GUIDELINES FOR WRITING REPORTS

Reviewed February 2016

Academic Reports are a means of formally communicating with parents about the progress and
achievements of students within a particular reporting period. These reports are designed specifically
for parents, but from time to time they are also likely to be read by members of the wider community,
other family members, other schools, early entry university applications, scholarship panels and future
employers. They will be seen not only as a snapshot of the student’s achievement, but also as a
reflection of St Philip’s Christian College.

The College has a responsibility to provide detailed, useful and accurate information about each
child’s achievement in each subject and activity that is reported. It tends to be the teacher’s
comment and recommendation where most problems occur with spelling, grammar, style and
consistency. It is therefore critical that teachers allow adequate time to write and check their own
comments properly which will allow others to review and proof-read their work to meet the deadline.

Parents expect to read comments that indicate each teacher knows their child, including their
particular strengths or weaknesses and that give specific advice on how they can help their child to
progress. The comments must complement the marks, ranks, grades and other indicators to build a
clear picture of the student’s achievements during the reporting period.

Using a “comment bank” or re-using the same statements for multiple students in a class (changing
little more than the names) should be avoided. This does not differentiate sufficiently between
students and demonstrates a lack of care, concern or knowledge of the child as a learner.

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Teacher comments
The College sends out two full academic reports per student per year and they are to be a
comprehensive, positive, honest and fair reflection of the situation. Comments should be addressed
to parents, not the students, although a closing statement to the student is acceptable e.g. “Well done
Antony”.

The teacher comment should complement the Performance Outcomes and Learning Profile rather
than restating or, worse, contradicting what has already been indicated elsewhere. The teacher
comment gives the opportunity to address other issues such as class work, assignment progress and
summative information is not reflected in the profile or outcomes. It is important to include an
explanation if a mark is significantly lower than anticipated.

Generally:
• Keep your sentences simple and concise.
• Use the child’s formal name as it appears at the top of the webBook page e.g. Cleopatra rather
than “Cleo”.
• A suggested outline for a comment is that the teacher:
o Offers a positive remark e.g. “Antony is a confident and diligent learner.”
then
o Makes a fair comment on progress or improvements observed.
then
o Makes reference to a submitted work as evidence e.g. “Cleopatra’s project on
keeping venomous snakes as pets was thoroughly researched and creative”.
• Avoid using statements written in the first person:
o “Antony is encouraged to…”
in preference to
o “I encourage Antony to…”
• Aim to limit the entire comment including recommendation to 850 characters (Stage 3 Core
comments may be up to 1,500 characters in length).

The following areas may be addressed in a teacher’s comment:

• The knowledge, skills and understanding that the student has demonstrated or struggled
with during the reporting period, including:
o Theoretical and practical application of knowledge and/or skills
o Grasp of terms and concepts
o Analysis and application of knowledge and skills relevant to the subject
o Research skills, oral skills and the ability to work within a group
o How well their work is set-out and oganised (neatness is minor concern)
o Depth of understanding, ability to make connections and/or creativity
• Attitude, behaviour and motivation in the subject, including:
o Whether the student has worked to their capacity
o Contributions to class discussions and activities

Recommendation:
This section of the teacher comment should be specific and succinct, providing clear advice for one
or two aspects that the student should work on next time.
• If the student has already achieved at a high level, encourage with advice to deepen or
broaden their understanding or skills even further
• Avoid making any predictions about future success
• These comments should also be directed towards the parents, e.g. “Cleopatra should aim
to…”
• Leave a line space before typing the word “Recommendation:” add a colon and begin a new
sentence on the next line.

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Teachers may wish to make a recommendation about:
• Written work
o Extra detail needed
o Reference to examples / sources
o Extra use of subject-specific terminology
o Better structure in extended responses
o A need to address each aspect of the question
• Greater precision with facts / calculations / interpretation of stimulus material / skills
• Organisation / presentation of bookwork / use of MacBook
• Completion / submission class tasks to a high-enough standard
• Wide reading around the topic

Sample teacher comment

Antony is a diligent and interested student. He asks worthwhile questions and has worked hard to
improve the quality of his written work. Antony’s business investigation report was well chosen and
addressed each of the necessary aspects of the task. He ought to look to the HSC course with
confidence, knowing that he has laid a solid foundation in this Preliminary Course.

