parents/guardians and vertical form teachers to meet again.