Tutor Reports

The tutor report should demonstrate a good overall knowledge of the student and a broad understanding of their achievements throughout the semester. This report should give an indication of the involvement of the student in school life and should be individualised.

Tutors complete a report that may focus on:

• Participation in tutor group sessions
  • Participation in Shine
  • Cocurricular activities
  • Punctuality
  • Approaches to learning
  • Overall Learning progress
  • Goal setting and coaching conversations

Subject Reports

The semester summative report is a concise statement of student progress and achievement. It describes what students have achieved throughout the semester and should be clear, individualised and provide accurate information about student progress.

Short statements that are to the point are best. Try to avoid long sentences that attempt to cover multiple topics. Please ensure that you do not change tense midway through a report. The subject report should:

• Be clear
  • Be individualised and make comments specific to the student
  • Provide accurate information about student progress
  • Acknowledge growth in learning

General Rules

1. Consistency is the primary rule.
2. Do not use the first person pronoun I.

Rather than say: I want to congratulate Samantha on a fine semester’s work, say instead: Samantha is congratulated on a fine semester’s work.

• Avoid repetition (cut and paste).

When confronted with multiple classes, it can be a daunting prospect to write reports. There is no harm in having your own personal comment bank which you employ selectively. However, using the same comments for every student and changing just the name and one or two adjectives is unacceptable. Try to personalise your report as much as possible within the word limit.

• Misspelling or misusing a girl’s name

You know your students well and it is important to use the student’s correct name. The School convention is that a student’s name should conform with the name at the head of the report; if everybody calls Samantha ‘Sam’, it is still Samantha in the report if so stated at the top of the report. Misspellings are not uncommon, particularly variations on Katherine, Madeleine, Isabel, Annabel, Sara etc. Train yourself to check the name at the top of each report and do not rely solely on your personal record.

ATTENTION: Please use the name stated on Accelerus. We need to use the student’s correct legal name in a formal report.

ATTENTION: Some students prefer gender neutral pronouns (they, their) or, alternatively, masculine pronouns (he, his). This information should be available from the Year Level Coordinator.

• Do not use superlatives

These include ‘fantastic’, ‘fabulous’, ‘incredible’, ‘terrific’ and ‘tremendous’. These are perfectly good English words but are not appropriate in a student’s report. Standard adjectives such as motivated, hardworking and enthusiastic will suffice.

• Abbreviations and contractions

The convention is that all words should be spelled out in full, so use ‘examination’ and not ‘exam’, ‘quotations’ and not ‘quotes’, ‘does not’ and not ‘doesn’t’, ‘is not’ and not ‘isn’t’.

• Do NOT use short exclamations such as ‘Well done!’ or ‘All the best for Semester 2!’
• Capitalisation

One of the most confusing issues when writing reports can be when to use (or not use) a capital letter. If in doubt, opt for the lower case. Below are some of the more common conventions:

1. Term and Semester – Term 1 and Semester 2 (not Term One or Semester Two), but ‘this term’ and ‘next semester’.
   1. Upper case Year 8
   1. Use the upper case for the name of the subject/class such as Mathematics, Music and Philosophy, but lower case when referring to the general discipline:
   1. Charlotte has performed adequately in Further Mathematics this semester.
   1. However, Allison has displayed a great talent for mathematics.
   1. Also, when using adjectives such as mathematical or scientific, use the lower case.
   1. In Sport, there are multiple activities. When referring generally to an activity, use lower case: in badminton, cricket, rowing, swimming etc. However, when referring to a specific unit of work, upper case is required: Emily performed well in the Handball Unit. This applies to other subjects as well.
   1. Specific duties/roles associated with Lauriston: House Captain, Kirkhope House etc
   1. When referring to SACs write School-assessed Coursework
2. Book titles, competitions, prizes
   1. When referring to a novel or play, simply use a capital letter: In her essay on Macbeth…
   1. In competitions, use capital letters: Charlotte participated in the Australian Mathematics Competition…
   1. If a student wins a prize in an external competition, use upper case: Alouette achieved a Mention Honorable in the Berthe Mouchette Competition.
   1. Avoid using inverted commas/quotation marks (‘Macbeth’).
3. Hyphens

General rule: Avoid the hyphen as much as possible.

1. Words such as proofread, hardworking, proactive, mindset etc are single words
   1. Do NOT use the hyphen with terms such as: well prepared, well organised, self regulated, self motivated etc
   1. The double oo is to be used – cooperate, coordinate.
   1. However, terms such as in-depth, in-class test still require a hyphen.
   1. American vs English spelling

In general, the standardised Australian English should be used which tends, in current usage, to be an amalgamation of both forms. Here are some common examples:

1. Use s rather than z: organised (not organized) although this is changing
2. Use our rather than or: favour (not favor), colour (not color)
3. Program or programme – the preference is the former although both are acceptable (note: the IB uses Programme)
4. Focused and focusing (not focussed and focussing)
5. However

When ‘however’ is used to begin a sentence, it must be followed by a comma, and what appears after the comma must be a complete sentence.

E.g. However, Joanna applied herself enthusiastically in swimming.

When you are using ‘however’ to write a compound sentence, use a semi-colon (;) before and a comma (,) after ‘however’.

E.g. Sarah has demonstrated a strong capacity to grasp historical concepts; however, she still needs to broaden her knowledge through wider reading.

1. Commas and semicolons

There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to the use of commas. They are intended to help the reader understand the writer’s meaning, without having to re-read the sentence. For instance, the comma in the previous sentence could just as correctly be omitted. However, a comma cannot be used to separate two distinct clauses, or ideas, as in: ‘It has been a pleasure having Bridget in the class, she has settled in quickly.’ In this case, the comma must be replaced by a semicolon. A full stop and a new sentence would do, but this could read rather bluntly. There should be some sense of connection between the two ideas separated (or joined) by a semicolon.

1. Correct Spelling

Please do not use American Spelling. (eg: use program not programme). Some examples:

1. Use of ‘s’ rather than ‘z’ – organise, analyse, minimise, prioritise (not organize, analyze, minimize, prioritize)
2. ‘-our’ rather than ‘-or’ – behaviour, demeanour, rigour, colour (not behavior, demeanor, rigor, color)
3. Mathematics – not Math
4. Skilful not skillful