Kia ora students and whānau,
The following information is provided to give you some certainty and clarity about what the rest of 2021 will look like at Albany Senior High School. As always, we are committed to delivering a plan that provides a balanced focus on academic achievement and student wellbeing.
We are living in complex times and once again I want to acknowledge the hard work of our team here at ASHS and the ongoing support and engagement shown by our community and young people. ASHS is committed to nurturing, inspiring and empowering our young people and I have been so proud of how we have continued to do this whilst living through a pandemic.
General guidelines
- Rolling timetable continues until Tuesday 2nd November.
- From Wednesday 3rd November teachers remain available (online) as per their timetable up until the end of Week 5 to support students as needed.
- Teachers use Wednesdays to run extra targeted support as needed.
- Teachers will organise onsite support as needed. Students work with individual teachers to organise this.
Unexpected Event Grades for external standards (UEGs)
All students will be awarded Unexpected Event Grades (UEGs) for all external NCEA standards they are entered in. This grade is not a predictive grade, it is a grade awarded based on all of the evidence the teacher has in regards to each external standard. This may include classwork, tests and any internal assessments completed to date. This grade will be published for students by the end of, Week 5, Term 4.
NCEA Exams will be running as normal this year and students are encouraged to sit their end of year exams. However, students will receive their UEG whether they attend the exam or not. Students may decide to sit the physical examinations in the hope of achieving a better grade or because they value the experience of sitting an exam. If a student does attend an exam they will receive their highest grade – their UEG or the exam grade.
At ASHS we acknowledge that we are living through a pandemic and that attending an exam may compound student anxiety. We will support each of our learners to make a decision about exams that supports both their academic plan and their wellbeing.
We intend for most students to meet their learning goals and they will be signed out for “study leave” by the end of Week 3. We will continue to run a mixture of online and face to face targeted support and workshops throughout Term 4 for those that need it.
If you have any questions regarding your young person’s academic plan and when they will most likely be signed out for “study leave” please talk to your young person and/or contact their tutor.
Signing Out Process for Study Leave 2021:
- Most students meet their learning goals and are signed out by the end of Week 3.
- The remainder of students meet their learning goals by the end of Week 5. Beyond week 5, Year 13s/school leavers who need internal standards to gain University Entrance can come in or work online with teachers to complete their final pieces of work.
Tutor teachers will indicate via an email home that their tutorial students have met their learning goal and are now signed out. This can begin to occur from Wednesday, Week 3.
Special Tutorial for school leavers
On Tuesday 9th November there will be a special Tutorial held to acknowledge and celebrate our Year 13 students and any school leavers. Their tutor will be in touch with more details next week.
2021 Prizegiving and Learning Celebrations
As we are unable to hold face to face prize giving ceremonies next week we have decided to push out our prizegiving ceremonies until Wednesday 15 December. Depending on the levels and/or traffic light situation we will aim to invite students in for an on site celebration. This will most likely be limited to student prize winners. More details will be confirmed closer to that date.
2021 Prizegiving and Learning Celebration (details TBC)
Wednesday 15th December
- 9am – Year 11 Learning Celebration
- 10am – Year 12 Learning Celebration
- 11am – Year 13 Premier Learning Celebration
2021 Sports Celebrations
Tuesday 14th December, 2pm.
We are hoping to hold this event on campus. The event itself will be outdoors in our Courtyard space. We will host all the players who will be acknowledged with an award and invitations will be sent to them directly. Unfortunately at this Covid-19 Level, we cannot have whānau on site.
It will be streamed live on the ASHS Sport FB page and all winners will be acknowledged with a post on the Sports website and social media.
Until then…
