St John’s College NCEA – Securing
Success 26 August 2014
• ‘Preparing Young Men for Life’
Shane Tong – Principal Dominic Tester – Deputy Principal
• ‘Preparing Young Men for Life’
PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
An overview
What is it?
• NCEA is the national qualification for senior secondary students in NZ
• It is NOT what students are taught – that is the curriculum
• It is only about measuring what has been learned
• It is ONLY about ASSESSMENT
• The approach to assessment is different to what occurred last century
• The focus is on measuring learning, not ranking students
• Students are measured against preset standards, rather than the achievement of other students
• Results describe what a student can do, not where they fit into a ranked list of ‘marks’
How is NCEA assessed?
It is a combination of:
• External Achievement Standards
• Internal Achievement Standards
• Unit Standards (generally limited to vocational subjects eg Hospitality)
• With Achievement Standards you can reach Achieved, Achieved with Merit or Achievement with Excellence
• With Unit Standards you either get Achieved or Not Achieved
• Each standard is worth a certain number of credits. When you achieve a standard, these credits count towards your NCEA
What is a standard?
A standard is a description of what a student can do
• “Solve right-angled triangle problems”
• “Read, study and show understanding of extended written text(s)”
• “Prepare and present hot finger food in the hospitality industry”
• “Describe the market and market equilibrium”
How many credits are available?
• Depending on the combination of standards offered, most L1 courses are between 18 – 24 credits
• A student studying six L1 subjects can potentially gain 120 – 130 credits
NCEA Level 1
• 80 Credits at Level 1 or higher
Including
• 10 credits from identified numeracy standards (in Maths but also some standards in Science, Physics, Chemistry, Geography)
• 10 credits from literacy standards (in almost all subjects)
Course (Subject) Endorsement
• 14 credits at Merit or Excellence in ONE course in ONE year
• 3 credits must be from internally assessed standards
• 3 credits must be from externally assessed standards (except for PE/RE)
Certificate Endorsements
• Excellence endorsement requires 50 Excellence credits at that level or above
• Merit endorsement requires 50 Excellence or Merit credits at that level or above
• Credits can accumulate and do not have to be earned in the same year
Keeping Track of Results
• Each students is given a personal National Student Number (NSN)
• They can then log on to the NZQA website and view their Record of Achievement
• Internal assessment results are submitted electronically from the school to NZQA
Record of Achievement Results should be checked regularly to make sure they have been
entered correctly
To gain a Level 2 Certificate
• 80 credits
• 60 from Level 2, and 20 from any other level
• No literacy or numeracy requirements
• English is a compulsory subject
To gain a Level 3 Certificate
• 80 credits
• 60 credits at Level 3, 20 from any other level
• No compulsory subjects
University Entrance
• NCEA Level 3 (60 L3 credits)
• 14 credits in EACH of three approved subjects
• 10 numeracy credits (as for NCEA L1)
• 10 literacy credits at L2 or higher including: – 5 for Reading and
– 5 for Writing
This will be the minimum to get University Entrance BUT
• Many university courses require a lot more than just L3
• Merit and Excellence endorsements are used to select students for places in both courses and in Halls of Residence
2013 University of Canterbury Undergraduate Entrance Scholarship – NCEA
NCEA Level 2 Endorsement
NCEA Level 3 Endorsement
Cash Scholarship Amount
Excellence Excellence $3000
Excellence Merit $2000
Excellence Achieved $2000
Merit Excellence $2000
Merit Merit $1000
Merit Achieved $1000
Achieved Excellence $2000
Achieved Merit $1000
What is Scholarship?
• A range of stand alone exams that can be taken at the end of the Level 3 year
• An award, not a qualification. It does not generate credits for NCEA certificates
• Scholarship candidates are selected by the school
PART TWO
YOUR SON’S BRAIN
PART THREE
WHAT STUDENT’S ARE SAYING ABOUT THEIR LEARNING
What boys like least about parents’ approach to their studies
• Nagging • Interrupting my studies • Comparing me to others • Making me do chores • Getting angry with me • Not being satisfied with a grade I am proud of • Making me answer questions when I ask them for
answers • Not monitoring me • Too much pressure
STUDENT SURVEY – What are the main barriers to your academic goals?
