Assessment Policies

Authenticity

How will the school ensure that student work is their own? Whose responsibility is it to make sure that authenticity issues are addressed?

All Faculties will provide a standard cover sheet which the student must sign and hand in with each out of class assignment. In signing this sheet the student is declaring that the work contained in the assignment is his own work and that anyone else’s work used in the course of the assignment has been properly sourced and referenced. Plagiarism will be treated as seriously as cheating in an exam and will be dealt with accordingly.

Late Work & Missed Assessment

What will happen when work is not completed on the due date? How will the school determine if excuses are legitimate? Who will decide on extensions?

All students are expected to complete all assessment work and hand it in to the Academic Student Centre before 9.00am on the due date unless he has a legitimate reason. Art students may be required to hand their work in directly to the Art office. Legitimate reasons include a family bereavement, representing the College at a major sports or cultural event, or illness. A student must produce a medical certificate if, because of illness, he is absent for an assessment, or is absent on the date an assessment is due and consequently fails to hand it in on time.

In all cases of legitimate absence a student may be awarded an achievement standard provided there is sufficient evidence* to indicate that the student would have gained this standard. Such evidence includes, but is not restricted to, class test marks, formative assessments, & results from practicals.

Where there is insufficient evidence the student will be given one opportunity to be reassessed in the standard missed.

*Note: the concept of sufficient evidence means that the student has had the opportunity to accumulate such evidence. Therefore a student who has been in class prior to assessment but has completed no work and was then away for the assessment would receive not achieved.

Any student who was absent for the assessment, or did not hand in an assessment on time, without a legitimate reason would receive a not achieved and would NOT have the opportunity to be reassessed in the standard missed.

Any student absent from school on a deadline day must make every effort to get the work into the Academic Student Centre by 9.00am. This may mean asking family or friends to bring the work in. Alternatively it can be faxed or couriered. If this is not possible then the student’s teacher must be notified by phone, fax or email. Without this communication to the teacher the work will not be marked.

Reassessment

When will reassessment opportunities be given? Who will decide on this?

A student who has sat an internal assessment and received a "not achieved" would, where practicable and at the discretion of the Hof, be given opportunities to be reassessed. Course outline information issued by each department is to clearly state how further assessment opportunities are manged.

Appeals

Any student is entitled to appeal any grade allocated to any assessment if he feels it has been marked incorrectly and/or unfairly. He may also appeal any decision made with regard to any other NCEA assessment policy.

The appeal in the first instance must be made to the students’ classroom teacher within two school days of receiving the assessed script. If however the student feels that the outcome of the appeal is unjust, he may then take it to the Head of the Faculty concerned. If he is still unsatisfied with the outcome he can appeal to the Director of Curriculum and if he is still unsatisfied he can appeal to the principal. Note that the Dean is not part of the appeal process. Students are able to approach NZQA if they are not happy with the school’s decision.