All Year 13 students study 5 subjects.

See the subject presentation HERE

Year 13 ākonga are invited to accept responsibilities in many aspects of school life. Their contribution to social, sporting and cultural activities at school strongly affects school climate. The student who becomes involved with her peers and the junior students should find their final year at school a very satisfying one. Increasingly, there is the need for evidence of 'community service' in scholarship applications. After school jobs or any job that is during the week for more than a few hours limits learning and other opportunities.

Examinations and Qualifications

Most Year 13 ākonga enter NCEA Level 3 in five subjects with the intention of gaining the University Entrance qualification. Some Year 13 ākonga study at two levels, taking some NCEA Level 3 subjects and some NCEA Level 2 subjects. They are aiming to improve their credits or they are fulfilling a career pre-requisite.

Individual course counselling is available to all ākonga. Staff who offer advice include Ako kaiako, Year 12 kaiako, the subject contact teacher, the Careers Adviser and Mrs Bailey. There is information about the requirements of some tertiary courses in this booklet which needs to be considered carefully when making secondary course choices.

When it is uneconomic for the school to have a class in a subject it may be possible to enrol students at Te Kura, Correspondence School, e.g. in recent years Year 13 students have studied NCEA Level 3 Japanese by correspondence. Girls who undertake this method of study need to have a strong interest and/or to have displayed a particular aptitude in the subject. Mrs Bailey is responsible for liaison with Te Kura, the Correspondence School and the supervision of Correspondence School students. The approval of the Head of Level and Dean, in conjunction with the Te Kura liaison teacher, is required before any application is made to the Correspondence School. Students should discuss this matter with the teacher-in-charge of Year 13 courses, Mrs Bailey.

NCEA Level 3

NCEA Level 3 will operate in a similar way to Level 1 and 2 in all subjects. There will be a mixture of internal Achievement Standards (assessed during the year) and external Achievement Standards (assessed in an examination at the end of the year). Some subjects will offer Unit Standards.

Criteria for a Level 3 National Certificate

Minimum of 80 credits, with 60 of these at Level 3 or above.

20 credits can be carried forward from Level 2.

There are no literacy or numeracy requirements for this qualification.

New Zealand Scholarship

Students have the opportunity to enter for New Zealand Scholarship. Scholarship Awards recognise excellence for secondary school students.

Scholarship will enable students to be assessed against challenging standards, and will be demanding for the most able students in each subject. Scholarship students will be expected to demonstrate high-level critical thinking, abstraction and generalisation, and to integrate, synthesise and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas to complex situations, well beyond those expected at NCEA Level 3.

Scholarship is a monetary award to recognise the top students in New Zealand and support them in their tertiary studies. It does not attract credits nor contribute towards a qualification. However if a student gains a scholarship, this will appear on her Record of Achievement.

In order to receive a monetary award, a student must be either a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident, and enrolled in tertiary study in New Zealand in the years they receive monetary awards.

The Scholarship Awards are Single Subject Awards, Top Subject Scholar Award, Scholarship Award, Outstanding Scholar Award and Premier Award. Details of the awards will be available in the Scholarship Handbook.

University Entrance Standard

The minimum a person is required to obtain for entrance to a university in New Zealand is shown below:

NB: It is still possible to gain entry to University from Year 12 (Level 2) - by applying for discretionary entrance. At least 80 credits in NCEA Level 2 are required plus literacy and numeracy for University Entrance.

Seek advice from Mrs Thatcher or Mrs Bailey if you are not sure whether your course will allow you to gain University Entrance.

Virtually all NZ universities have introduced entry criteria above the minimum stated.