Although there's not much news to skating tests procedures at this point, we thought it never harms to get a little bit updated on what's going on in the Skate Canada-regulations for figure skating tests. So here we go:

1) LOW TESTS:

All low tests are evaluated by the skater's coach during regular skating sessions. Therefore, it's worth asking your child regularly (e. g. once a month), if they did any tests and if they are "hiding" a little test sheet in their pocket or backpack (those are good to collect for them at home). No worries if you miss anything: we are in the know and responsible for filing and archiving your child's test results (provided to us by the coaches) in our club files as well as for submitting them to Skate Canada, where they are being archived as well. In this context, and since Skate Canada Officials are as human and busy volunteers as we are, mistakes can happen. Therefore, we like to recommend that you check your child's Skate Canada Record regularly to make sure, that their record  is correct and up-to-date (how to do that? - please see below, paragraph #3). You will be notified about a new invoice for the test fee by an email from our Registrar (Skate Canada Test Fee is  $ 12,- for each low test).

Low tests include:

• Freeskate Tests: STAR1 Freeskate, STAR 2-5 Freeskate Elements, STAR 2-5 Freskate Programs
• Ice Dance Tests: STAR 1 Ice Dance, STAR 2a - 5a Ice Dances, STAR 2b - 5b Ice Dances
• Skills Tests: STAR 1 - 5 Skating Skills.

2) HIGH TESTS

High tests are evaluated by certified Skate Canada-Evaluators on scheduled test days that are organized by your club's test chairs in collaboration with the Section Test Coordinator, the rink-staff and the coaches. Your child's coach will let you both know if the skater is going to be tested on one of the upcoming high-test days. Please make sure that upon that info, you check your child's availability asap (for example: are there any school activities/holidays etc. scheduled at the high-test-day-date, that your child doesn't want to miss?) and let the coach know asap if your child can attend the test day or not.

If your child has been selected by their coach to test on a high test day and you confirmed their availability, you will be notified about a new invoice for the test fee by an email from our Registrar (test fees vary depending on the high-test day being "in-club" (= Springbank and Cochrane) or "out-of-club" (= any other club in Calgary or during a competition).

High tests include:

• all Freeskate-, Ice Dance- and Skills Tests including the Senior Bronze Level an up.

3) HOW TO CHECK ON MY CHILD'S SKATE CANADA RECORD?

As being our kids' / skaters' advocates, we should take the responsibility to make sure that all their hard work and corresponding achievements are being recorded correctly with Skate Canada.

As your skaters take tests, all the results are electronically submitted to Skate Canada by the test chair and subsequently processed by Skate Canada and recorded in the skater's electronic skate Canada file - retries and passes.  A skater's test record can be accessed via her/his Skate Canada number (which -  if you don't have it handy -  can be found on your skater's account on our Springbank -FSC website).

Parents and skaters, please note: it is your responsibility to regularly check your skater's test records, not the test chairs', your coach's or the club's. 

To do this:

1. Log in to the Skate Canada site with your skater's SC number.  If you haven't logged in before you may need to request an invitation code - just please follow the links.  The site is:  https://members.skatecanada.ca/login/

Usually, you'll receive an invitation code by email from Skate Canada within 1 or 2 days, with which you'll be able to create a new member's account. Just follow the instructions given on the page.

2. Once created the account/logged in, click on "my profile" (worth checking info!), and then "my achievements".  That is the test record. Note that CanSkate stages are tracked through our club and will not appear under "my achievements". 

3. Once you're on the "my achievements"-site, 

- you can click on "achievement date" to sort them chronologically if you wish

but much more important:

-  check if the result ("pass" or "retry") matches the result that your skater brought home on paper

AND

- then click on each test's name itself to get to the "achievement detail" and check if the result under "operational status" matches the result under "achievements".

If you find any discrepancies in the display of your skater's test results or have any questions about this email, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Thank you and have a wonderful pre-Christmas season!

Sincerely,

-  Marcy Johnson & Gesche Tallen 

gesche.tallen@charite.de

(SFSC Assistant Test- &  Test Chair)

"Friends for future" (water color & gold leaf on paper  by G. Tallen)