End of the semester

15,000 Taferlklassler received their first report card

Six-year-old Anja from Altheim was delighted with her first semester report, which did not include any grades.(Bild: Daniel Scharinger)

"No more school!" said around 115,000 Upper Austrian compulsory school pupils on Friday. Well, at least they have a week off in the form of the semester break, but before that there were the report cards and school news.

For 15,253 Taferlklassler it was a premiere, they received their very first school report. The class forum had to decide within the first nine weeks of lessons whether they would receive numerical grades or an alternative assessment. The alternative form of assessment is possible up to and including the end of the first semester of the second grade. At the end of the second grade, all report cards will contain grades from 1 to 5.

Numerical grades provide clear feedback on performance levels and offer an opportunity to compare performance.

Julian Schreibmüller, Schulqualitätsmanager

How children can reduce school pressure
This is a recurring topic of discussion. The "Krone" wanted to know from school quality manager Julian Schreibmüller why numerical grades are needed: "They provide clear feedback on the level of performance and offer a standardized way to compare performance. This can increase motivation," says the 45-year-old. Soft skills such as creativity or social skills are not reflected in them, "but that's what the supplementary differentiated performance assessment is for, which is handed out together with the annual report in grades 5 to 7 and together with the school report in grade 8," says Schreibmüller. He is also aware of the disadvantages of grades: pressure to perform, stress and exam anxiety.

"Always keep in touch with the school"
"If a child suffers from this, it is important to relieve the pressure. In addition, parents should always stay in contact with the school and report any problems to the class teacher," explains the school quality manager. The class teacher is also the first point of contact if parents or guardians disagree with the grades. Gone are the days when grades were based purely on written work. "All forms of performance assessment are taken into account, such as cooperation," says Schreibmüller.

Post-holiday grades are not recorded centrally
How many children have to spend the vacations studying is not recorded centrally. "The number of early warnings for impending inadequacy is only available at the respective school location," says the Education Directorate.