Canvas

Pulteney is excited to introduce Canvas, a Learning Management System (LMS), to support our secondary students, across Year 7 to Year 12 as we further our vision for high quality, personalised and continuous online feedback for students.   

Canvas is one the most innovative and adaptable platforms in the LMS landscape, providing a safe, robust, and future-proofed online environment for us to design personalised Pulteney courses, enabling students, parents and teachers to share and exchange detailed information about the teaching and learning process as it develops for each student.   

It is important for parents to note that although Canvas is now live and accessible, it is still under construction and therefore it will look different as it is applied across faculties, subjects, and year levels.  

Find more information below about how to sign up to Canvas to start this exciting new way of interacting with your child’s learning. 

Continuous reporting refers to an approach where student progress and achievement are communicated to parents and students on an ongoing basis throughout the academic year. It moves away from the traditional practice of providing report cards or progress reports at fixed intervals, such as at the end of each semester or year. 

1. Regular feedback: Teachers provide frequent feedback on student performance, both in terms of academic achievement and other areas like learner attributes and effort. This feedback can be in the form of written comments, discussions or audio files.

2. Ongoing assessment: Assessments are conducted regularly to gauge student learning and progress. These assessments can be formative (assessing learning during instruction) or summative (assessing learning at the end of a unit or project). Teachers use the results to inform instruction and provide feedback.

3. Individualised reporting: Instead of relying solely on standardised grades or marks, continuous reporting focuses on providing personalised and detailed feedback for each student. It highlights strengths, areas for improvement, and specific recommendations for further development.

4. Parent and student involvement: Continuous reporting aims to foster a partnership between teachers, parents, and students. Students are encouraged to actively engage with the feedback, ask questions, seek clarification, and participate in discussions about progress.

Our goal is to create a more dynamic and informative feedback loop to support student learning and growth. The benefits of continuous reporting are as follows:

1. Increased awareness: Parents and students have a better understanding of individual progress and can address areas needing improvement promptly.

2. Timely interventions: Teachers can identify and address learning gaps or challenges early on, providing targeted support and interventions.

3. Enhanced communication: Continuous reporting promotes ongoing communication between teachers, parents, and students, fostering a collaborative and supportive learning environment.

4. Student ownership: Regular feedback empowers students to take ownership of their learning, set goals, and track their progress over time.

5. Holistic view: Continuous reporting takes into account various aspects of a student’s development, including academic, social, and emotional growth, providing a more comprehensive picture of their overall performance.

A walkthrough of Canvas features and usability is available here: Canvas Overview for Observers  

 A walkthrough of Canvas Mobile App is available here: Canvas LMS for Parents  

You can use these two tutorials with your child in order to gain access to their learning on Canvas. The first tutorial will require you to set up a pairing code from your child’s device. Then, you can use the second tutorial to log in with your device.   

How do I generate a pairing code for an observer as a student? 

How do I sign up for a Canvas account as a parent?  

Note: Our Canvas URL to create an account is: https://pulteney.instructure.com/ 

If you wish to use the Canvas mobile app, you can follow one of the following tutorials. 

How do I create an account in the Canvas Parent app on my Android device? 

How do I create an account in the Canvas Parent app on my iOS device? 

Following a successful trial, the current school reports will be phased out to take advantage of what we believe to be the significant benefits of continuous and targeted real–time reporting. Face-to-face learning conferences will continue to be held across the school each semester. 

The current communication channels will be maintained, and parents are invited to contact class teachers and tutors directly via email or by phone to discuss any matter relating to their child’s academic or pastoral needs.  

Direct messaging via the parent app is the least efficient way to contact a teacher due to its core purpose being that it is a learning platform for students. 

The mobile app is useful to view upcoming deadlines on the calendar, notifications, tasks, and grade results.  

The website provides greater functionality and access to teacher feedback on the tasks and learning.  

A new user has access to the same content as the student they are observing. Teachers are always building and learning to develop their practice, so courses grow in sophistication as teachers develop new skills and techniques.   

Logging in to Canvas: 
If you are having problems logging in to Canvas after following the steps in “How do I sign up for Canvas?”, then you can try resetting your password.

If this does not work, you can contact Pulteney eServices by email support@pulteney.sa.edu.au or phone (08) 8216 5555.  

Learning Canvas: 
Canvas provides a rich set of tutorials on their website: Observer Guide  

If you have further questions, contact learningdesign@pulteney.sa.edu.au