Scholarship

Submission of the Oral Component for Scholarship Languages in 2010
SC2010/001 - 20 Apr 2010

Cassette tapes for Te Reo Māori and Te Reo Rangatira will no longer be supplied

Schools have indicated a preference to use more readily available and higher quality voice recording technology than cassette tapes for the oral component of Scholarship examinations. From this year, therefore, NZQA will no longer provide cassette tapes to schools; this brings Te Reo Māori and Te Reo Rangatira into line with Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.

In 2010, candidates' oral responses are to be submitted on CD; the CD is to be a copy of the initial recording. Schools are to submit a CD copy of the initial recording for assessment. This means that the initial recording is retained by the school.

Before the Examination

Schools will need to ensure that they have:

• appropriate equipment/software to burn the initial recording to CD
• a person with the necessary technical skills to burn the CD copy; this person may be a teacher other than the language teacher, but may not be a current student, a friend or relative of the candidate.

The Examination

When candidates are in the Recording Room giving their oral responses, the Supervisor will be required:

• to state the candidate's NSN at the start of the recording
• to record the candidate's responses, and
• when the candidate has completed their responses, play some of the recording back to them to ensure that their voice has been recorded. There will be one response for Te Reo Māori and Te Reo Rangatira, and two for Chinese, French, German, Japanese or Spanish
• ensure that the candidate signs the pre-printed label to confirm they have heard their correct NSN and their responses on the recording (if they cannot be heard, the recording will have to be repeated).

After the Examination

Schools are to:

• copy the initial recording onto a CD
• check that the candidate's NSN is clearly stated at the start of the CD, and that entire oral responses have been copied. There will be one response for Te Reo Maori and Te Reo Rangatira, and two for Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.
• check that the CD plays on a standard CD player or on a standalone computer other than the one on which it was copied
• write the candidate's NSN on the top surface of the CD in permanent pen
• put the CD into a CD case, and affix the smaller pre-printed supplied sticky label to the outside of the case
• put the CD case into a bubble wrap bag, and affix the larger pre-printed sticky label to the outside of the bag
• retain the initial recording
• hand all the CDs, in their bubble wrap bags, to the Exam Centre Manager either on the day of the exam, or the following day by 5pm. The Exam Centre Manager will package all exam material for dispatch.

NZQA will supply to the Exam Centre Manager:

• bubble wrap bags for CDs to be packed in (one per candidate)
• clear plastic bags (one per candidate) for their Question and Answer booklet and CD to be placed in
• two pre-printed sticky labels per candidate; the smaller for the outside of CD case, the larger for the bubble wrap bag. These will have printed on them:
  
  • the candidate's NSN
  • the exam centre number
  • the candidate's exam code
  • the standard number
  • an authentication label which has a space for the candidate to sign to confirm they have heard their voice on the recording.

Enquiries

Please refer any enquiries relating to this circular to the National Assessment Facilitators: