Saplings has an open-style communication with families, and are available to discuss student progress at any time throughout the year.  Formally, Saplings will meet with care-givers 3 times per year to go over each child’s progress in all areas of the BC Curriculum in detail. In addition to this, Sapling’s families are invited into the classroom at least once every term for a student-led tour to see for themselves just what their children have been learning.

Saplings’ goal is for students to acquire the skills and habits of mind to be self aware with increasing independence. Educators focus on explicit fostering of students’ capacity over time to be their own best assessors. Students gaining independence does not diminish the teachers responsibilities but rather extends the role to include designing instruction and assessment that allows all students to think about, and monitor, their own learning. Self-monitoring and evaluation are complex and difficult skills that do not develop quickly or spontaneously.  

In order to eventually develop the competence to make consistent and reliable interpretations of their learning, formative assessment is particularly important, as students cannot accomplish independent learning without guidance and direction from detailed and relevant feedback that encourages students to focus their attention on the task, rather than on getting the answer right. Educators provide students with ideas for adjusting, rethinking, and articulating their understanding, which will lead to another round of feedback and another extension of learning.