Before the Assessment
When you call to book an assessment or leave a request to call you, we will discuss with you your concerns for your child. Sometimes, we ask parents to consult another professional before coming to us, sometimes we tell parents that tuition isn’t what the child needs – most of the time, you, the parent, know what your child needs and have already done the usual rounds. Our job is to look at your child’s needs from an educational point of view.
At the Assessment
The assessment has two purposes for us. One to establish a baseline of the student’s ability and progress and the other for parents to see the centre and get to know the centre owner. It is beneficial if all parents involved with the student can attend. Parents don’t need to bring anything to the assessment. If your child has been previously assessed by a paediatrician, Speech or Occupational Therapist or Psychologist, these reports will help us understand your child but, unless you really want us to, we will look at these report(s) after we have finished our own assessment.
While the assessment is progressing, parents will be asked to sit in and observe how the assessor interacts with the student. You will be asked to share all the positive attributes of your child and then asked to share any concerns you have and why you want us to assess them. If you haven’t done one online you may be asked to fill in a questionnaire that will give us further information. We use this information to help us understand your child’s needs and to build an appropriate program, if necessary.
Parents have the opportunity to watch the assessment – that way you can see why we give the results we give.
The Tests
We use standardised tests for Spelling, Reading and Reading Comprehension. These show your child’s performance – not your child’s ability. Your child might have an outstanding ability that isn’t coming to the surface – like a child with great skills in running but who has never had training. Our tests show what your child can do at present rather than what your child might be able to do in the future.
Our reading tests, comprehension tests, spelling tests, developmental tests and cognitive tests are all standardised. We have purchased the right to use these test because we believe they are the best tests of their kind for our setting. They give your child’s results in each as a score in Years and Months of age. The tests tell us several things:
- What your child’s performance is at that point
- What skills your child is using
- What skills your child has not yet developed
Put together, this tells us what we need to teach and what we don’t need to teach.
Our Mathematics Tests have been developed by Frontrunner Learning Centres and are syllabus-based diagnostic tests. These tests are designed to find whether any parts of your child’s learning in Mathematics is not well understood. If anything is weak, we need to strengthen it.
After the Assessment
Once the assessment is finished, we will discuss your child’s results with you to get an even better understanding of your child’s needs. It is at this point that we can begin to develop an outline of a program for your child.
If you were to enrol your child, we would create the individualised program in detail, ready for the first day of tuition.
If this sounds like the kind of professionalism you would like to see in your child’s tuition CALL 1300 851 062 or click here to send us a message.