St Cuthbert’s College concerned about new NCEA Level 1 curriculum; writes its own

A top Auckland private school has so little confidence in the new NCEA Level 1 curriculum it is ditching the qualification in favour of its own Year 11 diploma next year.

St Cuthbert’s College informed parents on Wednesday that next year’s Year 11 students would not take part in NCEA Level 1 but rather work towards the school’s own bespoke Year 11 Diploma.

Principal Justine Mahon said several of the school’s senior academic staff had been on Government advisory panels for the Ministry of Education’s proposed changes to NCEA and had become increasingly concerned by what would be taught in 2024.

“We don’t think it provides sufficient, in-depth learning for our students,” she told the Herald.

“I’m also concerned about educational standards in New Zealand. Some subjects have been merged so that means that potentially, hundreds of students throughout the country will have a less rigorous conceptual framework.”

Chemistry and biology had been merged into one subject as had accounting, business and economics. Several subjects, mostly in the arts, had also been removed.

Mahon also believed “fundamentals” like the writing requirement and mathematics had been “dumbed down”.

As an example, deputy head of the senior school and head of calculus, Julia Fuge, said the current Level 1 curriculum devoted a third of learning to each of number and algebra, geometry and measurement and statistics and probability.

The “refreshed” ministry curriculum devoted half of the teaching time to statistics and probability and the other half to algebra, measurement, geometry and number.

“We feel Level 1 is far too young to reduce the teaching of algebra to an eighth of the course. Like a language, it is very hard to pick up later on and is crucial for our future graduates in the fields of science, engineering, medicine, economics and even statistics itself,” Fuge said.

“Currently, Level 1 mathematics has an MCAT exam which is set externally and completed in Term 3 nationally. This keeps standards high and this is being removed in the new 2024 course.”

St Cuthbert's College principal Justine Mahon does not believe the "refreshed" NCEA Level 1 provides sufficient, in-depth learning. Photo / File

Mahon said the programme would “deliver a world-class, comprehensive curriculum which is intellectually rigorous, well-rounded and more challenging than what is being implemented by the Ministry of Education next year”.

She said less time on internal assessments and exam leave would provide six more weeks of teaching time allowing subjects to be taught more in-depth.

Mahon said there would still be end-of-year exams and other “rigorous and relevant assessments” but it would be less of a focus.

“We’ve got to be careful that assessment doesn’t drive learning. That’s not to say that we don’t have assessment but you’ve got to be very considered in how you position this.”

She said they did not yet know what the new NCEA Level 2 and 3 curriculums would look like but had staff on the panels who would be agitating for a high standard and a strong conceptual framework.

“It doesn’t only matter to St Cuthbert’s girls, it matters to us as educators that throughout the country Level 2 and 3 prepare students for the next step,” she said.

“NZQA will have to ensure that they are rigorous otherwise we will be disadvantaging students in their entry into universities. They won’t be able to make similar drastic changes to Levels 2 and 3 without compromising students’ tertiary opportunities.”

This morning Mahon told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking she was “extremely concerned” about the Education Ministry’s stance, claiming officials were not listening to expert subject teachers and that was a key reason to speak out.

“It’s particularly worrying that after the changes mooted for next year in NCEA Level 1 many young people will actually be denied choices for their future because they don’t have the key concepts and skills to go forward,” she said.

“The Ministry of Education, NZQA need to listen to the subject experts in secondary schools who have experience, who know what needs to be covered in subjects like mathematics so students can go on to become engineers and doctors and all the things we need in this country.”

Mahon wasn’t sure why the education officials weren’t listening - but warned they needed to for the sake of students at all schools.

“People need to speak out and say this is enough for the future of all New Zealand young people. Teaching needs to be rigorous.”

St Cuthbert's College will offer its own Year 11 diploma from next year instead of the new NCEA Level 1. Photo / Supplied

St Cuthbert’s would continue offering both NCEA and International Baccalaureate qualifications to cater to all students in Year 12 and 13.

Mahon said taking part in service projects and co-curricular activities like sport, drama, debating or music were also requirements of the diploma as was a 95 per cent attendance rate.

One St Cuthbert’s parent, who has a daughter in Year 8, said the school’s decision only confirmed her fears about the state of the education system.

The mum of three had intended to send her daughter back to public school for her secondary years but was now reconsidering.

“I had always thought my kids might go to university in Australia and it just concerns me that they might turn up and be so far behind the eight-ball that they can’t catch up,” she said.

“I believe in public education. I don’t want to be sending my kid to a private school. I want them to go to the local government school but it just doesn’t seem that it’s good enough.”

Ministry of Education curriculum centre group manager Rob Mill said the ministry was aware a number of schools had made decisions to reduce or cease participation in NCEA Level 1 since the commencement of the NCEA Review in 2018.

Pilots for new NCEA Level 1 standards had been running since 2021 and schools involved had reported students were well prepared for NCEA Level 2, he said.

“The ministry is confident that graduates of the new NCEA Level 1 will be better prepared for deeper and more specialised learning at Levels 2 and 3.”

Mill said the ministry had worked with secondary sector, academic and industry experts to determine the most important learning within each subject which will be assessed through the new Level 1 standards and provide ākonga (students) with a strong foundational understanding of the subject.

The new NCEA Level 1 will have fewer larger standards which will support greater coherence in the learning that ākonga experience, he said.

But, Epsom MP and Act leader David Seymour said he 100 per cent supported what St Cuthbert’s was doing for its students.

“They have clearly identified the Government’s curriculum does not contain the academic knowledge that they believe their students require to navigate the future.”

Seymour said he believed the Government had “stripped academic content out of the curriculum” and questioned the merging of topics and the reduction of content when international comparisons already showed students were falling behind.

“I’m so happy for the girls at St Cuthbert’s who have a school leader who’s prepared to swim against the tide and say this isn’t good enough for our students.

“Frankly they have laid down the challenge to the ministry and to the Government to go back and ask, ‘if it’s not good enough for St Cuthbert’s how can we say it’s good enough for every other student?’”

National’s education spokeswoman Erica Stanford said it was disappointing but not a surprise that schools were choosing to ditch Level 1.

“Schools are telling me they are concerned about the quality and lack of challenge in Labour’s curriculum refresh. Our children deserve much better than a Government that is not aspirational for their learning.”

National had already outlined its Teaching the Basics Brilliantly plan which would involve a full rewrite of the curriculum,

Education Minister Jan Tinetti referred questions to the Ministry of Education.

Michael Johnston, the author of the New Zealand Initiative’s Save Our Schools report, said he too would be tempted to write his own curriculum if he were in St Cuthbert’s position because the New Zealand Curriculum had “no real substance”.

NCEA standards often became the default curriculum so trying to back the standards with a more in-depth, coherent programme was positive, Johnston said.

“If we had a substantive curriculum then schools wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time doing that. It’s not a desirable situation when schools have to develop their own curricula and if every school did that then we’d have a very inconsistent system.”