Teacher offers NCEA alternative

By STUART DYE


A secondary school teacher is holding out-of-hours lessons to offer students an alternative to the NCEA.

Haggis Henderson is thought to be the only teacher in the country going to such lengths to provide the Cambridge International Exams for physics students from Rodney College.

He calls the classes his "cricket team" as it is extra-curricular and voluntary work.

Mr Henderson, who has been teaching for more than a decade, was so uncomfortable with the NCEA as an assessment system that he decided to look for an alternative.

And a dedicated band of students have taken up the offer, arriving for an extra hour or so either before or after school twice a week.

All the students must sit NCEA as the approved exam system, but they are choosing to also study for a qualification which is "measurable, reliable and consistent", said Mr Henderson.

"NCEA results have varied phenomenally because it is an unreliable assessment system. Instead of moaning about it, I decided to put my money where my mouth was and do something I believe in."

Mr Henderson dismantled the curriculums for both exams and used the out-of-hours lessons to teach Cambridge material not in NCEA.

Only two of Mr Henderson's first six students passed CIE AS (equivalent to NCEA Level 2), but he is hoping to improve on that this year.

"We are starting five metres behind the line and we're not sure which direction to go in - but we are in the race and that's the important thing."

NCEA did not encourage hard work as students were given the same recognition for, say, 64 per cent as they were for 50 per cent.

Mr Henderson said the Cambridge system gave them the chance to "strive for excellence".

Brad Simons, 18, said he decided to take the Cambridge exams because he was "not too keen" on the NCEA.

The standards-based assessment was about learning the focus and applying it, but Cambridge required a greater understanding of theory.

"Sitting both systems in tandem has been a challenge, especially the early mornings, but it is definitely worth it," he said.

Cambridge exams

Student entry into Cambridge International Exams has almost tripled since it was introduced to New Zealand two years ago.

Last weekend, about 40 school leaders gathered for the inaugural conference of the Association of Cambridge Schools in New Zealand.