RST Department
Student Internal
Assessment Guide
These procedures are a condensed version of the Roncalli College NCEA Handbook to highlight
the procedural aspects of assessing Religious Studies internal assessments at Roncalli College.
For further information please consult the Handbook
Before the assessment
Assessment Conditions
Your teacher will discuss all the conditions of assessment with your class before starting the
assessment. This will include information on extensions and absences. A Religious Studies
Department cover sheet will be attached to your assessment document. By starting the
assessment you are acknowledging that you understand all of the assessment conditions and that
the work you will submit is your own.
Your teacher will provide you with clear documentation about the requirements for achievement of
an Achieved, Merit and Excellence grade.
Entering a Standard
All students in a course will be entered into the standard unless it is agreed upon by the Curriculum
Leader (Ms. Burrowes), Academic Dean (Mrs Adams) and your parents/caregivers prior to any
teaching taking place. Students not entered into a standard will have alternative religious
instruction as per stipulations set by NZCEO.
During the assessment
Authenticity
All assessments submitted must be in your own work and must be correctly referenced using the
APA (American Psychological Association) referencing style.
Your teacher may only give you feedback on your work which is non-specific and may not over
direct you.
All assessment work needs to be completed on Google Classroom for authenticity checks to occur.
You may not do your assessment work on another document and copy and paste it as this raises
authenticity concerns.
Extensions
If due to extenuating circumstances you are unable to complete an assessment, you may apply in
writing for an extension at least 48 hours before the due date. Extension requests must be
submitted, on the available to you, on the College Website or on Google Classroom, to Miss Olsen
who will discuss the request with the Curriculum Leader and Academic Dean.
Extension Form
Please note as per the Roncalli College Board of Trustees’ policy, extensions will not be approved
unless there are extenuating circumstances. Every extension must be negotiated on an individual
basis and applies only to the student who has formally requested the extension.
Other late work will not be accepted. If you have had fair opportunity and the teaching for the
standard has taken place, a grade of Not Achieved must be awarded and this will be recorded on
your NZQA transcript.
If you miss an assessment activity and/or deadline without a valid reason will be given a Not
Achieved grade.
Notes on extenuating circumstances:
You must clearly demonstrate, with supporting evidence (medical certificate, death notice etc) that
you have been seriously disadvantaged by a significant condition or event:
The following are not considered grounds for approving an extension or withdrawal:
● minor ailments, such as a cold or headache
● stress or anxiety or workload
● parents being on holiday
● day-to-day family or school based disturbances
● minor traffic incidents.
Absences for timetabled school activities, such as, school camps, field trips, sporting or other
fixtures where you are required to represent the school will be considered only if:
● You have applied for this before you attend the event
● You used your class time diligently
● Class absences have been justified
This would be rare as assessment due dates are set taking school events into consideration.
Absences from Assessment
If you are ill on the due date of an assessment, it is your responsibility to contact your teacher to
discuss the situation. The subject teacher will make a decision in conjunction with the curriculum
leader. This must be done on the due date.
You may be required to present on the due date the amount of work which has been completed,
even if the assessment task is unfinished. Teachers will take into consideration that a verified
illness/absence has prevented completion and may be able to award standards based on existing
evidence of achievement.
This is why it is important to work diligently and not not leave assessments until the last minute.
After the assessment
Marking
Assessments cannot be returned to you until all assessments have been submitted and all internal
moderation has taken place.
Marking will be completed as promptly as possible and results returned to you within 15 days of an
assessment being completed (so three weeks). Standards that require external moderation may
take longer but your teacher will communicate this with you.
If you are on a rotational course, DO NOT remove yourself from the Google Classroom once you
have submitted your assessment as this will delete your assessment work.
Plagiarism
Where evidence indicates work presented is not your own, the College policy is that all students
who either 1) copy another student’s work, or 2) allow their work to be copied, will be awarded a
‘Not Achieved’ grade.
Examples of inauthentic work include
● plagiarism from print, verbal, or digital sources;
● copying another student’s work or allowing a student to copy yours;
● incorrect or nonexistent citation of sources; and/or
● allowing another person to complete your work, such as another student or a parent.
If a teacher suspects you have plagiarised, the teacher in conjunction with the Curriculum Leader
will investigate any possible breach of the rules in accordance with College procedure. College
procedures are monitored by NZQA as part of the Managing National Assessment systems check.
Results cannot be returned until this is resolved.
Appeals
Every time an assessment is returned to you, you should check the marking and discuss it with
your teacher if there are any concerns. If you are satisfied your assessment has been marked
correctly (sometimes mistakes can happen) then you need not do anything and your grade will be
taken as accepted after 48 hours.
It is your responsibility to discuss with your teacher any result with which you are not satisfied with
and together usually the problem can be resolved. This must be done within 48 hours of the work
being returned.
If after consultation with your teacher, you wish to dispute the grade awarded an appeal may be
made. This must be done within 5 school days of the work being returned. Appeals must be made
in the first instance to the subject teacher who will forward the appeal to the Curriculum Leader and
the Principal’s Nominee. The Principal’s Nominee will conduct an investigation. The final decision
on all appeals will be made by the Principal and will be binding. Appeals must be made using the
Appeal Form
Resubmissions
At the discretion of the Curriculum Leader or subject teacher, you may have an opportunity to
resubmit part of an internal achievement standard if the teacher believes the error is a minor error
which the student is easily able to identify and correct without any further teaching.
For resubmission, some important points to note are:
● The problem must be able to be resolved rapidly (approx. 5mins);
● You must be capable of finding and correcting the mistakes on our own;
● Teacher feedback to students resubmitting work must be general and must not
compromise the authenticity of the student’s work and responses. You may be told, for
example, “you need to fix your referencing up” or “there are grammar issues here”;
● It must take place before the teacher gives any feedback to the whole class on the
work done;
● The amount of teacher feedback you have already received;
● That you have meet formative feedback deadlines;
● It must be given before any more teaching has occurred.
Resubmissions are only available for students who have a provisional grade of Not Achieved.
You may only gain a grade of Not Achieved OR Achieved for resubmitted assessments.
Further Assessment Opportunity
The Religious Studies department does not offer further assessment opportunities.