Premier Steve Bracks visited Narre Warren South last Thursday to officially open Strathaird Primary School. He also spoke about Victoria’s newlook school reports and how they would give parents a clearer understanding of their child’s performance. By Rebecca Fraser
SCHOOL principals in Casey have spoken out about the Bracks Government’s new plainspeaking school reports and have welcomed news that classmates will not be pitted against each other.
The reports, for prep to year 10 students, will be introduced at all government schools next year.
Last week, when the Premier visited Narre Warren South, he said student report cards would return to AtoE rankings and give parents a clearer understanding of their child’s performance against statewide standards.
“These new report cards, sent home twice a year, will keep parents in the loop and more involved in their children’s education,” Mr Bracks said.
The new reports do not compare classmates by ranking them in quarters from the top 25 per cent of their class to the bottom, a measure the Federal Government has insisted on.
Last week Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson even warned that Victoria would risk $600 million in federal funding unless the reports were changed to rank classmates against each other.
But Mr Bracks discounted these comments and said he did not believe the Victoria would be penalised unfairly because of the new reporting system.
John Hurley, principal of Thomas Mitchell Primary School and a teacher for more than 45 years, said it was ridiculous and inappropriate to rank students against each other.
“It would be pretty disappointing if the Federal Government insists on this, but we will just have to wait and see what happens as the two fight it out.
“Kids already have a fair idea of where they sit in the classroom without ranking them.
“This will only have negative effects on children that are really trying to do their best,” he said.
Rex Valena, principal of Berwick Secondary College, said the new, clearer reports would definitely be a big improvement and promote stronger communication between parents and teachers. But he also said he firmly opposed ranking students against classmates and held some concerns about the “logistics” of the new reports.
“My only concern so far is with the length of the reports and the logistics with implementing them.
“Sometimes reports do not even get to the parents, let alone parents making comments and sending the reports back,” he said.
Averil Moore, principal at Southern Cross Primary school in Endeavour Hills, said her staff had looked at the new reports briefly and there appeared to be good points in the reports that parents might appreciate.
But she too disagreed with ranking students and said it could be demoralising and would not necessarily achieve anything for individual children or assist learning.
“It is the quality of the programs and the continual refining and enhancing of our teaching to cater for the individual needs of students that makes a difference,” she said.
Henry Grossek of Berwick Lodge Primary School said schools wanted children to love learning and the best response would be achieved if students were challenging themselves to meet certain standards or universal benchmarks, as opposed to being in direct competition with classmates.
“It is one thing to be struggling or succeeding really well. It is quite another to make those matters very public in an obviously competitive way for young children,” he said.
