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Dear Parents and Caregivers
Well, we’re now at the ‘sharp end’ of the academic year, starting with our upcoming Prelim examinations. This particular event has a priority in the academic life of the College for a number of very important reasons that I’ll elaborate on in this newsletter.
The purpose of this newsletter is, along with talking about a number of other things, to talk particularly about the upcoming Prelims and highlight how this year’s examinations, and the derived grades that they provide for external standards, are very important for our students and explain why this is so.
At all times, please feel free to contact me via email with any questions that you may have about NCEA, or matters raised in this newsletter at DBV@stac.school.nz.
Kind regards
David Bevin
Head of Teaching and Learning – Secondary
At the beginning of this week, a large number of students sat one of these examinations with the results counting as the derived grade for NCEA examinations. Students will receive their results at the same time as they receive their other results in the main Prelim examinations. Along with providing feedback to students on their progress in these examinations, the Advance Prelims provided us with reassurance that students know what is expected of them in terms of examination behaviour, they know about our systems, and they understand how they should be approaching their examinations in the ‘exam room’. Things are looking good from a ‘systems perspective’ for the main Prelims happening in just two weeks!
This week for Years 11 and 12 students, and on Monday 4 September for Year 13 students, Year Group meetings are taking place where I will outline the expectations of students in the upcoming main Prelim examinations. I am hopeful that they have a clear understanding of the issues and that they particularly understand why derived grades hold a great deal of importance for them. My final point in light of this was that students really must prepare as well as they can for the Prelims and aim to do their best. This will then enable them to ‘bank’ secure derived grades that are as good as they can get and that they may possibly need to use, should they be needed, for NCEA examinations. Every year, we have a good number of students who make applications for derived grades for their NCEA externals.
Students at all levels are currently working towards completion of their internal assessment programmes by the end of the term. Some courses have already completed their assessment programmes, while others will be just a few weeks away from completion. Teachers are working towards the Thursday 21 September deadline for the completion of most internal assessment programmes and any delays in the completion must have been discussed with me. In one or two subject areas, (e.g., Physical Education for NCEA) assessment programmes are solely internal assessment-based and, as such, students in those subjects may continue to be assessed into Term 4. In the majority of subjects, though, when students sit their Prelims, they will have completed their internals and will be able to focus solely on preparing for the external standards.
In some subjects, such as Visual Arts, the external assessment is not an examination but, rather, a portfolio of work that is produced in school and then subjected to external marking and/or a marking verification process. These portfolios are usually a fairly extensive body of work produced over time and have a credit value of at least 12, if not a bit more than that. As these are external assessments, the final result for the portfolio is not confirmed until all results are provided in January of next year. The Art teachers set deadlines in October/November for completion of the portfolios, and it is extremely important that students meet the deadline. Those dates are set by NZQA and, just like an examination, there is no possibility of an extension or a late submission; students must meet the deadline for completion that is given by their teacher. A situation of sickness affecting completion is managed through the NZQA derived grade process.
Possibly a very big ‘player’ at an individual student level in the 2022 NCEA year and, so, in our upcoming Prelims.
The message is very clear that the grades that students gain in their Prelim examinations DO become very important when it comes to NCEA externals.
That is why you are asked to talk with your child about their preparation for the Prelims and about their performance, it is very possible that they will be their most important external assessments this year.
Right now, many Year 13 students (for Year 12 students, that’s in 12 months’ time) are busy preparing their CVs and making applications for tertiary Scholarships and Halls of Residence. Each application requires a student to provide their last set of completed NCEA results, namely, their NCEA Level 2 results. It’s a very competitive world and each Scholarship and Hall of Residence application is part of a contestable process. Without labouring this point, if a student made a successful derived grade application for their Level 2 examinations, with the grades coming from school examinations for which they did not prepare particularly well, the application will potentially look less ‘compelling’ - another reason for preparing well and trying to do one’s best in the school Prelim examinations.
In March of this year, I was contacted by NZQA regarding a student (Alice) whose (Chemistry Titration) Standard paper had been lost without trace by NZQA. Amongst the more than a million papers that are marked around the country, it’s not surprising that at least some examination papers will be lost, and this student’s paper was one of those. The school was asked by NZQA to provide a derived grade based on Alice’s Prelim examination paper. Fortunately, she had sat it and done well in it, and we were able to provide the grade to replace the one ‘lost’ following her examination … that was significant in what was an unfortunate and unusual situation. Papers don’t often get lost, but it does happen.
It’s appropriate to mention the academic awards that are made each year in February for students’ performance in the NCEA and Scholarship examinations. In my talks with students this week, I have reminded them of these as, again, their Prelim exam results could become our ‘reference points’ when working out those awards, depending on whether we manage to successfully run the external programme of NCEA and Scholarship examinations.
These awards are mostly for our Year 13 leavers, in most cases, although can be gained by Year 12 students who study courses either fully at a higher level or in part. The NCEA thresholds must be met by those students too to qualify for these awards.
Year 12 students will be awarded with one or more of the awards of Academic 30s, Colour, Tie, Blazer and NCEA Certificate Excellence endorsement although some may also qualify for the Level 3 Excellence and/or subject endorsement awards and New Zealand Scholarship.
Year 11 students will be awarded with one or more of the Academic 30s, Colour, Tie, Blazer and NCEA Certificate Excellence endorsement although some may also qualify for the Level 2 Excellence and/or subject endorsement awards and New Zealand Scholarship.
Firstly, a reminder about the information that we provide regarding the Prelim and NCEA examinations that is accessible through the College website, Teaching and Learning button. Take a look through the FAQs for all of the details on the running of the Prelims, issues such as lateness, absence, sickness.
Please note the following information – absence from examinations is not usually a big problem at all at St Andrew's College but this is how we manage it if it happens. We expect 100% attendance from all students.
All students must sit all of their examinations and the Deans, Heads of School and I will be very watchful about this during exam time. A case of non-attendance is very problematic and must be avoided where possible.
As per my previous comments, absence from an examination means no grade is available for a derived grade for (a) standard/s not sat.
Prelims will run from the morning of Wednesday 6 September to the end of Friday 15 September.
During the examinations, students will not be required at school other than for their examinations. Any student who has an examination must sit it – not doing so is not an option (never forgetting the derived grade!).
Students sitting subjects with external assessments that are assessed but not as examinations will have workshops that they are required to attend after Wednesday 13 September.
Due to the nature of setting an examination timetable, some students will complete their examinations earlier than Friday 15 September, however, many students may still have internal assessments to complete so they should use any ‘spare’ time to work on completing internals.
These exams include practice examinations in Scholarship subjects.
On Tuesday of this week, all students received an email from the Timetable mailbox with their confirmed personalised examination timetable. They are now very clear about when their examinations are on and where.
Early next week, students will receive from their Tutor their Prelim Examinations Information sheet which outlines all the rules and procedures that are used to ensure that the Prelims run smoothly.
It is very important that students inform themselves fully about what is happening, when and where so, for your part, please ask them just what is happening during the examination week!
Examination clashes
The shorter duration of our examinations means that we have to run multiple examinations in a session, meaning some students have two examinations on at the same time, called an examination clash. To manage such clashes, some students are required to sit one of their examinations at a time other than the set one. It does mean that those students will sit an examination after it has already been sat and we rely on students not to tell ‘clash’ students about the exam!
Special Assessment Conditions (SACs)
A number of students have had their entitlement to Special Assessment Conditions approved by NZQA. The process of application and approval was very detailed and lengthy and the time for applications has now closed. Students must use their SAC in all Prelim examinations, and it is important that they have both confirmed their entitlement with Mrs Broad and that they understand the expectations of them. They must understand that the use of SAC is very formal and must be taken seriously in all examinations.
One of the golden rules of NCEA (and of our College Prelim exams) is about student use of cell phones… the rule is very simple….they are not to be used by students at any stage during an examination – this includes if a student makes a toilet visit. If a student is caught using, or having in their possession, a cell phone they will be guilty of misconduct of the most serious kind – and the penalties for this are very serious. Sadly, in recent years, I have had to deal with this situation in examinations and the students concerned were censured in a very significant way; this included losing the results for their examination amongst other things. This rule, and the associated penalties, are made very clear to students every year and will be outlined in the student Examination Booklet. If anyone takes a different view about this particular rule, they need to be very clear about what NZQA (and we!) expect. It’s serious!
The widespread use of smart watches means that NZQA has mandated that no watches may be worn in examinations. It’s not surprising but schools are expected to enforce this rule in their school examinations and Examination Centre Managers are required to enforce it in the NCEA examinations. Clocks will therefore be provided in all examination rooms and a very large digital timer will be provided for the Gym. Students who have Special Assessment Conditions support staff will be able to ask those people for the time throughout the examination.
