The mid-year school report – preparing for Terms 3 and 4

Receiving your child’s mid-year school report can be quite nerve-wracking if you know they’ve had some challenges during the first half of the year.

Regardless of their results, the important thing with any report or assessment is to:

1. Look for the effort – this is what makes learning and progress possible.
2. Find the strengths in the report, there will be areas working well for your child.
3. Pay attention to patterns – how can you help your child break these?

If you haven’t already, talk to your child about their report – after all, they were in class the whole time!

Together you can discuss where improvements can be made and what help you may need to provide to support this.

Depending on their overall results, there are different ways to approach giving feedback and actions that you can consider for Terms 3 and 4.

Grades have improved since the last school report

What can you say to encourage them? Try something like “Congratulations! It looks like the new approaches you’re trying with your homework are really paying off. Keep up the good work.”

What can you do to support them? Continue to support your child to maintain the effort and build on strategies they have been using to improve their results.

Grades improved but not as much as expected

What can you say to encourage them? Try something like “Good work! What do you think helped you improve? Do you think the same approach could help you improve in other subjects?”

What can you do to support them? Help your child identify any strategies that have helped them make progress and work with them to use the same approach in other areas.

Grades and effort both need improvement

What can you say to encourage them? Try something like “We need to set some clearer
expectations for you next term so you have something to work towards.”

What can you do to support them? Think about what improvement means, set some goals and define them for your child. Discuss your expectations and work on a plan of action together.

Grades are low despite your child working hard

What can you say to encourage them? “I’m quite surprised by this report, I saw how hard you worked. Maybe it’s a good idea if we speak to your teacher to develop some new strategies for this term.”

What can you do to support them? Speak to their teacher to get more information about where your child is falling down. It may be time to consider an assessment or help from a tutor who can help with learning difficulties.

Grades have suddenly dropped

In this situation, it’s also important to consider whether their have been other changes in their behaviour. It could be a sign of a bigger concern such as anxiety.

What can you say to encourage them? “I’m really concerned about these results. Take some time to think about what your teachers and I can do to support you and we’ll come up with a plan.”

What can you do to support them? Consider any other changes in their behaviour or attitude. Allow them to think about the support you or the school can provide and consider speaking with a psychologist if you think there may be other issues to address.

Some grades have improved but others have dropped

What can you say to encourage them? Try something like “Subject X and subject Y look good, but I’m a bit concerned about the others. Let’s discuss what we can do to turn those subjects around.”

What can you do to support them? Talk about some different strategies that could also be applied to the subjects they’re struggling with. It might mean making some adjustments to where they study at home, or finding a tutor to help in some specific areas.

If you are worried about your child’s results in their mid-year report, our specialist teachers can help identify where the problems lie and put together a personlised program to help your child build their skills in those areas. Find out more about our Educational Support program for Term 3 here.