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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