Kia ora e te whānau

As we quickly head towards the middle of Term Three, option choices for 2025 are being considered and planned for, whilst Year 12 and 13 students are balancing completing their internal assessments and preparing for the Derived Grade Examinations in the last week of term. Our Year 11 students who missed out on achieving either the Reading, Writing or Numeracy CAA assessments have another opportunity to sit these again during Week eight. On top of this, the winter sports season is heading towards its conclusion with finals having been played in the last couple of weeks. Following this, there is Winter Tournament Week in Week Seven and AIMS Games for our Year 8 girls basketball team. We thank coach Donna Wilkins for organising this special opportunity for our team to get them all the way up to Tauranga. We also congratulate Donna on her recent appointment as the new Head Coach of the Tactix!

When it comes to option choices, this can be daunting for both students and parents, especially those who are new to NCEA. We appreciate that understanding how NCEA ‘works’ can be a challenge. Understanding how credits are gained, what the difference is between an internal and an external achievement standard, how standards are marked with either Excellence, Merit, Achieved or Not Achieved, and how important matters like authenticity are managed, may be some of the questions you have.

This year there have been multiple and various changes to curriculum and assessment. At St Peter’s College we no longer offer NCEA Level 1 with the key focus in Year 11 being a broadening of their learning across some exciting new semester courses and achieving the Reading, Writing and Numeracy CAA’s which are now a co-requisite to be awarded any level of NCEA, whilst changes to standards at NCEA Level 2 and 3 have been extended until 2028 and 2029.

For students who are working towards NCEA in 2024, below is a diagram that illustrates what is required to be awarded at each level of NCEA:

When students come to choose their subjects for 2025, it is important that their choices are not driven by assessments and associated credits. For students to be successful in their learning they must engage with the subject and its content and, to do so successfully, relate it to their level of interest and enjoyment. If students are struggling to choose subjects, it is best to select a broad range in order to keep their options open in the coming years. For example, whilst Mathematics in Year 12/Level 2 is optional, in light of recent changes to teacher training entry requirements in which applicants must have achieved Level 2 Mathematics, we strongly encourage students to be vigilant and make sure they are making informed decisions.

If your child or you have any questions and require advice and guidance in choosing options, please do not hesitate to contact their Dean, or our Careers Adviser, Mrs Anne Perniskie. On Wednesday we had a fantastic presentation from Jesse and Chelsea from SIT on the Trades and Vocational Pathways for students looking at leaving school soon, and more information can also be sourced through our Careers Adviser.

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Please come along to our movie night at St James Theatre next Thursday the 29th August to support the PTFA's fundraising efforts!