The Curriculum

Te Marautanga

Senior College Academic Curriculum

The core Senior College academic curriculum is comprehensive and is complemented by a huge variety of interesting subject options. Our programmes of study support the NCEA qualification framework. Talented and dedicated teachers, tutors, peer support leaders and study advisers from outside St Andrew’s are available to help you achieve at the highest level possible in your course work and external NCEA examinations.

St Andrew’s College students consistently achieve well above the national average in NCEA at all levels, and in the attainment of NCEA Merit and Excellence endorsements. There are many initiatives to encourage and reward academic success, including Academic Colours and Academic 30s certificates for our top NCEA performers.

For further NCEA information, please click here.

Curriculum – Secondary School 2022

Our online Curriculum Book is the primary source of information about 2022 Curriculum Option Selections.

Curriculum Book >

Senior College Diploma

At the end of our students’ time at St Andrew’s, having met their academic, co-curricular, spiritual and service commitments, they will be awarded the prestigious Senior College Diploma. This, along with a personal profile written by a staff member of their choice, is an excellent addition to their CV.

The Curriculum

The Senior College curriculum is designed to provide a wide range of options which allow students to follow their chosen path of study and achieve their potential. The expectation is that all students will strive for academic excellence. Excellence is recognised as ‘doing one’s best’. A high level of academic achievement should give students greater access to the tertiary institution of their choice or to a position in the workforce.

Most subjects in the Senior College, and many tertiary courses, have entry requirements. For this reason we advise students to plan ahead to ensure that possible avenues of study are not closed. Year 12 English is the only compulsory academic subject in the Senior College curriculum.

When choosing subjects, students need to be mindful of their own abilities and be realistic in their choices.

If it suits a student’s particular needs, they are able to take subjects at more than one Level in the same year. This is called multi-level study and is a regular feature of senior secondary schooling. We also advise students to keep their course as broad as possible within the framework of subjects offered in the Senior College.

In summary, students should:

• choose wisely and broadly from the many courses offered;
• have a sense of direction for their academic studies;
• seek course counselling from relevant staff as and when required;
• have a meaningful and personalised academic pathway for themselves;
• seek to develop analytical thinking skills and to become independent learners.

Ways to help you learn – be sure to:

1. Set yourself some goals – both short-term and long-term. A Year 12 student might set NCEA Level 2 as a long-term goal and taking part in the school production as a short-term goal.
2. Plan the time you have available after school so that homework, co-curricular involvement like sport or music, and your social life can all be fitted in. Make sure you prioritise so that the important things get done.
3. Take good notes in class.
4. Participate in each lesson.
5. Keep up with your homework. If there are any concerns seek help from your teacher or other support people like fellow students or your Dean. Use your homework time to review what you have been studying – this is a particularly good thing to do in those times when you don’t have any specific homework from teachers.
6. Have a wall planner at home and enter all assessments (tests and projects) for each term.
7. Take internal assessment seriously; it provides results that stay on your Record of Achievement.
8. Make sure you know precisely what is required for an assessment and, if possible, practise using sample papers from the NCEA and TKI websites.
9. Make sure you spend time preparing for every assessment.
10. Know what is required to gain each NCEA Level qualification and University Entrance.

Course Outlines

Current students and parents can view course outlines by clicking here.

Curriculum Core and Options