• Distractions –Computers, TV, phones, friends, social life and siblings
• Concentration • Motivation • Time and organisation • Procrastination • Specific skills, spelling etc. • Self-discipline • Perseverance • Stress • Lack of understanding
PART FOUR MOTIVATION
Achievement And Goals
Pleasure
Ego
People Pleasing
Peers
Inertia Other
SUGGESTED STEPS…
• Identify your son’s drivers
• Pleasure from the achievement goal
– High achievers – raise the bar
– Underachievers - competence
• •Reasonable goals
• •Lessen focus on other goals
MOTIVATION – PRACTICAL STEPS
• Remember that all students want to do well
• Excite your son by the notion of possibility and range of opportunities
• Talk about careers so that the present is linked with the future
• Offer incentives to motivate short term changes in behaviour
PART FIVE
SUGGESTED STEPS…
• Don’t make assumptions about organisation skills
• Teach your son what it means to be organised
• Demand that time gets spent on work
• A little time is better than nothing
• Routines work well for many students
• The 30-minute programme
ORGANISATION – PRACTICAL STEPS
• Chart when assessments are
• Part of organisation is being aware of goals
• Does your son know what you expect of him?
• Develop systems
• Let your son earn his right to independently manage his studies based on his results
PART SIX
STUDY BEHAVIOURS AND HABITS
THE BIG SIX…
• Self-discipline
• The ability to delay gratification
• Avoiding or managing distractions
• Overcoming procrastination
• Persistence
• Resilience
PART SEVEN
SKILLS AND STRATEGIES
VISUAL LEARNERS SHOULD…
• Arrange their notes in different ways
• Redraw pages from memory
• Convert notes into their own style diagrams and mind-maps
• Practise recalling pictures
• Practise turning pictures into words
• Use Flashcards
AUDITORY LEARNERS SHOULD…
• Create summary podcasts and listen to them
• Ask others to ‘hear’ your understanding of a topic
• Read your summarised notes aloud
• Explain your notes to another ‘aural’ person
• Spend time in quiet places recalling ideas
• Practice writing answers to past paper questions
KINESTHETIC LEARNERS SHOULD…
• Remember the "real" things that happened
• Use case studies and applications to help with principles and abstract concepts
• Use pictures and photographs that illustrate an idea
• Recall experiments, field trips...
• Write practice answers, paragraphs...
• Role-play the exam situation in your own room
STRATEGIES – PRACTICAL STEPS
• Find out the learning style of your son – Good online survey on school website
• Discuss the implications of your son’s learning style with him. What different learning activities can your son explore?
• Make sure that work is ACTIVE and NOT PASSIVE
HABITS OF THE MIND – PRACTICAL STEPS
• Inventory of your son’s habits and behaviours
• Focus on the habit not the task
• Discuss habits with your son
• Speak ‘learnish’ in your home
• Monitor and reward improvements in habits
• Gentle, relentless pressure
• Routines
WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US?
4 WEEKS OF TERM 3
REMAINING
3 WEEKS UNTIL SENIOR
ASSESSMENT WEEK
9 WEEKS UNTIL EXTERNALS
START FRI 7 NOV
CONCLUSION
LEAST USEFUL
• Interrupting my studies
• Making me do chores
• Getting angry with me
• Nagging
• Making me answer questions when I ask them for answers
• Not monitoring me
• Too much pressure
MOST USEFUL
• Support, encouragement, positivity • Practical help and guidance • Leaving me to study • Keeping me on task • Reviewing, editing my work • Taking an interest in my studies • Providing resources (Including food!) • Knowing when my internals/externals are • Setting goals • Trusting the way I study
Want to know more? Visit the NZQA website www.nzqa.govt.nz and select ‘students’ under
‘information for…’
The NZQA website has info on:
• Understanding NCEA
• Exam timetable
• Records of Achievement
• All standards
• Samples of internal assessments
• Past external exam papers and assessment schedules
• Ordering certificates & results documents
Any Questions?
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