Reporting

This weekend is a busy one with not only social commitments but also it's the last weekend before the class reports are due to be ready for the Principal's perusal on Monday 3pm. Reporting has changed so much in the years I've been teaching. (I started in 1971!) We used to have a card that was Ed Dept issue and we handwrote them. Then schools started designing their own... and we handwrote them. At one school where I was teaching they had 'whiteout' that was coloured blue to match the card colour; so if you made a mistake you didn't have to write out a whole new report card.

The next innovation in reporting was completing reports using computers. Most of the early 'computer' reports that I had to use were created using 'Word' and the formatting was woeful, but still we soldiered on. I know of one male teacher who refused to do them this way and was given permission by 'admin' to handwrite them. I had discovered the wonders of 'cut and paste' and 'auto' something so actually preferred the computer reports. Then 'people' developed computer report templates with inbuilt, drop-down menu, comments...speeded up things tremendously!

The next stage in reports happened a few years ago. Reports are done on-line, through Ed Qld's site, 'One School'. Formatting is great and it's easy to navigate but if something happens to your internet connection (Like what happened to me yesterday) you are in trouble. Sometimes problems occur such as 'out-ages' (?) or the system gets really slow or as in the case for me with the reporting this time, the program freezes.

The Administrator at school controls access to these reports. At 3pm on Monday the site will be locked for class teachers; you won't be able to change or enter details. This way they catch who ever has not finished the reports by the correct time. People with a higher clearance than the class teachers can then access and check and change if necessary the reports...usually the Principal and head of Curriculum.
But I've kept the best till last...This is the last lot of reports I'll have to do!!!! I don't think I'll miss testing, piles of resultant marking, collating results and filling in reports and parent interviews in my own time! Roll on retirement!!!