Westlake Boys’ High School Thrives Two Years After Dropping NCEA Level 1
Auckland, NZ – As the New Zealand government deliberates the future of the NCEA Level 1 qualification, Westlake Boys’ High School on Auckland’s North Shore stands by its decision to discontinue the program two years ago, reporting overwhelmingly positive outcomes.
The school replaced NCEA Level 1 with its own bespoke program, “Elevate.” Headmaster paul Fordham explained to Morning Report that the move was driven by a desire to retain students for longer periods and enhance thier engagement with learning.”We had situations where students were studying NCEA level 1 and when they left for their external examinations, only had one or two exams to sit across a three-or four-week period, which meant they were missing out on an opportunity to engage with their learning,” Fordham stated.
While acknowledging it’s still early days, Fordham indicated that initial feedback from teachers and families has been highly encouraging. He noted positive signs regarding student readiness for NCEA Level 2 and 3, suggesting the Elevate program is effectively equipping students for subsequent academic stages.
Fordham believes that while some changes are necessary for the NCEA qualification, a complete overhaul is not required. He highlighted the strengths of NCEA, notably its broad curriculum that allows students to develop a diverse range of skills. Though, he also pointed to concerns regarding the consistency and rigor of internal marking, advocating for a worldwide standard across the country. “It’s about consistency and having a universal standard for the whole country,” he emphasized. Fordham suggested that increasing the weighting of external examinations would be a beneficial change.He also proposed that examining the practices of top-performing schools could offer valuable insights for improving the qualification.
Education Minister Erica Stanford confirmed that an announcement regarding NCEA is imminent,following a report from the Education Review Office on the previous government’s implementation of NCEA Level 1. “As we do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past and we certainly know we need good implementation time frames, good professional learning development and great resources,” Stanford stated. “We are very focused on making sure that those things happen.”
