Mid- School English (Years 8/9/10)
Having reached the mid-point of Term 1, both mid-school classes have completed their work on the Parts of Speech Unit and are now preparing to write a Letter of Complaint, a Letter Requesting Information and an E-mail of Gratitude as part of the Write Personal Formal Correspondence Unit. If the students’ work meets the standard (US10792), I will retain the best pieces of work and look to put them forward for credit next year, when this year’s Year 10’s are working towards their credits in English at NCEA Level 1. There are 3 credits attached to this Unit Standard.
Level Two English
This class is aiming to complete one of the two pieces of writing required to complete the Level Two Writing Standard (6 credits) by Monday 3rd April (second to last Monday of term, week 9) as well as completing 3 out of 6 Reading Responses required to complete the Responses to Independently Read Texts (4 credits).
While this may mean that students’ credits may not show up on the School Management System (Kamar) until Term 2, it is hoped that students will work with a sense of urgency in order to achieve 10 credits in English at Level 2 (as well as University Entrance Literacy) towards the end of Term 2.
Level Three English
This class is aiming to complete the work for the Level Three Oral Presentation standard (3 credits) by Monday 3rd April. Students are required to either give a ‘traditional’ speech or a Power Point Presentation on an area in which they have special knowledge or expertise or a presentation on their own lives (‘A Life Less Ordinary’) in front of at least some of their classmates as an audience. These Oral Presentations will be filmed so that NZQA has visual evidence to confirm that students have met this Standard.
Finally…
Parents and Caregivers can help students in these classes to achieve their goals by helping them adhere to the deadlines set out above, and by monitoring ‘where each student is at’ in respect of each standard. Students and Whanau should feel free to ring me at school or come and see me at school for clarification as to what is required to meet each of the standards mentioned above.
Bevan Watson
T-in-C of English