Tributes to Pope who 'crossed all the boundaries'
Members of the Catholic community in the south of England have been paying tribute to Pope Francis, who has died aged 88.
The Vatican's announcement of his death came just a day after he appeared in a wheelchair at St Peter's Square to wish thousands of worshipers gathered there a "Happy Easter".
"He was a person who crossed all the boundaries," said Canon Paul Fitzpatrick, of The Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Henley.
While Francis Davis, a Catholic author from Portsmouth and community activist who works across the Solent and Wessex region, said meeting Pope Francis at The Vatican had been an "overwhelming" experience.
Canon Fitzpatrick said more people than usual attended his service on Sunday, where there was "a subdued feeling and sadness".
"Pope Francis had done so much, not just for Catholics but for the world," he added.
Mr Davis said he told the Pope he had been working to protect vulnerable elders locally, when he met him.
"He said, 'Defend the poor', which is quite a mandate really.
"This is a man who set an example with his own life and devoted that life to defending the poor, spending time with the weakest and trying to find a way to include them in the decision-making structures of the church."
Writing on X, he said: "Go well @Pontifex. Thank you for walking the margins towards the centre."
The Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth, the Right Reverend Philip Egan described the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church as "a very human Pope" who had "called us to put our Christian faith into action".
"He has also championed the marginalised, the poor, the invisible... working for a more fraternal world and for peace," he continued.
"His role internationally is a very, very important one and there's been a wonderful legacy."
You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
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A 2018 study using Toronto District School Board data found that students with identical scores on standardized math tests may have different evaluations of their learning skills — differences that correlated with race and gender. Educators often discuss skill expectations with students, and in some cases, have them evaluate their strengths and weaknesses so, as Jane says, they 'take ownership for some of it.' Joanne Sallay, president of tutoring company Teachers on Call , notes that when students struggle, it's often not the curriculum — it's motivation: 'It's handing in work on time — organization, planning skills and how to study effectively. These are really important for the future of work — skills that as adults determine our success.' It's perhaps why on report cards, learning skills are given prime position. That doesn't stop students and parents from skipping over them to check out subject grades. 'We are hardwired to do that,' says Christopher DeLuca, a Queen's University professor of educational assessment . 'And yet, if we understand learning a little bit more deeply, we understand that how we learn impacts what we learn.' DeLuca adds that of all the skills measured on the report card, strong self-regulation is the most critical. The province's Growing Success policy states that all parents should receive 'standard, clear, detailed and straightforward information' about their child's progress based on the Ontario curriculum. That may explain why teacher comments can sound like they've been lifted from a jargon-filled curriculum manual — sometimes they are. 'It's hard when you have 30 students to write an authentic communication of each student's learning,' says Toronto public elementary teacher Andrew Delost. 'Sometimes it's going to sound robotic because a teacher might just be copying and pasting.' Delost recently developed Curricumate , an AI-based assistant to support Ontario educators as they navigate through 'pain points,' including writing report cards. Filling out a report card can take 20 minutes to four hours per student, plus months of tracking grades and recording observations. While professional development days are dedicated to the task, the work usually spills into evenings and weekends. Curricumate, which has 4,000 users, integrates the Ontario curriculum so teachers can select relevant comments and personalize them while maintaining student confidentiality. Teachers have relied on some form of comment banks for decades — whether self-made, shared by colleagues or provided by school boards. More recently, many have turned to tools like ChatGPT. Still, most agree: AI can support feedback, but it shouldn't replace it. Direct communication with parents, they say, remains the most effective way to support student growth. Even as generalized and vague as report comments might seem, clues lie within. 'Qualifiers are so important because that's going to give you a little hint,' says Simone. For example, if a comment on a science unit notes that 'Angela understands plants with a high degree of effectiveness,' she's at a Level 4; if with a considerable degree, she's at Level 3. (Level 2 would use some and limited for Level 1.) Simone says teachers rely on qualifiers particularly when measuring learning skills: If a teacher was to say, 'Sally usually listens well to lesson,' usually means she's not doing it all the time, that she could be chatty, says Simone. 'So even though it doesn't sound like there's an issue, the qualifier lets you know there might be one.' Growing Success advises teachers, when writing anecdotal comments, to 'focus on what students have learned, describe significant strengths, and identify next steps for improvement.' This asset-based reporting emphasizes positive attributes. 'It strengthens and bolsters student confidence,' says DeLuca. But some teachers call it a disservice. 'Only telling students what they're doing well gives them a false impression about what their strengths and weaknesses are, and unfortunately that can catch up to them,' says Bradshaw. 'I can understand how that might be frustrating for parents because we are essentially asking them to read between the lines.' Comments are limited by strict word counts, giving teachers little space to focus on more than one key message. This is especially challenging in math and language, where recent curriculum changes eliminated separate grades for individual strands. Instead of seeing distinct marks for oral communication, writing, reading and media literacy, for example, parents now get just one overall language grade. Check the attendance field. Teachers say missed classes and lateness are often overlooked by parents who may be unaware of their child's habits. Absences can explain why achievements are below expectations. Yes, but not easily. How failing grades are reported varies by board. (One board, for example, will round up a 46 per cent to 50 for a pass.) Up to Grade 8, a decision to hold back a child is made in consultation with parents; in high school, students who receive below 50 may repeat materials related only to expectations not achieved. But a failing mark should not come as a surprise to students or parents. 'Failures are used very judiciously, for a reason,' says DeLuca, 'A failure academically is not just about holding a student from progressing to the next grade, it has social consequences for life and career progression.' Assessment is important, says Bradshaw, but it shouldn't be the only priority. 'When we hyper-focus on marks and evaluations, it gives the impression that day-to-day learning doesn't matter.' Progress reports offer an early opportunity to flag concerns without assigning grades, but they come with their own challenges — especially since they come so early that some teachers, particularly itinerant ones, may have seen a student only a handful of times. More effort typically goes into the first provincial report card when there's still time for students to respond to feedback. Final report cards feel high-stakes, but by June, they should contain no surprises. That said, Sallay emphasizes even these reports should include clear next steps. 'I know that it seems final, but a report card shouldn't define your future success,' she says. 'Look at the recommendations and work on them; it doesn't mean you need to give up. 'It's the end of June, but next year is a whole new year.'
