Havelock North secondary school Woodford House pilots NCEA alternative

As the education landscape in New Zealand continues to change rapidly, premier Hawke’s Bay secondary school Woodford House is charting its own path by piloting an alternative to NCEA Level 1.

Hawke’s Bay Today reporter Mitchell Hageman talks to principal Julie Peterson and her students about the benefits of the bold move.

As Woodford House Year 11 student Elsie Plummer sits in her geography class, she’s asked a question rarely uttered by teachers in a modern schooling environment.

“What would you like to learn about?”

Perhaps she’d be curious to look into Hawke’s Bay’s 1931 earthquake, or even the recent geographical impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle.

“We’re doing things that we personally take an interest in,” Plummer told Hawke’s Bay Today.

This is an everyday occurrence during daily classes for her and 58 other Year 11 girls, with the boarding school piloting its new “Woodford House Diploma” as an alternative for NCEA Level 1.

With literacy and numeracy credits already covered in Year 10, the new diploma is said to give students a more personalised approach to learning while still getting them prepared for Levels 2 and 3 of the national standards.

Principal Julie Peterson said the programme had been years in the making, and to her knowledge, Woodford is the first school in Hawke’s Bay to take an educational leap like this.

She said staff took to the idea of a more “nuanced programme” with less reliance and fewer constraints on prescriptive assessment set externally and a focus on promoting extracurricular achievement.

“It really came about with the NCEA alignment and the changes to NCEA when it became evident that Level 1 would no longer be mandatory or compulsory.

“We decided that we’d been getting 100 per cent in Level 1 for the last seven years, and this gave us the opportunity to think if we could enhance that in some way.”

Many other schools in New Zealand are starting to follow this trend and have shared their experiences with Peterson, including those on Crimson Education’s top 10 list.

“Every school has to make their own decisions; we’ve made our decision for our context,” she said.

Woodford House Year 11 students Elsie Plummer (left) and Libby Lowe discuss their new diploma with principal Julie Peterson. Photo / Warren Buckland

Students are still graded by NCEA marking terms (Achieved, Merit, Excellence etc.) and must pass 16 assessments, but how they attain grades differs from the standardised process.

There would be no study leave at the end of the year as ongoing assessment and alternatives to exams continued during this period.

“The framework was put in place around four units of work, similar to NCEA Level 1, but also layering it up with learning that is less constrained or prescriptive,” Peterson said.

Things like extracurricular experiences and activities, such as service work, sports and culture, also help make up the diploma.

Students must choose two out of either a sport, cultural group or five hours of school service to complete their diploma, with additional awards for excellence and going above and beyond.

“We also wanted to consider that our girls were busy girls and do amazing things, and thought it would be great to capture some of the learning they were doing in their other cornerstones.

“The programme captures the full extent of the learning menu, which has excited the teachers and the girls.”

Year 11 student Libby Lowe said the diploma was “really interesting and fun”.

“We haven’t been really stressed, and because we have our own programme, there’s no set timeline, and teachers can extend or shorten things where we need and give us more help if we need it.”

Five weeks have passed since the pilot programme started, with things “certainly playing out well”.

A pending trip to Dunedin to check out Otago University is also part of the programme, and the aim is to help the girls further discover the world of tertiary education.

“Everyone is very excited for that.”

Peterson said there would also be constant reviews and feedback processes.

“Everything we do is about continuous improvement. We’ll see how the girls and parents feel at the end of the year.

“If it is successful, and I anticipate it will be, we’ll continue to keep tracking it, and it will be our Year 11 course.”

Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in January 2023. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community. He has a particular love for stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.