NCEA Assessments

Many young men will have been busy over the last few weeks as a number of deadlines for the submission of internal assessment work have fallen.  A reminder that our Weekly Update newsletter contains a list of the upcoming assessments each week sot hat parents can assist their sons with their organisation.

School Examinations

School examinations for NCEA Levels One, Two and Three and Scholarship take place towards the end of term three, Monday, September 10 to Friday, September 17.  While these are still some way off, it is important that young men are prepared and working towards them.  The school examinations will provide your son with feedback on his current level of performance as well as helping him to identify what he needs to work on prior to the NCEA external examinations in term 4.  The grades your son achieves in the school examinations would form the basis of any application for a derived grade should he be unwell or there be some form of family emergency or bereavement that prevents hi8m from sitting an external examination.

Scholarship Examinations

We encourage all young men studying NCEA Level Three subjects to consider sitting scholarship assessments. NZQA explain that “New Zealand Scholarship provides recognition and monetary reward for the highest achieving secondary school students. Scholarship is assessed against demanding standards to challenge the most capable students in each subject area. Scholarship candidates are expected to demonstrate high-level critical thinking, and to integrate, synthesise and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas to complex situations.”

Scholarship requires a significant extra commitment in terms of revision and examination preparation. Many departments will run additional tutorials to assist with this. However, for some young men the extra time required may be an impediment to their success at NCEA Level Three and in gaining University Entrance. For this reason, we encourage all young men contemplating enrolling in Scholarship to discuss this with their parents and teachers so that an informed decision is made. 

 Entries for Scholarship examinations will be taken early in term three.  There is no cost for domestic students to sit Scholarship assessments. However, any International students interested in Scholarship examinations must see Mr. Retemeyer as soon as possible.

Attendance at School

Earlier this year we shared information that shows the clear link between regular school attendance and achievement in NCEA assessments.  We appreciate that there are a range of legitimate reasons for students to be absent from school.  However, it is imperative that your son is present at school on every opportunity that he possibly can be - one or two days do make a difference in terms oft he number of NCEA credits achieved and this effect is cumulative i.e. lower attendance rates in the junior years will negatively impact achievement the chances of your son gaining NCEA qualifications.

Click here for more information about the link between attendance and achievement.