Parents receive feedback from their daughter’s teachers in a variety of ways at Meriden.

In Years 7, 8 and 9, it is important for parents to receive timely information about their daughter’s progress. With the introduction of continuous reporting on eVe, parents can view the results for each assessment task and receive feedback from their daughter’s teacher in a timely manner. This replaces the more traditional report that is usually sent to parents at the end of each semester. The feedback is given directly on each assessment task or on the assessment page on eVe so that parents can see the specific areas in which their daughter has excelled and areas for improvement. If at any time, parents would like a print form of this report, there is an option on the cover page on eVe to print. However, since the results are posted as each task is finalised, this will only include some tasks.

As students become older, the form of reporting changes. There are two main reasons that this change is required.

Firstly, students start to prepare their documents for tertiary application processes after school. Historically, universities and tertiary institutions required only the ATAR results for entry. However, there has been a shift in recent years to a more involved application process which allows students to apply early and often gain entry into courses even before they finish their final HSC examinations. Universities and other tertiary institutions are also looking at not only final examination results, but the whole picture of a student, including her involvement in cocurricular activities and leadership opportunities. It is therefore important to have a formal semester report from Year 10 onwards to start building this portfolio.

Secondly, students from Year 10 start to have more independence in their learning journey. They will be focussing on the direction they would like to take in their pattern of study in the senior years and this ownership of their learning is very important in their development. Meriden’s vision is to produce graduates who are confident, articulate and responsible leaders, and who are well-informed and critical thinkers. The independence that is developed through their schooling, including their ownership of their learning and achievements, contributes to the growth of each student.

The final way that parents receive feedback from teachers is through the Parent Teacher Interviews. These interviews are all completed by the end of Term 2 so that parents have an opportunity in the first half of the year to speak to each of their daughter’s teachers. I find it amazing how much information can be gained from just a five-minute meeting. I trust that these meetings have been a reaffirming time, in which you gained an insight into the engaging experiences that your daughter is having at school.