Kia ora e te whānau. Nau mai, haere mai ki tēnei pānui. Welcome to the final newsletter of Term 3.
Normally, I enjoy using these newsletters to share celebratory, positive, and upbeat updates with you. However, today I want to address what I believe to be the most significant challenge to our students’ success and well-being in recent times.
As part of our strategic planning, we work tirelessly to continuously improve student achievement. Progress in this area, even by 1 or 2%, requires immense dedication, planning, and hard work – but the results are worth it! This year, we proudly celebrated the pukumahi (hard work) of our staff and students, with our NCEA achievement rates being 17% above the national average.
This makes it all the more disheartening to face a new barrier that could result in a 10-20% reduction in NCEA achievement rates nationwide, potentially undoing decades of progress. I’m referring to the introduction of NCEA literacy and numeracy requirements. For those unfamiliar with these, students need to achieve a 20 credit co-requisite. All students will achieve these credits by passing common assessments. These are essential assessments that students must pass in order to receive their NCEA qualification.
While improving student literacy and numeracy is undeniably a worthwhile goal – one that our school has identified as crucial to helping students reach their full academic potential and a goal that our school is heavily resourcing – there is significant concern about tying these assessments to the most important qualification they will earn at school. Under this new NCEA qualification system, a student could complete numerous Level 3 assessments in their final year of high school, but still leave school without an NCEA qualification if they don’t pass the new literacy and numeracy co-requisites. This is especially concerning given the current high unemployment rates for young people. It creates a vulnerable group of students who may struggle to enter the workforce, as they could lack an NCEA Level 1, 2, or 3 certificate to show prospective employers.
I’m not sharing this just to raise a concern but to offer practical advice. This is the first part of a series aimed at providing guidance to students, their whānau, our community, and employers on how to minimise the negative impact of these changes. Today’s key message is this: students who leave school without achieving an NCEA certificate may still possess excellent qualifications. How can an employer identify whether an applicant has strong qualifications? By asking to see their Record of Achievement (ROA). You can view an example here: www.bit.ly/KHS-ROA.
Under the new NCEA qualification system, where a student hasn’t passed their co-requisites, they will not receive a NCEA qualification. However, their ROA will provide valuable insights, including:
- The number of standards they’ve achieved.
- The level of each standard.
- The number of credits each standard is worth (which indicates the time spent on the standard).
- The specific skills these standards assess, which may align with what an employer is seeking.
- Merit (M) or Excellence (E) achievements, which indicate that the standard has been passed at a higher level. Note: some standards only allow for an “Achieved” (A) grade, which is still the highest possible in those cases.
In short, both students and employers can no longer rely on a simple statement like “Yes, I have achieved NCEA Level 2.” Instead, both parties need to recognise that the standards a student passes are a more accurate measure of their hard work and the specific skills they’ve gained throughout their schooling.
Thank you for reading through this important message. I encourage you to discuss its content with anyone involved in hiring young people. Both employers and our youth deserve a fair opportunity to have their hard work recognised within this new qualification system.
As a school, we will continue to invest time, resources, and professional development to help as many of our students as possible pass their co-requisites. I am confident that our young people will rise to this challenge and work with us to overcome this new barrier.
Kia pai te rā whakata – have a great break!
Jason Reid
