30 July 2021

Te Ao Haka Expressions of Interest – Letter of Commitment

Kei ngā pītau whakareia e whakaihu nei i ngā ringa hoe ki tua o te pae, tēnā koe.

Tēnā koutou ko tō kura e hoe tonu ana i te waka o te mātauranga kia eke ai ā tātou tamariki i ngā ngaru nui, ngā ngaru roa, ngā ngaru pukepuke o te ao tūroa nei. Ngā tai o mihi ki a koutou.

Thank you for your interest in applying for the Te Ao Haka expanded pilot at all three levels and including University Entrance. Participating in a pilot year is an opportunity for kura and schools to contribute to the final refinements of a subject, and to get a head-start on preparing to deliver the new standards for it ahead of the 2023 implementation year. 

Both the Ministry and the New Zealand Qualification Authority (NZQA) are incredibly privileged to be partnering with kura and schools around Aotearoa to bring Te Ao Haka to life and actively embed mātauranga Māori into our New Zealand Curriculum.  

This Letter of Commitment describes both the partnership and support the Ministry and NZQA will give your kura, and the commitment we need from you to achieve a successful pilot year together.

Please download and send this signed document to ras.review@education.govt.nz within one week of submitting the online application form. 

[ File Resource ]

• Title: LOC for Te Ao Haka Pilot
• Description: Letter of commitment for piloting Te Ao Haka
• File URL: https://ncea-live-3-storagestack-53q-assetstorages3bucket-2o21xte0r81u.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2021-07/TAH%20letter%20of%20commitment%20FINAL_0.pdf?VersionId=22DQRCBgLkMvbBcI44lYq8pDVGuhv46H
• File Extension: pdf
• File Size: 210KB

Selection Criteria

Kura and schools must meet several required criteria to be a participant and ensure a successful pilot experience: 

• Have Consent to Assess against standards listed on the Director of Assessment Standards and have a positive record of assessment and moderation with NZQA, that demonstrates nationally consistent assessment judgements in the subject/s the kura/school wishes to pilot. 
• Selection will ensure diversity across region, demographic, and decile, and ensure a representative mix of kura Māori and kura auraki.
• Staff trained and qualified with subject specific knowledge and expertise in standards-based assessment. 

The Ministry will commit to providing your kura with the following support:

• Professional learning and development to support kaiako to develop Teaching and Learning Programmes using the new Learning Matrices, Achievement Standards, and other subject material. This will include:
  • An orientation programme available to all teachers involved in the pilot.
  • Funding one lead kaiako to attend a multi-day wānanga in Wellington in November, including travel, expenses, and Teacher Release Days.
  • Follow-up ā-kanohi (in person) hui at multiple points in the year to support planning, facilitated by the Ministry and NZQA. This also includes travel, expenses, and Teacher Release Days.
  • Access to support from the Ministry’s Te Ao Haka team via email during the operation of the pilot.
  • Access to Iho Pūmanawa (Kapa Haka Expert) for further kaiako Professional Learning Development and support.

NZQA will commit to providing your kura with the following support:

•    Professional learning and support for delivering assessment using the new Achievement Standards and assessments. This will include:
o    Follow-up ā-kanohi hui at multiple points in the year to support planning, facilitated by the Ministry and NZQA.
o    Access to email and phone support for assessment administration including support for digital assessment.
o    Detailed verification reports following verification of internal assessments.
o    Participate in regular online hui outlining NZQA processes.

We ask for the following commitment from pilot kura and schools:

Pilot kura and schools commit to:

• Attendance in-person/ā-kanohi at the professional learning development wānanga (training days) in Wellington in early November.
• Attending a maximum of four further in-person/ā-kanohi PLD and feedback hui at various points throughout 2022. Expenses will be covered by the Ministry and NZQA. 
• Provide the Ministry of Education a personalised school delivery plan of Te Ao Haka that delivers all three levels of Te Ao Haka and all four assessments per year level (two internal, two externals). The internal assessment activities provided in this plan must also be the ones that are then implemented. 
• Deliver all external assessments on the dates set by NZQA. Please note and acknowledge these dates are set in advance and cannot be adjusted. 
• Deliver external assessment as digital-first with paper-based by exception.
• Report total ākonga numbers and results to both NZQA and MOE. MOE will also gather insights/whakaaro from ākonga and kaiako at multiple points in the year to assess the impact Te Ao Haka is having on their overall experiences in education. 
• Pilot kura and schools play a key role in informing the refinement of new subject material. Pilot kura/schools will need to participate in evaluation reports and provide feedback on the new subject material at a minimum of three points during the pilot year. This can occur during the PLD wānanga throughout the year.
• Any kaiako teaching Te Ao Haka must either be a registered teacher, or a Kapa Haka Tutor supported by a registered teacher or hold a Limited Authority to Teach (LAT). 
• Pilot schools will also be drawn on to provide feedback on aspects of the wider NCEA Change Programme as an Insight kura/school by providing targeted feedback on request (for example, via online submission) from kaiako, ākonga and whānau up to three times a year. 

Additional requirements

Verification of grades for internal assessments

After grading internal assessments, we kindly ask kura and schools to submit grades as well as a sample of ākonga work to NZQA for verification. Kura and schools should not advise ākonga of grades until after NZQA completes verification, a process which takes 10 working days. During verification, NZQA may require work be re-graded. Unlike moderation, re-grading during verification must be applied before grades are provided to ākonga. 

Digital-first with paper by exception for external assessment

Most of the new external assessments have been designed to be delivered using digital assessment platforms. Paper by exception is defined as making paper-based assessments available to ākonga as one mitigation for an event that disrupts digital delivery at, or near, the time of the intended assessment. NZQA will support kura and schools to deliver digital assessment as much as possible.

Kura and schools should be equipped and prepared to engage digitally, but we understand paper-based approach may work better for some kura in the following situations:

• there is a technical problem on the day of the external assessment that means one or more devices are not working and the assessment can only be completed on paper.
• planning and preparation by the kura or school in advance of the scheduled digital assessment reveals it is not feasible to use digital devices for external assessments, e.g., insufficient BYOD or kura/school-provided devices; network assurance check by N4L reveals significant challenges with digital infrastructure that cannot be remedied quickly, etc.
• teaching and learning practice is predominantly paper-based, and ākonga are likely to be disadvantaged by undertaking assessment digitally.

We welcome pātai clarifying any of the commitments described above. Me he pātai a koutou tēnā tukua mai ki a mātou, a, taihoa ka whakahoki kōrero ki a koutou. Please contact us at ras.review@education.govt.nz.

Ngā manaakitanga

Hukarere Nippert
Kaihautū/Senior Manager
Ākonga Māori – Secondary Tertiary