Kestrel

Part 3. Modules

3.7 Assessment and reports

Version 1.0 ·Updated 2026-10-07

Next reviewed by 2027-04-07.

Written for a school's staff learning how Kestrel works, the trainers who teach them, and the families using the portal.

Markbooks and tasks, results, school reports and their publication, subject selection, transcripts, VET enrolments and the results a board or a previous system published.

Written forTeacherHead of house or yearPrincipal and executiveRegistrarBusiness managerITFamiliesStudents

What it is for

Assessment is where a teacher sets the tasks for a class, records each student's result and writes feedback. The results roll up into averages, and at the end of a reporting period each student's report is written, signed off and sent home. The same module runs subject selection for senior years, keeps each student's academic transcript and records the VET qualifications students are enrolled in.

A teacher marks from the Assessment area of the console, and reads a student's results and reports on the student's own page, in the "Assessment", "Estimated marks", "Transcript", "VET enrolments" and "Reports" sections. A family reads released results and published reports in the portal.

Who uses it

RoleWhat it starts out able to doCapabilities
TeacherRead and mark the markbook, set tasks and write report comments and grades.assessment.markbook.read, assessment.markbook.write, assessment.report.write
Head of houseRead the markbook.assessment.markbook.read
PrincipalRead the markbook, review the tasks set in a department and amend estimated marks, publish reports and run subject selection.assessment.markbook.read, assessment.markbook.review, assessment.report.publish, assessment.selection.write
RegistrarRead and import academic history, run subject selection, keep VET enrolments and enter external exam candidates.assessment.transcript.read, assessment.transcript.write, assessment.selection.write, assessment.vet.write, assessment.entries.write
Business manager and ITSet the reporting periods, templates, marking scales and outcomes, and load results a board published.assessment.config.write

Key ideas

Markbook
A class's tasks and the result of each student on each one, with the averages they imply. A teacher can override a calculated average with a reason.
Task
A piece of assessment set for a class, with a due date, a weight, how it is marked and the curriculum outcomes it assesses. A task can count toward the school report or a board submission.
Release
A result stays with staff until the teacher releases it. Once released, the student and the family read it in the portal.
Reporting period
A span the school reports on, with the day its reports go home. Each period has a report for each student, made of sections written by teachers.
Sign-off
The step where the written reports are checked and released. The principal publishes a period's reports, and can republish one that has been corrected.
Estimated marks
A continuing student's estimated mark for next year in a subject. A head of department can amend one, giving a reason.
Subject selection
A round in which students choose subjects for next year from the ones offered, within the least and most a round allows.

Screens

  • Markbooks

    /app/assessment

    The classes on the timetable this year, each with its markbook.

    Needs assessment.markbook.read

  • A class's markbook

    /app/assessment/classes/[id]

    A class's tasks and each student's result on each one, with the averages. A teacher records results and feedback here.

    Needs assessment.markbook.read

  • A task

    /app/assessment/tasks/[id]

    One task: its details, the results against it, and who has not been marked.

    Needs assessment.markbook.read

  • Department tasks

    /app/assessment/departments

    The tasks set in the departments you head, and who set each one. Results are not shown.

    Needs assessment.markbook.review

  • Estimated marks

    /app/assessment/estimates

    Each continuing student's estimated mark for next year in your departments' subjects, which you can amend with a reason.

    Needs assessment.markbook.review

  • Reporting

    /app/assessment/reporting

    The school's reporting periods and where each stands.

    Needs assessment.report.write

  • A reporting period

    /app/assessment/reporting/[id]

    One period: the sections you still have to write, what is outstanding across the school, the reports and, for the principal, opening and publishing.

    Needs assessment.report.write

  • A report

    /app/assessment/reports/[id]

    One student's report: its sections, what has happened on it and the publications sent home.

    Needs assessment.report.write

  • Subject selection

    /app/assessment/selection

    The rounds of subject selection, open and closed.

