Policies

Year 12 Certificate Requirements

A student will qualify for the award of an ACT Year 12 Certificate on completion of an educational program approved by the college as having a coherent pattern of study and which includes the equivalent of 17 standard units, including at least 3 minors from different courses.

Tertiary Entry Requirements

If you intend to proceed to tertiary study that is to go on a university, you must complete a tertiary package. To form a tertiary package you must complete courses in accordance with the following requirements.

Unit Requirements

Course Requirements

Your Accredited units must be organised to form:

at least

3 Majors and 3 Minors

or

4 Majors and 1 Minor

or

5 Majors

Of these courses at least 3 Majors and 1 Minor must be T classified

You must sit the ACT Scaling Test (AST) in the second part of Year 12. Various publications providing more detailed information about tertiary entry and requirements are available from the Student Advisers at the college or the BSSS website - http://www.BSSS.act.edu.au.

Assessment

Assessment is continuous throughout each Unit and is based on assignments, essays, tests, "lab-pracs", workshop projects, and creative works, etc - whatever is appropriate to a course area. At the end of each session, assessment for the Unit is totalled and finalised. You will receive a written report for all Units you complete.

Unit Outline

At the start of each unit students are given a Unit Outline detailing the content and the precise details of the assessment program, including dates when major items of work are due, and the moderation procedures used in each subject to ensure comparability of scores across classes.

Assessment Planner

Students are advised to construct a plan of their total obligations on a Assessment Planner provided by the Advisers through N Groups. This will allow them to monitor their obligations and discuss clashes and pressure points with their teachers and Advisers.

Assessments

Students must do all assessments at the scheduled times. Failure to do so may result in loss of the marks allocated for the assessment, and possibly, failure for the unit. This rule may be waived in cases of significant misadventure or illness. A medical certificate or similar document IS required.

Students should not plan to be absent for any reason during the assessment time. Permission will only be granted in exceptional circumstances. 

Non-completion of Assessments

If students fail to fulfill minimum requirements for attendance and completion of work in a unit they may not be assessed in the unit and hence the unit will not count towards the completion of a course or award of any certificate.

It is ACT BSSS Policy that unless prior approval is granted, any student who fails to submit assessment tasks worth in total 70% or more of the assessment for the unit will be deemed to have voided the unit. The Principal has the right to exercise discretion in the award of a grade or score in special circumstances where satisfactory documentation is supplied.

Late Submission of Work

All work must be submitted by 4:30pm on the due date otherwise penalties apply. Extensions can be applied for provided there is due cause and documentary evidence is adequate. It should be noted that computer failure, corrupted disk, fail e-mail etc are NOT acceptable excuses for lost or late work.

Academic Dishonesty

Plagiarism, cheating or copying is a serious issue. The College in conjunction with the ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies has approved penalties for academic dishonesty. Students are permitted to take only approved materials/devices into tests and are required to submit their own work for assessment. Penalties will be imposed for unfair practices in tests, presentations and assignments. These penalties range from a reprimand or requirement to complete alternative assessment to cancellation of the assessment result, unit, course or certificate. Students and parents will be notified in cases where penalties are imposed and may appeal.

Reports

Mid Session Reports

A mid session report is posted home for all students session 2. This is not a formal report but provides a check on attendance, completion of work and behaviour during the semester-length session.

Session Reports

On the completion of each session of study students are issued with a report showing their scores, grades and a teacher comment. These are issued to students at the beginning of the next session. See the college calendar for dates.

How well you have done in each Unit will be reported in the following ways:

Appeals Policy

The policy of the college is that the appeals process should be as open and non-threatening as possible. If we make a mistake we want to correct it. Students are encouraged to appeal if they believe that a unit score is wrong, or if they feel that they have been disadvantaged in some way by circumstances beyond their control. They may also appeal against instances where penalties have been imposed on them for improper practices in tests or in submitting assignments. Students should appeal as soon as possible. The appeal may be made at any time during a unit or up to 5 working days after the publication of results for each session. For session 3 in Year 12 the appeal date is set by the BSSS and shown on the college student calendar.

Students who wish to appeal do not have to prove their case. They have the right to question and give reasons for their appeal, but the panel will assess all information provided and decide the outcome.

Students considering a formal appeal against the assessment given for a unit must follow these procedures:

• Discuss the matter with the class teacher and if necessary a Student Adviser.
• If the matter is not resolved then the student must approach the Executive Teacher of the faculty, who will consider the evidence from the student and teacher concerned and then make a decision. If the Executive Teacher is the class teacher, another teacher from the faculty may do this duty.

Formal Appeal

• If the student is not satisfied with the decision of the Executive Teacher, then a formal appeal should be lodged with the Principal. Details of the contents of this appeal are available from the Executive Teacher in charge of appeals.

Appeal Panel

• An appeal panel will be convened consisting of the Principal or delegate, a teacher not involved in the student's assessment and an external person nominated by the Office of the Board of Senior Secondary Studies (OBSSS).
• A student may be accompanied or represented by a friend during the appeal. The friend may be a student, parent or any other person.
• The panel's decision will be conveyed in writing to the student.
• After receiving the decision, the student has the right to appeal to the OBSSS against the procedures used. Appeals to the OBSSS must be received within seven days of the date of the written decision of the College Appeals Committee. A copy of the OBSSS Policies and Procedures is available from the College.
• In Term 4 for a Year 12 student, less time is available for appeals. The relevant dates are published in the college calendar.

Repeating Students

Students with extenuating circumstances may be considered to repeat year 11 or 12 after consultation with a student advisor and approval from the Principal.

Transferring Students

Students transferring to Narrabundah College from other schools may be given credit for studies at Year 11 or 12 (or equivalent). Documentary evidence of previous studies must be produced.

Students transferring from schools in the ACT will retain all subject data (apart from scores) from the previous school, except in exceptional circumstances determined by the Principal.

Students transferring to Narrabundah College from a school elsewhere in Australia or overseas should discuss the matter with a Student Adviser.

Students will not be accepted into Year 12 later than the beginning of Session 1.