Parents don't understand school policy

Photo / NZ Herald

Many parents are still confused about national standards with a large number saying they haven't got a clue what they are all about or how it will affect their children's learning.

The Herald has spoken to numerous parents of primary and intermediate schools in the past week and found nearly half of them had not heard of national standards. If they had, they had little or no understanding of what they were.

Some thought they were linked to a school's decile rating or what class their children were in while others had no idea at all. Many had heard the phase but didn't really understand what it meant.

"I'm not sure what they are, just that it's being implemented in schools," said one mother waiting for her 8-year-old at Waterview primary school.

The findings follow a Nielsen survey of 545 Herald readers in February which found only 11.9 per cent of the parents fully understood national standards.

The standards were introduced this year as a way of showing where each child in years 1-8 are in reading, writing and mathematics and where they should be compared with the national standard.

Critics say while it shows where a child is, it does nothing to improve their actual level of learning.

Information has been distributed through schools and the Prime Minister sent a letter to family households about the new policy but it appears to have had little impact on many parents' understanding.

However, it would appear those who do know about national standards and understand it well mostly seem to be in favour.

Of those spoken to that do know about the standards, the majority support them, saying they believe it will give them a better understanding of their child's learning.

Views were mixed on whether they would make any change with some saying they believed learning was dependent on the child and teacher, while others believed it was already making a difference.

Niusulu Hellesoe, whose 7-year-old daughter Jane attends Tirimoana Primary in West Auckland, said she had a basic understanding of how the standards worked.

That understanding was "recently enhanced" following a parent teacher interview at her daughter's primary school.

"The teacher talked about my daughter being on track to achieve the national standard in reading by the end of the year.

"This gave me a good indication to her progress and how much more work was needed to reach this goal."

Ms Hellesoe said she supported the implementation in schools because there needed to be an "element of uniformity in education" and the standards did that.

"I believe that having the national standards as a clear measurement tool is important to parents as it will make them aware of how their child is performing at a national level and how they can better support them if they are developing below the national standard."

She has already noticed changes.

"I have certainly noticed progress in my daughter's reading ability and she appears to have increased confidence when she reads.

"As a parent I want to know that my children are achieving and if not what can I do to assist them further."

National standards:

* A national benchmark which all primary and intermediate children are expected to meet in reading, writing and maths.

* Introduced so parents and teachers have a clearer idea about how children are progressing in their learning compared with peers.

* Do not directly improve a child's learning, just acknowledge where they are compared with the national standard.

* Schools now have to report to parents twice yearly about a child's progress, including the measures they are taking to improve the student's achievement.