To ensure fairness to students and to make sure accurate data is recorded, the following regulations will apply:

a) ASSESSMENT STATEMENT – COURSE OUTLINE

At the beginning of the year each department will give the student a statement which includes information on:

• course content

• assessment – type (internal/external, test/assignment etc) – timing (when the assessment will occur)

• Referencing and Citation

b) AUTHENTICITY OF STUDENT WORK

1.         A number of practices will be in place to check that the student is submitting his own work. These may include:

• requiring all rough notes and plans to be included in the final presentation

• check points during the task

• writing the final report under test conditions

• a teacher interview to review work

• teacher use of the ‘turn it in’ function in Teams Assignments

• Use of AI content detector

2.         A signed authenticity statement may be required at the completion of the task.

c) ASSESSMENT MISCONDUCT and ASSESSMENT BREACHES

1.         Any student found to have made an assessment breach, or whose work is found to be not authentic, will be given a Not Achieved for that standard.

2.         Students that aid assessment breaches by supplying information to other students about an assessment are considered to be equally culpable and will receive a Not Achieved grade.

3.         The writing or drawing of anything inappropriate or offensive on the material submitted for marking will be treated as misconduct and consequences may result.

4.         The HOD will handle any investigation and decisions relevant to the misconduct. The Principal’s Nominee will be informed and make any final decision if necessary.

5.         A letter will be sent to the parents of the students involved outlining the incident and detailing the action taken. Copies will be held by the HOD and Principal’s Nominee. A copy will also be placed in the student’s file.

6.         Students have the right to appeal against the assessment breach, this is handled by the Assistant Principal in charge of Assessment.

Other consequences for misconduct in internal assessment or practice external assessments may involve:

• Removal from the assessment

• No further assessment opportunity for that standard.

• Noting the misbehaviour on the students personal file record

If a student is removed from an Internal Assessment for misbehaviour the incident will be reported to the

Principal’s Nominee and an investigation will be conducted. It is likely the outcome of such an investigation will be that no grade is awarded for that standard.

d) ATTENDANCE AT ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

1.       Formal assessment activities take precedence over all other activities including non urgent appointments (eg medical, dental, physiotherapy, driving tests, etc).

2.       Permission to be absent from an assessment can only be given by the Headmaster or Assistant Principal Pastoral. This must be arranged well in advance of the assessment activity.

3.       If a student is unavoidably absent from an assessment due to illness or injury the parent/guardian must ring the school on the day of absence, a medical certificate may be required by the dean upon returning to school.

4.       In the case of illness the school should be notified on the morning of the assessment that the student will be absent.

5.       If a student is unavoidably absent from an assessment due to personal reasons he must provide a letter of explanation for the consideration of the appropriate Dean immediately upon returning to school.

6.       Students who miss an assessment opportunity without a valid reason will be given a Not Achieved.

7.       When a student is legitimately absent from the assessment of a standard one opportunity to complete the task will be provided where practicable.

Note:    Evidence of illness or trauma or impaired performance must be gathered at the time of its occurrence.

Note:    These requirements apply for both Internal Assessments and practice tests/assessments for Externally Assessed standards on which Derived Grades will be based.

e) ASSIGNMENTS

Assignments (or projects) are outlined in the course statement for each subject.

1.       Assignments not handed in by the due date will be given a Not Achieved.

2.       Absence on the due date.

If a student is absent on the due date he should arrange to have the assignment delivered to school or should post the assignment to the school on that day.

3.       Extension of time

A student may be given a time extension provided the following pre conditions are met:

• The student must discuss the situation with his HOD/teacher on or before the due date.

• The student must submit all partially completed work at the time of the discussion.

• The work is submitted by the stated, written, extension date.

Factors which may be taken into consideration in granting a time extension include:

• Absence from school due to illness prior to the due date (a medical certificate may be required).

• Absence from school approved by the Headmaster or Assistant Principal Pastoral.

4.       Exceptional circumstances

If a student is unable to meet a due date because of exceptional circumstances (eg family bereavement), the HOD/teacher will arrange a special extension of time.

f) FURTHER ASSESSMENT OPPORTUNITIES

1.    A maximum of one further opportunity for assessment of a standard can be provided within the school year where manageable.

It is not compulsory for a further assessment opportunity to be offered.

2.    It is probable further instruction will occur prior to the further assessment opportunity.

Eligibility for a further opportunity

3.    If a further opportunity for assessment is offered it must be made available to all students entered for that standard, regardless of their performance in the first opportunity.

