Report card changes and dealing with school stress, as students head back to the classroom
Posted Sep 3, 2014 07:11:46 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
School is back in session, and for both parents and students, that can be a major stress. However, some changes to the education system this year may make some things a bit easier to digest.
Education minister Karen Casey told News 95.7 students will now be graded with percentages and comments — something parents have been asking for.
“There certainly were a lot of concerns expressed over the last couple years about the report cards and about them being difficult for parents to understand, and were they really a true reflection of student performance,” she said.
Casey said survey results showed that parents were upset with the jargon used in the progress reports.
“The communication between the classroom teacher and the parent is absolutely critical, and it needs to be clear, it needs to be well understood, and it needs to be frequent. A report card is only one way of doing that, but this language needed to be cleaned up and put into easy-to-understand, meaningful language.”
The changes include a comments section that will be added to report cards for grades Primary to 12, as well as percentage grades added to Grades 7 and 8.
And, with report cards being just one thing that causes stress among students, clinical psychologist Christine Chambers said it’s important to keep your child calm about all things academic.
“We do know that for most kids, they can overcome their anxiety about the return to school pretty quickly,” she said. “After the first few days of school, they fall into a routine, they know what to expect and it goes away. That said, one in about 10 children will experience more significant anxiety and worry about return to school.”
She said having conversations with your children about school stress is something parents should keep in mind as students get back to the grind.
“I think in most cases, children are able to overcome their anxiety with the support of their parent, and structures in place in the school.”
