In 2023 the College made the decision to move away from a focus on NCEA Level 1 in Year 11 and instead to work develop our own Year 11 Diploma to reflect the holistic development of the students as well as better prepare students for NCEA Level 2.
In 2024 Year 11’s will work towards our St Dominic’s Catholic College Year 11 Diploma built around our 4 strategic pillars- Special Character, Culture, Achievement, Environment
Over the year, students will gain credit towards each of these pillars. The Diploma will be awarded at Achieved, Merit and Excellence levels with students who gain Excellence being recognised at our Excellence assembly at the start of the following year.
The Diploma will be awarded at the start of Year 12 which will allow the inclusion of any external assessment results.
To gain the Diploma students will need:
Achieved: 4 out of 4 pillars at least at Achieved
Merit: At least 3 out of 4 pillars at Merit or Excellence and 1 at Achieved
Excellence: At least 3 out of 4 pillars at Excellence plus 1 at Merit
Details of what is required at each level are below.
All Year 11 subjects (excluding Maths) will still offer ONE NCEA Level 1 Achievement Standard which could be external or internal. This will allow students to gain experience with NCEA assessments without an overload of assessments. Subject programmes will also include a range of other assessments aimed to prepare students for Year 12 and Level 2 NCEA.
When a student gains NCEA Level 2 they automatically gain NCEA Level 1 regardless of how many NCEA Level 1 credits they have. (In 2023 90% of Year 12’s gained Level 2 by the end of the year with typically 95-99% of Year 13’s leaving with NCEA Level 2)