This year, students in a number of subjects are completing their Prelim examination/s online in preparation for doing their NCEA examination in that way in November/December.
Students who sat the Level 1/Year 11 Advance Mathematics Prelim on Monday 21 August will sit the MCAT on Tuesday 12 September.
The 91027 Algebra standard is an externally assessed standard that is sat in school and marked by teachers. This examination is a very formal assessment that students are required to attend at the time set aside in their Prelim Examinations timetable (Tuesday 12 September 9.00am–10.15am, Gym 2); non-attendance is not an option. The examination results will be submitted to NZQA as per the normal process, but students will not receive their result until they receive all of their results later in January next year. Students who do not sit the MCAT will sit their Level 1 Mathematics examination at the same time and also in Gym 2. Those students will sit just one standard.
Similar to the MCAT at all 3 NCEA levels, students studying Digital Technology have a three-hour DCAT (examination) of an external standard that they will sit in Week 1 of Term 4. They will have a practice examination during the Prelims that will provide them with the derived grade should they not be able to sit the formal DCAT early in Term 4. Mr Adams and Ms Lee have already confirmed the dates of DCAT with their students.
I encourage all parents to ‘look over their child’s shoulder’ during these examinations to provide them with that extra home-based support that they do need. You could check as per these questions following (to name just a few…)
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By Friday 1 September |
Students receive their final personalised examination timetable |
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By Friday 1 September |
Students receive from their tutor their Prelim Examinations Booklet |
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Wednesday 6 September |
Prelim examinations commence (morning and afternoon examinations) |
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Friday 15 September |
Prelim examinations conclude |
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Monday 18 – Wednesday 20 September |
Students receive back examination results and teacher feedback |
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Thursday 21 – Friday 22 September |
Academic Conferences – Tutor-Student-Parent (face-to-face meetings) Day Students (Thursday 21 September) Boarding Students (Friday 22 September) |
Students are not required to attend classes at school during the Prelims. This allows them to study for examinations (some students have quite a large number of Prelims, particularly those sitting Scholarship Prelims as well as their NCEA examinations – preparation time is essential) and teachers to mark, checkmark, discuss marking outcomes with their colleagues and analyse and prepare feedback on each student’s performance. This is done ‘at speed’ so that we are able to give each student detailed feedback before the Term 3 holidays on their performance in the Prelims that also provides feed forward for their preparation for the big NCEA examinations. This feedback is discussed and given through a student’s tutor at formally scheduled Academic Conferences at the end of this term. This is not only about a tutor giving feedback but also about the student discussing with them and their parents how they performed in the Prelims and working out what their next steps in preparation are.
The Conferences take the place of end-of-year Parent-Teacher interviews and are run by the tutor and student, in conversation with the student’s parents. They are very much about a review of the Prelim examination results and discussion of the student’s next steps in preparation for the NCEA examinations in November. Information about this event has already been provided separately by me and Assistant Head of Secondary School (Academic), Helaina Coote, to students, staff and parents to help them to understand what is expected in an effective educational conversation such as this.
Following is a reminder about the student’s NCEA Current Results Summary. It’s increasingly up to date and always accessible through your own login to the College Portal. It will tell you much about how your student is progressing and will support any inquiry that you might want to make to an individual teacher.
Using your own access to the Community Portal/Results tab, you can access your child’s NCEA results to date, including the Prelims. In Term 3, the data changes regularly as more and more assessments and assessment programmes are completed.
It shows both final results for internals, perhaps some ‘indicative’ results data for external standards and then the Prelim results at the end of this term (remember, they become in most cases the derived grade for NCEA). The Summary also provides tables showing a student's progress towards the various NCEA awards as outlined above.
Term 4 is just two weeks and one day long (10 school days) for NCEA-level students hence the ‘full-on’ nature of this term’s academic life (and the requirement for internal assessment programmes to be completed by the end of term, apart from those few subjects that are fully internally assessed). With NCEA and Scholarship examinations beginning on Monday 6 November, students will begin study leave at the end of Monday 30 October. More information will be provided about these dates in subsequent communications from the College. Please also note that we do not provide a coordinated programme of examination tutorials for NCEA-level students once they go on study leave although individual teachers may do so where that is possible.
For your convenience, these are some helpful links to click on for more information.
