Message from Erena:
Cambridge Exams (CIE)
in New Zealand
for Home Educators
There is a major problem regarding Cambridge Exams (CIE) in New Zealand at present. A number of parents have been directly contacting schools and asking if they will take private candidates (even ones that aren’t listed as doing so.) As a result, a number of schools are no longer taking Private Candidates. Just today we learnt of two schools who regularly offered this option and have now pulled out. If we are not very careful, we may lose the opportunity altogether!
I (Erena) am involved in a working group which is trying to help solve this problem. This group includes homeschoolers as well as reps from CIE and also the Association of Cambridge Schools NZ (ACSNZ.) CIE are very committed to giving us this option and are prepared to work on our behalf they have requested that, in the meantime, all homeschooling parents STOP contacting schools, effective immediately. While I can understand people’s initial reactions to this, we need to give the working group time to come up with a solution that is acceptable to the schools. We will do this as soon as possible so we should all know where we stand very soon.
***Please assist us with spreading this message far and wide – to anyone currently studying or planning on studying Cambridge up until and including 2013. A single enquiry could be the straw that broke the camel’s back – the situation is very serious. Home Educating is about choice and we need to preserve this choice!***
CIE has also requested we collate some data about HE students and Cambridge. A survey will be released tomorrow to this end so I will send through the link when that is finished. The results will be passed on (without names) to CIE and used as a basis for going back to the schools on behalf of Private Candidates. It is not an absolute commitment; just an indication of numbers.
Will let you know more when more information comes to hand.
Erena
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Please complete by midnight 24 February 2011
http://hef.org.nz/2011/cie-home-educators-survey/
New Zealand Home Educators using Cambridge Exams (CIE) email discussion group
http://hef.org.nz/2011/new-email-support-loop-nz-home-educators-using-cambridge/
Stumble It!
Hi Erena. Please would you add me to your group list. Te Rahui is at school, but I am interested in joining so I can maybe learn a thing or two about Cambridge, or share any info/books/references I may come across. thanks, Sue.
Sue, here is the survey to do as well:
http://hef.org.nz/2011/cie-home-educators-survey/
Hi Erena
Can you explain what the schools problems are with taking the HE/private students? Is it really a big deal/hassle for the school? Does it involve lots of paperwork for the school or does it cost them funding in some way? Is there a protocol that parents are supposed to follow or someone we are supposed to approach in order to gain access to the schools for these exams? If so, where do we gain access to said information?? I think the fact that this information is not readily available is probably a big part of the problem. It seems somewhat petty on the schools behalf to try and exclude HE/Private students….or am I missing something here??!! 🙂
Sure Sue. Can you send me your email and I will send you an invitation to the group. That is the easiest way to do it.
Erena
Hi Nicki
As far as I can tell, there are a number of problems ranging from extra admin time and costs, staff having to field countless enquiries etc. I am not directly involved with the schools but that is definitely the feedback from Cambridge (CIE) and the Association of Cambridge Schools in NZ (ACSNZ). One of the aims of the organisation I am involved with is to try and streamline this process. That will mean it should be much easier in the future to access these exams.
In terms of your last question, the first responsibiity of a school is always to its own students. They are under no obligation to take any External Candidates (including but not limited to homeschoolers), especially if it interferes in their ability to go about their core business of teaching their own students.
For general information about CIE go to http://www.cie.org.uk . For more specific information about how this works in NZ, go to http://www.acsnz.org.nz . There is also a new email loop for homeschoolers interested in or using Cambridge – NZHomeEdCambridge@yahoogroups.com
Hope that helps.
Erena