    Needs assessment.selection.write

  • A selection round

    /app/assessment/selection/[id]

    One round: the subjects offered, the choices students have made and what each subject was asked for.

    Needs assessment.selection.write

  • Transcript

    /app/assessment/transcripts/[id]

    A student's or a former student's academic history across all the years the school has.

    Needs assessment.transcript.read

  • VET enrolments

    /app/assessment/vet

    The VET qualifications students are enrolled in with a registered training organisation.

    Needs assessment.vet.write

  • Exam entries

    /app/assessment/entries

    An English school's candidates for an awarding body's entry codes, and the entries file it sends the body.

    Needs assessment.entries.write

A teacher also sees a "Marking and comments owed" panel on the home page, which lists the tasks with students still unmarked and the report comments still to write.

Setting a task and marking it

  1. Open Assessment and choose the class. The "Markbooks" screen lists the classes on the timetable.
  2. Set a task: name it, say when it is due, how it is marked, its weight and the outcomes it assesses.
  3. Record each student's result. Add feedback where it helps the student.
  4. Release the results when you are ready for students and families to read them.

A result entered wrongly is corrected, and the correction is on the record. To override a calculated average, you give a reason. A teacher can attach a work sample to a result, which a student reads once the result is released.

Writing and publishing reports

A reporting period is set up in Settings with its dates and the day reports go home. The principal opens the period's reports with "Open the reports". Each report is then made of sections, one for each subject and one for the whole report, and the teacher who owns a section writes its comment and grade with "Write this section" and "Save the section".

The period's page lists your sections still to write and, for those who may see it, what is outstanding across the school, with what is overdue. A section can be returned to the teacher with a note. The principal starts the sign-off for a report with "Start the sign-off" and publishes the period's reports when the day comes. A published report that was wrong is taken back with "Take the report back" and republished once corrected. Each publication is listed on the report.

Subject selection, transcripts and VET

A subject selection round has a window, the subjects it offers and a least and most each student may choose. Students choose from the portal, and a student can send their choices until the round closes. The Subject selection screen shows the choices made and what each subject was asked for. A family reads the round and the choices sent for their child.

The registrar imports academic history from a previous system and reads a transcript across all the years the school has. On a student's page, the "Transcript" section shows it.

The VET enrolments screen lists the qualifications students are enrolled in with an RTO, with the units and how the RTO reports each one. A registrar adds, amends or removes an enrolment.

At a school in England, the Exam entries screen enters a class's members for an awarding body's entry code and exports the entries file the body takes. The officer uploads the file to the body and then marks it sent, which gives the next file the next number in the academic year.

What families and students read

In the portal, a family reads a Results section for each child, which shows released results with feedback, the outcomes assessed and progress against them, and a Reports section, which shows each published report. Reports still being written do not appear. A student reads the same once the school switches the section on for students. Subject selection shows the current round and the choices sent.

Tasks

Journeys

Settings

The school's reporting is configured by a role with assessment.config.write, usually the business manager or IT. Results a board or a previous system published are loaded through Data imports.

  • Assessment

    /app/settings/assessment

    Reporting periods, report templates, marking scales and curriculum outcomes.

    Needs assessment.config.write

  • Board courses

    /app/settings/board-courses

    The senior classes this year and the board course each follows.

    Needs assessment.config.write

  • External results

    /app/imports/external-results

    Load the HSC, IB or ATAR results a board published before the school moved to Kestrel.

    Needs assessment.transcript.write

  • NAPLAN results

    /app/imports/naplan-results

    Load NAPLAN results onto the records of the students in them.

    Needs assessment.transcript.write

Training notes

  • Teachers need setting a task, marking and writing a report section, about 30 minutes, practised on the baseline school.
  • The principal needs opening, signing off and publishing a period's reports, and the department review screens, about 20 minutes.
  • Registrars need subject selection, transcripts and VET enrolments, about 20 minutes.
  • Administrators need the Assessment settings before the first reporting period opens.