This year the Year 1-5 Student Led Conferences will be taking place on May 31, 2019 throughout the day. In the coming weeks you will be able to book a time slot, via Gateway. Children only come to school during the session (time slot) that you have selected. Buses will not run on this day.
Session 1 – 8.20am – 9.35am
Session 2 – 9.45am – 11.00am
Session 3 – 11.30am – 12.45pm
Session 4 – 1.30pm – 2.45pm
The Year 6 Student Led Conferences take place on the day following the Year 6 Exhibition (Festival of Action) and separate to the Year 1-5 process.
The purpose of Student Led Conferences is to share all elements of the student’s learning and progress both academic and social. Each class (or year group) will set up stations through which children will talk about their learning in different areas of the curriculum. Children will be at a station for approximately 8-10 minutes. During this time, they will share their work, demonstrate their understanding of a concept and/or exhibit a skill.
The main aim is to provide an opportunity for quality discussion between the student and his/her parent about their ‘learning journey.’ The students are encouraged to lead the conference and have ownership over sharing and discussing their learning with their parents.
Expectations
The success of the Student Led Conference is dependent on the roles that students, teachers and parents play throughout the process. The expectations to fulfill these roles are outlined below:
Students
In preparation for the conference the students work through the learning stations before the Student Led Conferences and are given the responsibility of knowing what to do at each station when with their parents.
The students will then be responsible to share their work samples as evidence of their learning and also the self reflection of their learning process. The student should be proactive in explaining what they have learned, how and why the learning is important and what they need to do next.
Teachers
Teachers will be involved in supporting, guiding and preparing the students to share their learning in preparation for the student led conference. The teachers do a lot of work before the Student Led Conferences with the children. On the day it is up to the children to lead not the teachers.
To ensure that the student achieves success, teachers will be available and ‘visible’ throughout the conference sessions in case clarification or support is needed at any point. This is an opportunity to observe the dialogue between children and parents which may provide valuable assessment data regarding the students’ understanding and ability to share their progress.
In the early years teachers may have to remind children about how each station works on the day. However, the aim is that as the student’s progress through the years they will become more independent and eventually be able to lead the conference.
Parents
It is a school expectation that parents attend the Student Led Conference as it is so important that the children have the opportunity to reflect on their learning.
Parents should encourage their child to ‘lead’ the conference. However, they are asked to help their child to manage and balance their time between the different areas of their learning throughout the conference (please allow 8-10 minutes per station).
To get the best out of their child during the conference, parents should be encouraging and actively interested in their child’s sharing of their learning, providing them with feedback and asking questions about their child’s learning.
When available, please use the prompts that are with a station to help discussion.
Final Message
Please appreciate that the student led conference is a time for ‘parent and child.’ Although teachers will be available to support and guide the process, there will not be an opportunity during the conference to discuss individual children’s progress with the teachers.