Deputy Principal of Achievement

Stephen Tisch, Deputy Principal

Our reports have been designed to highlight what students can currently do and indicate what their next learning steps are i.e. to make learning the focus. This is in addition to indicating how frequently we observe the desirable learning behaviours that lead to powerful learning. Hopefully there is an improvement between terms 1 and 2!

Results from completed assessments will also be included to show achievement to date. Subject teacher email addresses are in the report so you can contact teachers directly if you have subject specific questions. Senior reports were emailed on July 1st and junior reports will be emailed on July 29th.

There are two Parent-Teacher days scheduled for Term 3 - Wednesday 24th August (onsite) and Thursday 8th September (online). Instructions for booking interviews will follow the junior reports in Term 3.

This year, Ōtūmoetai College (ŌTC) is supporting the Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) to pilot the new foundational literacy and numeracy standards.

The new standards will help ensure that students have the foundational skills to support them in further studies, work, and life. These standards are scheduled to become a mandatory part of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) from 2024. Education academic Michael Johnston is a senior fellow at the New Zealand Initiative and worked on the study that first identified teens’ poor literacy and numeracy. He has said that the standards look well designed and that “the assessments look to be assessing the kinds of things that people would need to be able to do in everyday life.”

At the end of Term 2, most of our Year 10 students, along with other pilot schools, sat tests in Reading, Writing and Numeracy. We are expecting the results from NZQA near the middle of Term 3 and look forward to seeing our student achievement and then can respond accordingly. We will be able to compare these pilot results with other assessment data to help inform our teaching practice.

Thank you for your continued support during trying times.