Recommendation:
Antony should aim for greater accuracy when attempting short responses. Learning the definitions
and using regular revision time to read relevant textbook sections will also enable him to introduce
greater complexity into his extended responses.

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Statistics

All assessment marks should be entered into the relevant spreadsheets which will calculate
appropriate statistics and recommended grades.

Stage 6 – Assessment mark, Assessment Average, Assessment Grade, Place in Course.

Assessment Mark should refer to all assessment tasks completed in the course. Marks should be
entered as whole numbers out of 100 with no decimal points or percentage signs.

Trial Examination Mark (Year 12 Term 3 only) must be the Trial Exam mark and not the assessment
mark. Marks should be entered as whole numbers out of 100 with no decimal points or percentage
signs.

Assessment Average refers to the entire cohort, not just your class.

Place in Course must be a progressive rank, determined from the assessment marks and recorded
thus: “7/16”, with no recognition of an equal placing.

Assessment Grade (Year 11 only) – must relate to all tasks completed. See below

Stages 4 and 5 – Assessment mark, Year average, Assessment Grade, Quartile

Assessment Mark should refer to all assessment tasks completed in the semester. Marks should be
entered as whole numbers out of 100 with no decimal points or percentage signs.

Year Average refers to the entire cohort, not just your class.

Quartiles should be determined from the assessment marks. Rank students from highest mark to the
lowest. The strongest 25% of students will receive a Quartile 1, the next 25% will receive a Quartile
2 and so on. If there are equal marks either side of a quartile cut-off, adjust them up so that the
next quartile will be slightly smaller.
For example: with 80 students, there should be 20 students in each quartile but in the case of equal
scores at the cut-off, there may be 21 in Quartile 1, 19 in Quartile 2, 20 in each of Quartiles 3 and 4.

Assessment Grade is based on the semester’s results and should be determined by the following mark
ranges (assuming an average of close to 65%). Some flexibility is feasible but must be applied
consistently within each course:

Assessment Grade A B C D E NA
Assessment Mark % ≥85 84-70 69-50 49-35 ≤35 =0
The assessment grade should reflect the BOSTES Common Grading Scale

Achievement levels for performance outcomes - all year levels

The levels of achievement for each outcome should reflect the BOSTES Common Grading Scale
The levels are:
• Excellent (E) – understanding and application of skills
• High (H)
• Sound (So)
• Basic (B)
• Elementary (El)
• Not achieved/assessed (NA)

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As a guiding principle, teachers should apply the following scale as an indication of a student’s level of
achievement for each performance outcome. Ideally, different assessment tasks will contribute to
the different outcomes.
The level of achievement must be applied consistently to all students in a particular course. Again,
the following mark ranges are included as a guide.

This presumes an average course mark of close to 65%:

Outcome achievement E H So B El NA
Assessment Task Mark % ≥85 84-70 69-50 49-35 ≤35 =0

Responsible Learning Profile

The areas to report on are.
1. Is well organised
2. Works diligently in class activities
3. Is punctual to class
4. Displays appropriate behavior
5. Meets homework expectations

It is expected that the majority of students would receive a U or A for most categories. An S
and/or R ought to have been pre-empted by notes in the diary, conversations, demerits and/or
emails home – remember our no-surprise policy.
• Always (A)
• Usually (U)
• Sometimes (S)
• Rarely (R)

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Style Guide for writing reports
Capitals
• Capital letters are to be used for all subjects (History, Mathematics, English etc).
• Capitals are NOT NEEDED for components of subjects (measurement, writing, speaking,
reading, geographical, historical)
• Employ capitals for unit or topic names
• Capitals for Term Two and Semester One (Note also the use of words rather than numerals in
this instance).
• Capitals NOT NEEDED for general reference to examinations (“In the recent examinations
Antony...”) or semester and term (“in the second term examination...” or “during this
semester...”).
• Capitals are needed for the word College when it refers to St Philip’s Christian College.

