The parents of St. David Catholic School flooded the school during a recent student led conference and showcase portfolio morning. The staff prepared a quiet area in the school for parents and students to conference about student success using student showcase portfolios, but was flooded with so many parents, grandparents, neighbours and even babysitters that they had to empty 3 other classrooms and use these spaces for additional conference areas. The school staff was delighted with the unexpected family turnout, but did have to make some quick adjustments for sheer numbers.

“Student led conferencing is when you have students conduct formal conferences with their parents or guests to display their school work as well as discuss their learning, educational goals and strategies for meeting those goals. Student led conferencing puts students at the heart of the process so that they have the opportunity to tell the story of their own achievement and successes. These conferences offer an authentic outside audience necessary for portfolios to be serious, real world tasks and they bring parents into the assessment process”, explained school literacy coach, Jennifer Gran. Dawn Wemigwans, school principal stated, “We most definitely plan to do this again. It was a great success for our school. Our students and their parents were visibly proud of each other and of course we were too.”