Attendance and belt testing?

[northstar]

New to the board here guys. New school owner looking for some info in regards to attendance. Does your school have a specified amount of days that if you miss you do not get to test? And do you have a make up policy, so if someone has missed too many days they have the option to make those classes up? Thanks for any and all info. May have some issue in the not so distant future that I would like to get resolved quickly.

[Nidan Melbourne]

First of welcome to the forums and we are happy to have you.

My dojo you have an attendance card that tracks your lessons, as such each students tests every 6 lessons unless they had a grading error where they test for that area after 12 instead of 6.

We say you must attend a minimum of 30 lessons and have passed all in-rank tests (5 tests per kyu grade). 5 tests = every 6 lessons = 30 lessons

As we don't see the point in saying you must attend every class to be eligible to test. because that would interfere with students lives outside of class.

If you would like I can email you an example of what I mean ? if so just pm me your email address

[sensei8]

Welcome to KF, northstar; glad that you're here!!

All students of the SKKA have to be invited to any Testing Cycle; no exceptions.

So, no, we've no make-up days and the like because if one's invited to any Testing Cycle, which are held once per quarter and annually, then they've obviously not missed any days. If they've not received an invitation to any Testing Cycle, then missing days, might be part of the reason for not being invited, but the missing days parameter is at the very bottom of the list of qualifying factors, if at all, to be invited in the first place.

[Nidan Melbourne]

Welcome to KF, northstar; glad that you're here!!

All students of the SKKA have to be invited to any Testing Cycle; no exceptions.

So, no, we've no make-up days and the like because if one's invited to any Testing Cycle, which are held once per quarter and annually, then they've obviously not missed any days. If they've not received an invitation to any Testing Cycle, then missing days, might be part of the reason for not being invited, but the missing days parameter is at the very bottom of the list of qualifying factors, if at all, to be invited in the first place.

Do any of your students react poorly when they haven't been invited to the testing cycle?

Or is it well explained to the student + Parent (if student is under 18) when they enroll?

[sensei8]

Welcome to KF, northstar; glad that you're here!!

All students of the SKKA have to be invited to any Testing Cycle; no exceptions.

So, no, we've no make-up days and the like because if one's invited to any Testing Cycle, which are held once per quarter and annually, then they've obviously not missed any days. If they've not received an invitation to any Testing Cycle, then missing days, might be part of the reason for not being invited, but the missing days parameter is at the very bottom of the list of qualifying factors, if at all, to be invited in the first place.

Do any of your students react poorly when they haven't been invited to the testing cycle?

Or is it well explained to the student + Parent (if student is under 18) when they enroll?

Poorly? No! Every student has had this explained to them quite clearly!! Therefore, there are no misconceptions and/or misunderstandings about that at all.

[JR 137]

The dojo I attend (Seido Juku) has a minimum number of classes to be eligible. They work out to approximately 3-6 months for kyu ranks if they attend regularly. Black belt takes around 5 years on average.

Regardless of if the student has enough classes or not, the chief instructor decides if and when the student tests. The policy is students are allowed to ask to test; the teacher will inform them when they're ready to test. Students rarely fail a test; if the teacher isn't fully convinced they've earned the rank, then they don't test.

Kyu ranks are tested in-house by our chief instructor. Dan testing is done at our honbu by Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura.

Kids and parents get tricky about promoting. You have to lay the rules and expectations out very clearly. If you make an exception, be prepared for others to expect it for their kid too, justly or most often unjustly. Everyone's kid is the best, hardest working, and most respectful one in class. And they'll all be scared for life if their friends promote and they don't.

Make the expectations to promote clear and why they're not promoting clear when applicable, and it should take care of a lot of problems. It's your dojo, you set the rules, not your "customers." If you let them tell you when their kids are ready, you'll have a circus.

[Nidan Melbourne]

Welcome to KF, northstar; glad that you're here!!

All students of the SKKA have to be invited to any Testing Cycle; no exceptions.

So, no, we've no make-up days and the like because if one's invited to any Testing Cycle, which are held once per quarter and annually, then they've obviously not missed any days. If they've not received an invitation to any Testing Cycle, then missing days, might be part of the reason for not being invited, but the missing days parameter is at the very bottom of the list of qualifying factors, if at all, to be invited in the first place.

Do any of your students react poorly when they haven't been invited to the testing cycle?

Or is it well explained to the student + Parent (if student is under 18) when they enroll?

Poorly? No! Every student has had this explained to them quite clearly!! Therefore, there are no misconceptions and/or misunderstandings about that at all.

Thankyou for the clarification. That is good there are no poor reactions

[JR 137]

I think one of the best things a teacher can do is give a syllabus which tells what the student is responsible for for each rank, including minimum number of classes attended (and what type of classes, if applicable). If it's in writing, it's far easier to point to than to say "remember when I told you..."

[DWx]

Welcome to the forums northstar what style do you teach?

I think one of the best things a teacher can do is give a syllabus which tells what the student is responsible for for each rank, including minimum number of classes attended (and what type of classes, if applicable). If it's in writing, it's far easier to point to than to say "remember when I told you..."

This is an important point. Whether you have a minimum number of lessons or not, it is only fair for the students to have this criteria properly laid out in an accessible place so that both students (parents) and instructors are on the same page.

I would also say that if you are going to stipulate a minimum attendance, that you also make a point of recording this properly in the form of sign-in sheets or a register of some sort and not rely solely on memory.

[sensei8]

Welcome to KF, northstar; glad that you're here!!

All students of the SKKA have to be invited to any Testing Cycle; no exceptions.

So, no, we've no make-up days and the like because if one's invited to any Testing Cycle, which are held once per quarter and annually, then they've obviously not missed any days. If they've not received an invitation to any Testing Cycle, then missing days, might be part of the reason for not being invited, but the missing days parameter is at the very bottom of the list of qualifying factors, if at all, to be invited in the first place.

Do any of your students react poorly when they haven't been invited to the testing cycle?

Or is it well explained to the student + Parent (if student is under 18) when they enroll?

Poorly? No! Every student has had this explained to them quite clearly!! Therefore, there are no misconceptions and/or misunderstandings about that at all.

Thankyou for the clarification. That is good there are no poor reactions

None of our Student Body is under any preconceived notions that they'll receive ANYTHING, because nothing is guaranteed, nor is anything given to them: Earn everything!!