National Newsletter No 21 November 2020
Tēnā koutou! 你好! 안녕하세요 Kia orana! Bonjour! Guten Tag! こんにちは。Salvete! Faka’alofa lahi atu! Talofa lava! Buenos días! Malo e lelei! Malo ni!
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Focus of this newsletter:
- NZALT/NZQA Webinar: support around marking Internal Achievement Standards
- NZALT Inquiry Clusters: final meetings for the year
- NZALT AGM Thursday 12 November, 4pm Zoom meeting
- NZALT 2021 Conference: 10- 12 July 2021, Wellington
- Submissions on the Education bill: Strengthening Second Language Learning in Primary and Intermediate Schools
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Final NZALT Webinar 2020 with NZQA
We are running a final NZALT Webinar this term together with Shirley Bain from NZQA on moderating and marking the Internal Achievement Standards.
This Webinar will run on Wednesday 18 November from 3.45pm until 5pm. It will focus on support for the moderation and marking of the Internal Achievement Standards. We need at least 10 teachers to participate so that we can run this workshop free of any charges.
If you are interested in participating in this Webinar, please email Madlen Kunath at onlinepld@nzalt.org.nz, our Online PLD Co-ordinator, to register and for further details.
If you have attended previous Webinars or were unable to, many of the resources which were shared in these are now available on the following Google site: Integrating e-tools into the language classroom.
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Final NZALT Inquiry Clusters for 2020
The NZALT Inquiry Clusters will have their final meetings for the year on the following dates:
Hutt Cluster meeting: Tuesday 17 November, 3.30 pm - 5.00 pm, Heretaunga College
Christchurch Cluster meeting: Thursday 26 November, 3.30 pm - 5.00 pm, the Boardroom, Papanui High School.
South Canterbury Cluster meeting: Wednesday 25 November, 3.30 pm - 5.00 pm, Opihi College
If you are interested in participating in the Hutt, Christchurch, or South Canterbury clusters, please email Jeni Lemberg.
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NZALT AGM Thursday 12 November
NZALT will have its AGM online via Zoom on Thursday 12 November at 4pm. To keep it focused, we are not proposing any major changes, but, rather roll things over until (all being well) we can host a full in-person AGM at the conference in July 2021. Paperwork for the meeting will be available in due course (to be taken as read).
Nominations for positions on the Executive are being called for.
If you are a paid NZALT member for the year 2020 and are interested in serving in a role on the National Executive of the NZALT, please contact the Vice President (vicepresident@nzalt.org.nz) to request a role description and nomination form. Please return this form to Christine Williams, secretary@nzalt.org.nz, by 5.00 p.m., Thursday 15th October.
President – there being currently no Junior Vice President (who would normally move to President after one year), Annabelle Sinclair has expressed her willingness to serve in the role of President for one further year.
Junior Vice President – nominations are invited. If no nominations are received, Martin East will serve in the role of Senior Vice President for one further year.
Secretary – nominations are invited. Christine Williams, current secretary, has signalled her willingness to serve in this role for one further year.
Treasurer - nominations are invited. Martin East, current treasurer, has signalled his willingness to serve in this role for one further year.
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NZALT 2021 Conference: Saturday 10 - Monday 12 July, Te Whanganui-a-Tara
The postponed NZALT 2020 Conference will now be held over the first weekend of the July holidays, 2021 in Wellington. We have moved the opening ceremony to Saturday 10 July at Te Papa with the conference taking place on Sunday and Monday 11 - 12 July 2021.
This will be a live conference, but we are making plans for an online conference if needed.
We can confirm that Dr. Gianfranco Conti will still be one of our Key Speakers, attending online at this stage.
The venue for the conference has changed and we are now planning to be at Wellington Girls' College.
Accommodation packages will be available at several hotels. At this stage, we can confirm that the Rydges, the Thorndon and the Waterloo hotels will be offering these.
There will be further details later in term 4 around registration, accommodation, and dates for the submission of presentations, as well as awards for travel and accommodation costs. If you have any queries, please email Jeni Lemberg.
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Submissions on the Education Bill: Strengthening Second Language Learning in Primary and Intermediate Schools Amendment
Submissions are now being accepted for this bill. NZALT will be making a submission but if you as an individual language teacher or a group within your school wish to make a submission, here is a link to the Education (Strengthening Second Language Learning in Primary and Intermediate Schools) Amendment Bill.
There is further information through this link to related documents and downloads.
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NZQA Updates
Changes to NCEA and UE for 2020
This link is a clear guide to the changes which have been made to NCEA and UE due to Covid-19.
National Secondary Examinations Timetable
As you are no doubt aware, there has been a change to the timing of the Secondary Examinations timetable. It can be found here. Please note that the dates for the Common Assessment Tasks for lea faka-Tonga, Cook Islands Maori and Korean are at the bottom of this new timetable.
NCEA Listening External Assessments in 2020
Updated Assessment Specifications are available for the external standards that assess the understanding of a language through listening and responding to recorded passages.
These specifications now state, “This year in the digital format, candidates will listen to recordings in the same way as they would if completing the standard as a paper-based examination. A recording will be played aloud to all candidates at the same time.”
This statement replaces a previous message that audio would be embedded in examination software.
Enquiries
Please refer any enquiries relating to this circular to your School Relationship Manager.
Digital Assessment NCEA 2020
The digital examinations for languages in 2020 will be run concurrently with the paper-based examinations. Students have the opportunity to complete the listening and reading assessments digitally.
The listening material will be delivered in the same way for both the digital and paper-based examination. A digital recording will be played by the supervisor, with timings as set out in the assessment specifications. Candidates can take notes on paper or in the listening boxes provided on screen. These notes will not be marked. Students will record their answers to the questions digitally.
The resource booklets that hold the texts for the reading assessments will be handed out to the candidates in paper form. This gives them the width of the software screen on which to type their responses, minimises scrolling, and means that they can take the booklet with them when they leave the examination room.
Familiarisation activities involving last year’s papers are available for practice from the NZQA website.
Lauren Crowe, the National Assessment Facilitator for Languages, can be contacted if you have further queries at Lauren.Crowe@nzqa.govt.nz
Specific information about the Digital NCEA Languages Examinations can be found here.
Further information can be found at this link.
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Useful Links
Excellent links to various activities and resources for the specific language weeks and cultural events can be found at National Events. This is regularly updated.
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International Languages Week Poster Competition Winners
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By Abby Garrett, Year 9, Tawa College
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By Jemma Staunton, St Mary's College, Wellington
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NZALT Networks of Expertise Newsletter, November, Term 4, No 21, 2020
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