National Standards

Parents want to know how well their children are doing at school - the good and the bad - and what they can do to help their education.  The government says it has a strong mandate to act on this by introducing National Standards.

At Orewa College, we have, since 2005, assessed and reported to parents against the national age norms set out in the New Zealand Curriculum.  We do this using AstTLe (Assessment tools for Learning), an assessment system developed at the University of Auckland under the guidance of Professor John Hattie.

Achievement at Year 7-10 has been reported against the national curriculum, and also within those levels we have given an indication of where students are within that level, ie Achieved / Merit / Excellence.

Parents of students in Years 7-10 receive an in-depth report four times a year.  If their children have not achieved National norms, they have received sign-posting letters as well.

All of the above will continue.  However there will be some addded information made available to parents this year for Year 7 and 8 students.  This will enable parents to have an even clearer picture of the ability of their child, and even more importantly, will enable parents at home to more specifically help their children improve their achievement.

We will continue to keep you informed.  If you wish to see further information, see the Ministry of Education website:  www.minedu.govt.nz