Kia ora Parents, Caregivers and Whānau,

You will be aware that there are nationwide changes being made to NCEA, and from 2024, Year 11 students at Wellington College will undertake a new learning and assessment programme. This will focus on rich and rigorous learning to ensure they are better prepared for NCEA Level 2. Our new structure will provide students with a range of strategies and experiences in tackling assessments, and we will ensure that whānau are regularly informed about progress.

A key change to NCEA is a new way of assessing Literacy and Numeracy. These assessments will be mandatory corequisites for NCEA, which means that students will need to achieve the new standards in order to be awarded any level of their NCEA qualifications. The assessments must be completed under exam conditions.

Most Year 10 students will attempt the corequisite assessments in Term 4, 2023. The dates for assessment are 1-3 November 2023.

All Learning Areas are working to support our students in preparing for these assessments. One of the main skills being tested is a student’s ability to understand and make judgements about what they are reading. In order to support this at home, you could read news articles together and have follow up conversations that might include questions like:

– What do you think is the main point of this article?

– After reading this article, what do you think the reader wants us to think? Why do you think that?

– Do you agree with the author’s perspective here? Why / Why not?

The Ministry of Education emphasises that learners should only do the tests when they are ready, and we are in the process of identifying learners who may need additional support and time to prepare. Individual learners and families will be contacted by Assistant Principal Serena Lawrence with suggestions for targeted support, and we will continue to monitor their readiness. Many learners may achieve the corequisites in Year 10, but for other students it may be Year 11 or beyond. Students can attempt each test as many times as is needed.

If your child is working at curriculum level 5 or above, or PAT stanine 4 or above, initial data indicates that they will be ready to participate in the corequisite assessments. You can see more information about our junior assessment framework here https://www.wellington-college.school.nz/junior-assessment/. Your young person’s overall progress reports are also a useful indicator. You can view assessment results and reports in the parent portal, and there is information about reports here https://www.wellington-college.school.nz/reporting/.

If you have any questions about these assessments, please contact Serena Lawrence s.lawrence@wc.school.nz.