Numbers
Numbers should be written as words up to the number twelve. ie: Year Seven, Stage Five and Term
Four

Commas
Use commas where there would be a natural pause. Do not use a comma instead of a full stop and
never use “...” in a report comment.

However (use of)

The word “however” when used in the middle of a sentence to separate two clauses should be used
with a semicolon: e.g. “Cleo is a talented student; however, her volleyball skills are below standard”.

Using “however” close to the beginning of a sentence for emphasis requires two commas: eg. “She
did, however, demonstrate remarkable dedication this semester.” Avoid very long sentences with
“however” or other conjunctions. http://goo.gl/wtb9cv

Present or Past Tense

A comment may be written in either the present or past tense but must be consistent throughout.

First Person Pronouns

Avoid the use of “I”, “we”, “my”. “Cleopatra is encouraged to…” rather than “I encourage
Cleopatra to…”
An exception is the end of the comment such as “I wish Antony well at his new school.”

Initials
The following initials are acceptable without the need for full stops:
HRIS CIS PDHPE HSIE HSC

Names
The student’s formal name (Cleopatra, not Cleo/Patti) will appear on the front of the report,
therefore this name should be used throughout your comment. The student’s common use name
may only be used at the end of report as in “Well done, Cleo!”
Where a child’s name ends in an “s”, don’t add “s” for possession, e.g. “James’ work”.

Spelling
The following words should be written as one word:
Classroom bookwork homework classwork
“Class mark” should be written as two words and “examination” should always be written in full.

Suggested Alternatives for “good”

Sound Reasonable Fine Fair Pleasing

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 Most
Sufficient Solid Suitable Adequate
satisfactory

The following words are commonly problematic and the spellings below are deemed to be the
standard SPCC spelling:
Affect (verb) Complementary (goes
MathsOnline Practice (noun)
with)
Effect (noun) Complimentary (praise) MyMathsOnline Practise (verb)
Endeavour Co-operate Focussed Specialise
Favourable Co-operative Focussing Summarise

Examination Names
Please refer to examinations (in full) using the following proper nouns. Only examinations held
during the formal examination blocks should be referred to as examinations, all others are
Assessment Tests, Topic Tests or Mid-Term Test, however each department determines.

When Who Examination name

Term 1 Year 12 Mid-Course Examination – no longer relevant
Year 11 Mid-Course Examination – no longer relevant
Term 2
Stage 5 Semester One Examination
Year 12 Trial HSC Examination
Term 3
Year 11 Course Examination
Stage 5 Semester Two Examination
Term 4
Stage 4 Semester Two Examination

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Course descriptions and performance outcomes

Course Description
Heads of Department (Subject Coordinators or Stage 3 teachers) will write these. The description is
specific to the reporting period, should align with the topics covered and the assessment tasks
completed. It may be preferable to include a list of the topics rather than adding them to each student’s
comment.

Example:
Business Studies
In the course so far, students have examined the role, processes and business strategies
associated with marketing and finance in the context of large and global businesses. Activities
have targeted the development of analytical thinking and communicating business information
in appropriate formats. The Mid-Course Examination addressed the Marketing and Finance
topics. The progressive rank listed below is based on the two internal Business Studies
assessments completed to date.

Performance Outcomes
These are based on NESA syllabus outcomes and indicate student performance as demonstrated in
the assessment tasks. There is space for up to five outcomes and may be paraphrased to combine
more than one NESA outcome or to make them more easily understood.

Example:
Performance outcomes
1. Discusses the functions and processes of business activity
2. Analyses management strategies and their effectiveness
3. Applies mathematical concepts appropriate to business situations
4. Communicates business information and issues in appropriate forms