4.    All students must be able to:

• use the further opportunity to improve their original grade

• access the further opportunity, if they wish, including those who did not complete the original assessment for an acceptable reason, as determined by the school's policy on missed and late assessment.

5.    Students are not entitled to a further assessment opportunity where they have chosen, for unacceptable reasons, not to take the first opportunity.

Results of a further opportunity

6.    Students must be awarded the highest grade they have achieved over both opportunities:

• If a student does not achieve the standard on the first attempt, they must have access to any grade from Not Achieved to Excellence on their second attempt.

• If a student achieves a lower grade on the second attempt, the higher grade achieved on the first attempt is the result that must be reported to NZQA.
  

Manageability of a further opportunity

7.    It is the school's decision whether a further opportunity will be offered for any standard. If it is not manageable to offer a further opportunity, then students should be advised from the outset that there is only one opportunity to be assessed against that standard.

Conditions of assessment during further opportunities

8.    Conditions of assessment during a further opportunity must be consistent with those for the first opportunity. Inability to provide the same conditions for the second opportunity would be a reason to make only one opportunity available in the year.

g) RESUBMISSION

1.    A resubmission is limited to specific aspects of the assessment and no more than one resubmission should be provided per assessment opportunity.

2.    A resubmission can be offered after either the first or the second assessment opportunity or after both.

3.    A resubmission may be offered when students have made mistakes which they should be capable of discovering and correcting on their own. Where this is not possible, a further assessment opportunity may be more appropriate.

4.    A resubmission is only possible for students currently with a Not Achieved grade who are close to an Achieved grade.

5.    A resubmission must take place before the teacher gives any feedback to the whole class (or any student) on the work done. If more teaching has occurred after the first assessment opportunity, resubmission is not possible.

6.    Advice to students prior to a resubmission must be general and not compromise the authenticity of the student's work and responses. No specific content related information can be given.

7.    A resubmission must not compromise the assessment and must be completed under secure conditions.

8.    A resubmission must take place in a timely fashion.

9.    A resubmission does not constitute a further opportunity for assessment because it does not involve a new assessment being done, following further teaching and learning.

h) APPEALS

1.       Students have a right to appeal marking decisions when tasks are returned, the link below requires you to save a copy to your device, complete and submit to the relevant HOD.

Appeal template.docx

2.       Students must initiate any appeal within 2 days of receiving a piece of marked work.

3.       The staff to approach will be (in order), class teacher, HOD, Principals Nominee. In some situations it may be appropriate to approach the relevant Dean.

4.       Work written in pencil (unless approved at the time of the assessment) or with “white out”

corrections are ineligible for appeal.

5.       It is the student’s responsibility to collect marked work if they were absent on the day the work was returned to the class.

6.       The Principal’s Nominee will make any final decisions.

i) ACCEPTANCE OF FINAL INTERNALLY ASSESSED MARKS

Students will be given the opportunity to check the grades that have been entered into the NCEA grades database, for Internal Assessments at several times during the year.

j) WITHDRAWALS FROM STANDARDS

Students will only be withdrawn from a standard if they make an application to do so and the application is approved. This must be prior to the start of the assessment process for the standard.

Students must not be withdrawn as a consequence of getting a Not Achieved grade. Once a student has entered the assessment process he will not be withdrawn.

K) ASSEMENT CONDITIONS

Assessment conditions will vary depending on the nature of the assessment task.

For an assessment of a formal examination type the following must apply:

• Student bags must be left at the front or near the entrance of the examination room.

• Writing and drawing implements must be in a clear container such as a plastic bag.

• Cell phones:

• must be turned off and left in the student’s school bag or given to the supervisor

• are not to be used as a calculator, language translator or dictionary. Unauthorised use of a cell phone will be treated as exam misconduct.

• Candidates must not take any extra paper or written material into the room unless authorised.

• Candidates must not communicate with each other in any way.

• Candidates are not allowed to share equipment such as pens or calculators.

l) DERIVED GRADES FOR EXTERNALLY ASSESSED AWARDS

If a student feels his performance during an NCEA external examination is impaired due to illness or other reasons he will be able to apply to NZQA, through the school, for Derived Grades. Derived Grades applications are for individual standards.

Work the student has submitted during the year, which is specific to the individual standards, will be used to determine the Derived Grade submitted to NZQA. Students need to be mindful of this and ensure they do as well as possible, in work associated with externally assessed standards, during the year.

Students need to complete a Derived Grade Application form which can be obtained from the

Principal’s Nominee, Student Services or downloaded from the NZQA website. Application forms must be returned to the Principal’s Nominee, the Bursar or the school office by the due date.

Nic Hill

Headmaster