15+ aims for success

FORMER All Black captain Tana Umaga reminds Te Awamutu College students they need 15+ NCEA credits per subject to gain a Level 1 pass. 201061AD

By Dean Taylor

College students returned to school this week to find every available window plastered with posters urging them to achieve 15+.

The project is not a new Health Department initiative for better eating, or a movement to get everyone to play rugby - it is a plan for students and teachers to raise success at NCEA.

Principal Barbara Cavanagh says the management team has been working on the initiative for some time, and given the recent negative publicity about NCEA, it became very timely.

Initially the plan is to target Level 1 students, who need 80 credits to gain an NCEA pass. 15+ relates to gaining that many credits in each subject, so the total over five subjects is at least 80.

Ms Cavanagh says the school aims to make it their focus, each student is to be driven to obtain their 15+ credits in each subject. She says it is as much about reinforcing the theory to teachers as it is to students, plus it gives parents and caregivers hope and encouragement that their child is on track to succeed.

“We want to raise the expectations of students and staff,” she says.

Ms Cavanagh believes it is possible for every Level 1 student to achieve this goal. She says the plan is to use the example of success at Level 1 to drive success at Levels 2 and 3. The posters are a constant reinforcement of this major Year 11 drive. Each Year 11 class is also receiving a visit from senior management to explain the programme and the goal.

“It is about the integrity of our school,” she says. "We hope it will mean every person in our school is focused on quality teaching and quality learning.”

PUBLICITY ABOUT NCEA DISAPPOINTING

Ms Cavanagh is disappointed with the bad publicity about NCEA. She says to read what some teachers have said, particularly about schools other than their own, is very poor.

Ms Cavanagh says teachers go to a lot of trouble and a lot of extra work to ensure marking is as accurate as possible.

“Teachers often have other teachers mark for them, or certainly have their marking checked,” she says. “Then all schools are moderated through Wellington.”

Ms Cavanagh adds that internal assessment is nothing new, and that the old system of accrediting University Entrance was probably less exact than NCEA. She says the qualification to obtain a university entrance qualification takes a total of three years, includes high expectations at Level 2 English and presents a total picture of a student, what they are good at and what they have achieved.

“No one would benefit from cheating the system because they will get caught out at university if they are not adequately prepared anyway,” she says.