School Certificate
Transcript: SCHOOL CERTIFICATE The cancellation of the School Certificate How it will affect students Positives and negatives Assessment versus examination Opinions from others Problems Solutions to the problems LITERATURE REVIEW Response from David Lewis, School Education Director and NEGATIVES (cc) photo by Metro Centric on Flickr Students will not have a practice examination before their HSC. It hopes to decrease the number of students leaving school before completing their HSC. School Certificate test paper. 49% think cancelling the School Certificate was a good idea and 51% think it wasn't a good idea. Students who have nothing to work towards may not work to the best of their ability. The added stress of doing an examination will be taken off students. Students in Year 10 will continue learning the curriculum rather then studying for the School Certificate. THE END Assessment or examination, which do students prefer? 60% prefer to do in class assessments rather then doing state-based examinations. Out of the 72 students surveyed: 5 were age 12, 31 age 13, 18 were 14 years old, 1 was age 15, 7 were 16 year old, and 10 age 17. - TOPIC: School Certificate, was it a good idea to abolish it, and how this will affect students. - WHY: I will be going into Year 10 next year and would have been sitting the SC exam, want to know how it might affect me. - SOURCES: On the NSW Board of Studies site I found two sources that relate to my topic. One was a media release by the Minister for Education, Adrian Piccoli. The second was a “NSW Record of School Achievement” document. May be bias as they said that cancelling the School Certificate was a great idea, only because it was their decision to abolish it. - Third was an article in the Sydney Morning Herald titled “NSW axed outdated School Certificate”. 17 had done their School Certificate and 55 have not. To get other students I created a survey which allowed them to give their opinion on the topic. (cc) photo by jimmyharris on Flickr Possible Solutions (cc) photo by Franco Folini on Flickr Opinions The out of date School Certificate will be replaced with modern ways of assessing children. Question 1- Were you satisfied with the decision to cancel the School Certificate? Answer- Yes, I believe it is outdated for the 21st century, and employers are saying the same thing to the NSW government. Question 2- Do you think it will affect students in a positive or negative way? Answer- Positive, it brings NSW in line with many other countries. It sends important messages to those who may invest in NSW for jobs, what sort of educational standards our society sets, and how we give students different pathways to demonstrate compotence. Question 3- Which do you think is more successful, assessment or examination? Answer- My life experience tells me assessment. I believe kid's your age should be planning their own learning, and self evaluations of their own performance. Was It A Good Idea To Cancel The School Certificate, And How Will It Affect Students? In this presentation we will be looking at the following: Results There were 32 males and 40 females. I have created a survey which was handed out for some students to complete. If you look at the posters that have been given out will see the following results to the survey: Results 64% say the School Certificate has or will help them in the future. The remaining 36% believe it won't help them in the future. BY SAVANNAH REALI POSITIVES After getting the survey results I found that 60% of students would rather do in-class assessments rather then state-based examinations. The main reasons students gave for this was: - There is less pressure. - Receive help and feedback. - Know exactly what is in the test. - Easier to organise. The reasons students gave for preferring state-based examinations were: - Everyone does the same exam. - You are compared to everyone in the state. - Tend to try harder. The Replacement of the School Certificate aims to: - Introduce a new state based examination that meets modern educational standards. - In 2014 when the "Australian National Curriculum" for English, History, Mathematics, and Science is put in place in NSW, a national teaching and reporting standard should be provided. - Assessment based record of achievement for students that also highlight their extra-curricular activities. Out of these three possible solutions, I think that the third is the best. It will highlight the individual as a whole and show all of their achievements, rather then just their educational achievements. The Board Of Studies will save huge amounts of money on setting, printing, distributing and marking the exam. The NSW Education Minister, Adrian Piccoli announced on Thursday, 4th August that the Year 10 School Certificate will not continue after 2011. (cc) photo by Metro Centric on Flickr After the cancellation of the School Certificate. - Be a cumulative, periodically updated record of achievement issued to those who leave school