Albany Senior High School/Coursebook/1ENG

What is this course about?
This course focuses on building upon the skills you have learnt in junior English and further develops your productive and receptive language skills to prepare you for NCEA assessment.

What will I learn?

 * How to write confidently in a range of styles to express your ideas.
 * How to explore and articulate your ideas verbally through speeches, presentations and debates.
 * How to closely read and analyse static and moving visual texts.
 * How to use processes and structures to understand and respond to surface level and deeper ideas within texts.
 * Why and how to use accurate and appropriate language in a range of situations and for different audiences.

What sorts of things will I do?

 * Read a range of written, visual and oral texts such as novels, short stories, articles, poetry, films, and static images.
 * Write, speak, and create visual texts to express your own ideas.
 * Analyse and examine perspectives and ideas in texts and demonstrate your understanding of these through creating your own texts.

What standards are available?
'''Below is a list of all the available standards at Level 1. The standards that are in bold are part of the core Level 1 English course. Students may have the opportunity to complete any of the other standards as part of their personalised learning programme.'''

Course Outline for 2014

Students can reinforce their learning by...

 * Things you can do to reinforce your learning in this subject

What are some of the text options in this course?
Novel/Drama:


 * The Hunger Games
 * Looking for Alibrandi
 * The Boy in Striped Pyjamas
 * To Kill a Mockingbird
 * The Help

Film


 * Gattaca
 * The Matrix
 * The Black Balloon
 * The Truman Show
 * Remember the Titans

Albany Senior High School English Department Assessment Policy:
Submitting Internal Assessments

It is important that you take note of the due dates for your internal assessments. All internal assessments must be submitted on or prior to the due date, unless prior approval has been granted for special circumstances (refer to the 'What To Do If' section below or talk to your teacher about this). Assessments that are submitted after the due date, without prior approval, will receive a Not Achieved.

Conditions for Assessment

Standards such as creative and formal writing and media and oral presentations are only able to be worked on in class. This is to ensure authenticity – that all work that you submit is your own. It is important that you understand the conditions of assessment for these standards and that you direct any questions about when and how you're able to work on them to your teacher.

Authenticity

All work submitted for achievement or unit standards must be your own. It is your responsibility to:


 * Keep all drafts and working documents and hand them in to your teacher if required.
 * Keep a record of all resources that you use including hand written plans and web sites.
 * Acknowledge the source of all material in your assessement.
 * Ensure your information is accurate.
 * Be prepared to discuss your work further with your teacher if required.
 * Sign the assignment cover sheet verifying that this is your work.

You must not:


 * Copy another student's work
 * Copy material from written or electronic sources without acknowledging the source (plagiarism).
 * Inappropriately help another student with any part of their work.
 * Allow someone else to copy your work.
 * Allow someone else to do your work.

This is the process that is followed when the authenticity of work is an issue:


 * The Specialist Subject Leader of English (Georgina Hackett) will interview the student after gathering the evidence.
 * Then Mrs Hackett will give the evidence to the Principal's Nominee (Sheree Muggeridge)
 * Ms Muggeridge will interview the student and make a decision.
 * The student, Specialist Subject Leader, tutor and parents will be informed of the decision.

Reassessments

From the NZQA website:


 * A further assessment opportunity occurs when a new, quality-assured assessment is provided for students after their first opportunity and after further learning has taken place.
 * A maximum of one further opportunity for assessment means none or one. It does not mean one must be offered. It is the school’s decision whether a further opportunity will be offered for any standard. If it is not manageable to offer a further opportunity, then students should be advised from the outset that there is only one opportunity to be assessed against that standard.
 * If a further opportunity for assessment is offered to any student, it must be made available to all students entered for that standard. This is regardless of their performance on the first opportunity.
 * Any further opportunity conditions must be consistent with those for the first opportunity.

Resubmissions

Resubmissions are not available to students who just want to improve their grade; you may have the opportunity to do this through a reassessment, however you need to check with your teacher, as reassessments are not available in every standard.

From the NZQA website:


 * A resubmission can be offered when the student could achieve a grade if they correct errors or omissions in their work in a short period of time.
 * should be limited to specific aspects of the assessment and no more than one resubmission should be provided
 * must take place before the teacher gives any feedback to the whole class (or any student) on the work done. If more teaching has occurred after the first assessment opportunity, resubmission is not possible.
 * should be closely supervised to manage authenticity
 * should be offered only where a teacher judges that a mistake has been made by the student, which the student should be capable of discovering and correcting themselves. 

'What to do if. . . I have an assessment today, but I am too sick.' Phone your tutor straight away to tell them. Leave a message if you have to. You must go to your doctor to have the medical form filled in. Bring the completed form to your tutor when you return to school. You will also need to fill in a missed assessment form (reception) and return it to the school within 3 school days of the missed assessment.

I have an assessment today, but there's been an accident or some family emergency or trauma. Phone your tutor as soon as you are able. When you return to school you must bring a note from your parent/guardian or your school counsellor and you will also need to fill in a missed assessment form and return to the school within 3 school days of the missed assessment.

I did the test/assessment, but I think I didn't do my best because I was sick or really upset. Straight away, ask your teacher about further assessment opportunities or other evidence they may have collected. Your doctor will have to fill out the medical form if you were sick or you will need to bring a note from your parent/guardian or your school counsellor.

I have to hand in this assessment today, but I am too sick to come, or there's been some family emergency or trauma. Send the assessment to the school office, or if you can't, phone your tutor who can talk to the Specialist Subject leader about what can be done. You will also need to fill in a missed assessment form and return to the school within 3 school days of the missed assessment.

I'm going on a school trip. You will be notifying the teachers affected at least one week before the trip. They will decide about your assessment in consultation with the Specialist Subject leader.

I'm going on a family holiday. You must ask permission by writing to the Principal, Ms Cavanagh. Tell your teachers, but be aware that you are very likely to forfeit the credits for assessments you miss.

I have tutoring, a music lesson, cultural or sports practice, rehearsal. Do the assessment at the correct time. The other things are not as high a priority. Don't forget to let other people know you are attending the assessment in advance to show respect for their time!

I am late handing in my work. You will have to talk to your teacher who will consult with the SSL over whether your work can be accepted - this is likely to be the case only in very exceptional circumstance. You will also need to fill in a missed assessment form.

My computer or printer breaks down. You need to be aware that technology can fail at the crucial moment. This is unlikely to be acceptable as a reason for late work. It is your responsibility to guard against losing your work through technological failure by printing out your work at regular intervals and saving your work on a back-up disk. If your printer breaks down, print at school or email the work to your teacher.

I chose not to come to that test or hand in that assessment. You will not get any marks or credit for that assessment.

I want to resubmit my assessment. Resubmissions can only be offered once and only when small errors or omissions need to be corrected in your work in a short period of time. Resubmissions are not available to students who just want to improve their grade; you may have the opportunity to do this through a reassessment, however you need to check with your teacher, as reassessments are not available in every standard.

'''It is important that you understand what you need to do to achieve success this year. Your teachers will give you clear information about what is expected. You need to make sure that you check with your teacher if you are unsure about anything.'''