Year 10

To receive a RoSA or continue on to Year 11, students must complete the following mandatory Years 7-10 curriculum requirements. 

• English: 

  • • NESA syllabus must be studied substantially throughout Years 7–10. 

    • By the end of Year 10, 400 hours need to be completed. 

• Mathematics: 

  • • NESA syllabus must be studied substantially throughout Years 7–10. 

    • By the end of Year 10, 400 hours need to be completed. 

• Science: 

  • • NESA syllabus must be studied substantially throughout Years 7–10. 

    • By the end of Year 10, 400 hours need to be completed.

• Human Society & its Environment 

  • • NESA syllabus must be studied substantially throughout Years 7–10. 

    • By the end of Year 10, 400 hours need to be completed. 

    • This includes 100 hours each of History and Geography in each Stage 4 and 5 

• Languages other than English 

  • • 100 hours to be completed in one language over one continuous 12-month period between 

    • Years 7–10 but preferably in Years 7–8. 

• Technologies and Applied Studies 

  • • Our Technology (mandatory) 

    • Years 7–8 syllabus to be studied for 200 hours. 

• Creative Arts 

  • • Two hundred hours to be completed, consisting of our 100-hour mandatory courses in each of Visual Arts and Music. 

    • 100-hour mandatory courses in these subjects will be taught as coherent units of study and not split over a number of years. 

• Personal Development, Health and Physical Education: 

  • • Mandatory 300-hour course to be completed over Years 7-10.

The Common Grade Scale shown below can be used to report student achievement in both primary and junior secondary years in all NSW schools.

The Common Grade Scale describes performance at each of five grade levels.

A

The student has an extensive knowledge and understanding of the content and can readily apply this knowledge. In addition, the student has achieved a very high level of competence in the processes and skills and can apply these skills to new situations.

B

The student has a thorough knowledge and understanding of the content and a high level of competence in the processes and skills. In addition, the student is able to apply this knowledge and these skills to most situations.

C

The student has a sound knowledge and understanding of the main areas of content and has achieved an adequate level of competence in the processes and skills.

D

The student has a basic knowledge and understanding of the content and has achieved a limited level of competence in the processes and skills.

E

The student has an elementary knowledge and understanding in few areas of the content and has achieved very limited competence in some of the processes and skills.

Purpose of Assessment 

The purpose of an assessment task in Year 10 includes the following: 

• assist student learning 

• evaluate and improve teaching and learning programs 

• provide information on student learning and progress in a course in relation to the syllabus outcomes 

• provide evidence of satisfactory completion of a course 

• report on the achievement of each student at the end of a course. 

During the Year 10 Stage 5 Course, NESA stipulates that a formal assessment program is to be developed and implemented in all schools. The assessment tasks undertaken in each subject will help determine what is to be recorded on a student’s Record of Achievement, the official NESA certificate documenting a student’s final grades. 

Measuring achievement at various points throughout the course provides a better indication of student achievement than a single examination. 

• multiple measures generally give a more accurate measure of each student’s achievement 

• this caters for knowledge and skills outcomes better assessed in specific settings or at specific times (for example research, fieldwork or practical skills). 

Assessment is the broad name for the collection and evaluation of evidence of a student’s learning. It is integral to teaching and learning and has multiple purposes.  

In Stage 5, those purposes include: 

• providing opportunities for teachers to gather evidence about student achievement in relation to outcomes  

• enabling students to demonstrate what they know and can do  

• clarifying student understanding of concepts and promoting deeper  understanding 

•  providing evidence that current understanding is a suitable basis for future learning 

Assessment for learning involves teachers using evidence about students’ knowledge,  understanding and skills to inform their teaching. Sometimes referred to as ‘formative assessment’, it usually occurs throughout the teaching and learning process to clarify student learning and understanding. 

