New reports score a tick

By Rebecca Fraser and Sarah Schwager
SCHOOL Principals in Greater Dandenong 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 the 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 with each other despite the Federal Government insisting they are ranked in quarters from the top 25 per cent of their class to the bottom 25 per cent.
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 that Victoria would be penalised unfairly because of the new reporting system.
Dandenong Primary School principal David Crozier said he was reasonably happy with the changes to reports and they were quite similar to the school’s current reporting system.
Mr Crozier said the main change would be the A to E rankings, which parents would have to get used to, especially as many would be getting Cs, which means they are doing reasonably well, rather than As, which means the student is a full 12 months ahead of the curriculum.
He said he was happy the State Government had decided not to compare classmates with each other.
Patrick Boyd, assistant principal of Heatherhill Secondary College in Springvale South, said the school was happy with the new reports as they had been striving to get a reporting system that was clear and written in “plain English”.
“Most of our parents are from nonEnglish speaking backgrounds,” Mr Boyd said.
“We are in favour of making reports simple and informative for parents, which is what the State Government wants anyway.”
Mr Boyd said the Curriculum and Standards Framework (CSF) marking system used at the moment was confusing, particularly when most parents were used to the A to E rankings.
Fran Luke, principal of Harrisfield Primary School in Noble Park, said the new system would be an easy transition for the school.
“It’s always good to review the reporting system,” Ms Luke said.
“And parents are happy with the changes.”
Ms Luke said she agreed with the State Government’s decision not to rank students in percentiles.
“I think it would be very detrimental and would be a backward step if that were to happen,” she said.
“No two children are the same.
“We work on the continual improvement of each individual child.”