Gaonomics

On Tuesday 15th September 2009, Tenby International School had organised a Meet and Greet event for parents of key stage 2 students. The purpose of the event was to introduce Key Stage 2 to the parents and give them a chance to meet their children’s homeroom teacher.

Unfortunately I missed the introduction to the Key Stage 2 presentation by Principal Ms Jane Kuok, as my husband and I were stuck in heavy traffic in KL on the way to the school in Setia Eco Park, and only arrived at the school a few minutes before the Principal finished.

I was therefore pleased when the parents were invited over to their children’s classrooms to get another presentation by the individual homeroom teachers, which were done for all the years. The presentation covered different aspects of the children’s life in school, what is expected of them, how their routines are, how the award system works etc. and the parents were encouraged to ask questions.  

We also got the opportunity to see the work the students had already done and posted on the walls, pictures of each student and their country’s flag. It was nice to familiarise myself with my daughter’s new classroom and new teacher, whom gave us the impression of being a good teacher, firm but fair and very helpful. A very good impression indeed.

Some of us parents asked about the grading system for year end assessments done last term, as we have been confused about it, when we realised that the grades are based on the children’s age and other criteria, which we weren’t so clear about. My daughter’s new teacher was surprised to hear that our children had been told their grades, which at the time, seemed unfair, as they both had 2 mistakes in their numeracy test, but because one of them is 2 months younger, she got a higher grade than the other child, which is very difficult for them to understand. I therefore wanted to understand how it works, so I could explain it to my daughter. Their teacher explained that they were not supposed to know their grades, as these assessments are only meant to be known for the teachers to help them prepare the children’s year end school report. 

He continued to explain that the reason why the students are comparing their grades is because of the system they have been used to in their old school, but is not the right way forward and is not the way they do it in Tenby, where each student follows an individual path of learning based on their age, ability and so forth, which cannot be compared to others. They should only be compared to themselves to ensure they continue learning and are meeting the learning objectives, and is a way to check whether they are on par or falling behind according to their expected level etc.

He also mentioned that the parents are welcome to come to the school and ask to see their children’s assessment papers and to know their grades, if they needed to, but it’s not something that the parents should worry about, if their child’s report is fine and the teachers are happy with the child’s efforts.

Because it can be rather difficult to understand how this new grading system works, I was very happy to note that the next day my daughter came home and told me that her teacher had written a website address in her student diary that we could visit to read more about it. If you are interested, you can check it out by clicking here .

I think the Meet and Greet organised by the school was very useful, and especially the opportunity to meet with my daughter’s homeroom teacher and the class based presentation which catered to my daughter’s class specifically, as it gave us insigths into what is expected of our daughter and her routines in class, so we know what’s going on and can check with her to ensure she follows through.

And as this wasn’t good enough, it won’t even be the only time that parents get to meet the teachers this term, as the school will soon be inviting parents for individual parent teacher conferences with the teachers to discuss in more details about their children, as the Meet and Greet was only a general introduction about life in school and the school’s expectations of all children.

A very positive start for the new school year 2009/2010 in Tenby International School, and in line with the school’s aims of giving our children the best of the best in education.