Assessment as learning occurs when students are their own assessors. Students monitor  their own learning, ask questions and use a range of strategies to decide what they know  and can do, and how to use assessment for new learning. Peer and self-assessment and feedback are integral in this form of assessment. 

Assessment of learning assists teachers in using evidence of student learning to assess achievement against outcomes and standards. Sometimes referred to as ‘summative assessment’, it usually occurs at defined key points during a unit of work or at the end of a unit of work, term or semester. 

Teachers may plan for and gather evidence about student achievement in a variety of  ways at key points during and at the end of a unit, a term or a semester. This evidence can assist teachers in making professional judgements about a student’s progress and  achievement of syllabus outcomes, and provide feedback about how students can  improve their learning. 

Assessing student achievement is a process of collecting information on student  performance in relation to the objectives and outcomes of the course. Assessment may  be formal or informal and consist of any of the following: 

Evidence may include: 

▪ teacher observation, 

▪ questioning, 

▪ peer evaluation and self-evaluation, 

▪ formal assessment activities.  

Recording evidence for assessment may take a variety of forms, including; 

• individual comments or notations 

▪ homework

▪ marks 

▪ bookwork

▪ grades 

• classroom work

▪ conversations 

▪ exams

▪ oral presentations 

▪ assignments

▪ debates 

• practical group work

▪ digital recordings and/or audio or  visual representations

Nature of Assessment 

In any Year 10 course, the assessment program consists of a number of formal assessment tasks. 

A formal assessment task may be: 

• An out-of-class task, for which work is handed in by a specified date. 

• An in-class task, such as a written response a practical task. 

• A task that has out-of-class and in-class aspects. (eg. An oral presentation in class, for which a transcript must be submitted before or after the task)

• A formal examination 

The assessment program includes a number of informal tasks and incorporates assessment for, as and of learning. Students must complete all such tasks to the best of their ability. Failure to do so may make a student eligible for an “N” determination in the course. 

Each assessment task should: 

• Be based on syllabus outcomes. 

• Include criteria to clarify for students what aspects of learning are being assessed.

• Enable students to demonstrate their learning in a range of task types. 

• Be a valid and reliable measure of what the task intends to assess.

• Provide accurate information on each student’s achievement. 

• Be free from bias and provide evidence that accurately represents a student’s knowledge, understanding and skills. 

• Enable students and teachers to use feedback effectively and reflect on the learning process. 

• Be inclusive and accessible for all students. ɓ Be part of an ongoing process where progress is monitored over time. 

• Allow for a good performance to maintain or improve a student’s ranking in the group, while not allocating such importance to one task that recovery from poor performance is not possible. 

• Allow for realistic estimation of performance in a missed task, based on performance in other tasks attempted, including summative and formative tasks. Estimates should only be used in exceptional circumstances.

An assessment notification for the task will be communicated via a Google Classroom post or a hard copy. (Notifications will move to Compass at a later date - this will be communicated to students when appropriate).

For each task, the Assessment Notification document will set out the following: 

• The Key Learning Area (e.g. English) 

• The nature of the task (e.g. oral presentation) 

• The due date 

• Weightings - mark value in relation to the total number of marks for the course (e.g. 30%) 

• Mode of submission of the task (e.g. submitted via Google Classroom prior to 9 am) 

• What will be assessed and by what means (e.g. test on Chapter 4 Algebra; report on fieldwork) 

• The outcomes assessed 

• The marking criteria 

• Details about opportunities for feedback 

• The task to be completed (a clear outline of the work required) 

• Any additional details (e.g. students will require calculators). 

NOTE: It is each student’s responsibility to check the assessment task specifications and details carefully. 

Marking of Tasks 

• Teachers will mark all assessment tasks and return them to students promptly. This will normally be within 2 weeks of the task's completion. 

• For each task, the teacher will provide students with one or all of the following: 

  • • A total mark or overall grade. 

    • A mark or grade for each component of the task. 

    • Feedback sheets or written constructive comments that enable the student to learn from the task.