Section 3 STAR in schools

STAR gives schools considerable freedom to develop programmes that meet the needs of their students as the schools relate to STAR's objectives. These objectives are to:

(i) facilitate transition to the workplace for students, particularly those intending to go straight into the workforce or those likely to leave school without any formal qualifications;

(ii) provide or purchase tertiary courses which will better meet students' needs, which will motivate them to achieve, and which will facilitate their smooth transition to further education, training or employment;

(iii) support students to explore career pathways and help them make informed decisions about their schooling and future work or study.

Funding, Staffing and Allowances Handbook, Appendix 3

Developing the school policy

The co-ordinator is responsible for ensuring that the school's STAR policy and procedures are developed and are then formally reviewed on a regular basis (every one to two years). Refer to the Ministry website and enter "STAR policy" in the search field to find templates and examples to assist in developing and reviewing such a policy.

Policies for STAR will vary between schools, but they should include:

• a statement stipulating that the STAR grant can be used only for the purpose for which it has been allocated, as outlined in the national objectives of STAR;
• a statement delegating financial responsibility to the STAR co-ordinator and outlining accounting processes and standards.

The policy is also likely to include statements about:

• where the STAR programme will fit within the school's strategic plan;
• who the school will target with the funding, how the money will be used, and how these decisions line up with the national objectives and criteria;
• how the funding will be used to meet the needs of the students defined in NAG 1 (iii) (see page 15);
• how the students' needs will be identified and used to create an appropriate (and responsive) STAR programme;
• the school's expectations of the external providers and of the students participating in offsite learning experiences;
• the health and safety, consent, and attendance requirements for off-site learning;
• the form of reporting required by the board of trustees, including financial reporting and outcomes for students.

Despite your best efforts, you cannot be completely certain about your students' needs, what the external providers will do, or how the needs of local businesses may change. The policy should therefore address such questions as:

• What will we do if we don't get the required number of students for a course?
• What will we do if a student withdraws from a course too late for a refund?
• What will we do if a course is not of the required quality?
• How will we ensure that the programme is responsive to student, community, and local industry needs?

Each school will have its own processes for policy development, though the process will always include negotiation between the co-ordinator and the principal and other relevant staff members.

The process may include:

• setting up a team comprising the co-ordinator, the principal, members of the school careers and transition staff, heads of department, and deans;
• conducting a meeting of the whole staff;
• consulting with the school community.

At School E, a management committee meets on several occasions over a three-week period to discuss and develop their school's STAR policy. The committee consists of the principal, the assistant principal, the STAR co-ordinator, the head of department (HOD) of careers and transition, the teacher in charge of Gateway (see page 21), the guidance counsellor, and two senior HODs. Once the policy has been developed and confirmed by the board of trustees, the staff are informed and discuss how it will work within the school.

At School F, the principal and the STAR co-ordinator run a staff meeting that explains and develops an understanding of STAR. The staff as a whole develops a policy on how the STAR programme will run and how it will fit with other programmes.

At School G, the principal and the STAR co-ordinator design a letter to interested parents, inviting them to a hui to discuss how STAR should be used in their school to best meet their children's needs. The recommendations made at this meeting shape the policy developed for the school's use of STAR.

The participants in policy development need to understand the national objectives for STAR and the criteria for its use. They should have access to this handbook and to the most recent version of Appendix 3. With this knowledge in mind, they then need to seek input from the wider school community to identify:

• the needs of the student body as a whole;
• the needs of those students described in NAG 1 (iii);
• how best to respond to new needs and opportunities as they arise.

The needs of the student body

Every year, the school's STAR programme is reviewed in a process that is described on pages 26-27 of this book. As part of this process, the co-ordinator collates information about the needs, interests, and career aspirations of individual students and uses this to establish a broad picture of the needs of the student body. You can use this information to decide who to target with the funding and how the money should be spent. In this way, students can be provided with personalised learning pathways and a smooth transition to the workplace or further study. You can also draw on the evaluation of the current STAR programme when it is time to review the policy.

School H is a low-decile rural school. Many students struggle to achieve success in learning areas associated with the national curriculum. The school has decided that, as access to outside providers is a problem and transport costs are high, they will use STAR to help set up and buy in courses from the regional polytechnic.

The requirements of NAG 1 (iii)

In line with NAG 1 (iii), the STAR policy will specifically address the transition needs of students who are not achieving, are at risk of not achieving, or have special needs, including the gifted or talented. Schools will already have mechanisms for identifying these students.

The needs of gifted and talented students can generally be met by providing them with opportunities to explore future options and work towards qualifications at a higher level than is possible at school. For students who struggle with learning areas associated with the national curriculum but are not yet ready to leave school, STAR-funded courses can provide the opportunity to try out non-national curriculum courses that better match their personal needs and interests. At the same time, they can experience a very real sense of achievement as they work towards credits in unit standards that contribute towards their NCEA.

A group of students at School I were struggling to achieve. Despite their best efforts, they were failing to gain credits towards NCEA. The STAR co-ordinator set up a programme in which they spent two days in school working towards unit standards in literacy and numeracy, one day at a work-based learning experience, and two days working towards unit standards at the local polytechnic. At the end of the year, some had achieved level 1 NCEA and others were close to it. When asked to evaluate their programme, they all reported that they felt happier, more motivated, and committed to giving school a go for another year.

Responding to new needs and opportunities

Over time, new needs and opportunities may arise, both within the school and in the community. At school, teachers may have students who would be interested in taking their subject further into an area that requires specialist knowledge, or schools may not have the facilities or course materials they need to deliver particular unit standards. For example, a geography teacher may have students who would be interested in taking unit standards in travel or tourism. A food and nutrition teacher may have students who are interested in taking unit standards in hospitality and catering, but the school may not have an industrial kitchen to make this possible. Other teachers who have skills that are not part of the national curriculum programme may be interested in offering a course where they can share them with the students. For example, a technology teacher may like to offer a course in automotive engineering. New industries that need workers with specialist skills and knowledge may develop in the community, or the local polytechnic may offer an expanded range of courses.

The STAR policy must be flexible enough to allow the co-ordinator to respond to new needs and opportunities as they arise. It is also important to be aware of any long-term changes in local educational and employment opportunities and to respond to these when reviewing the policy.

When she noticed that new vineyards were being established in the local area, the co-ordinator at School J approached the STAR co-ordinator at the local polytechnic. Together, they arranged for some of the school's horticulture students to take a short course in viticulture.

Developing the school programme

STAR gives schools the opportunity to offer or access non-national curriculum courses that meet the particular needs of their students. Domains deemed to be part of the STAR excluded List (SEL) include learning areas associated with the national curriculum, and so they are not funded by STAR. Likewise, other additional NQF domains may be considered to be outside the scope of STAR. (See www.minedu.govt.nz for a list of these domains.) The school's STAR programme is based on its policy and is targeted at meeting the students' interests and needs within the school's priorities. STAR funding can be used to provide seed funding for the establishment of new school-based courses that are outside the learning areas associated with the national curriculum. However, this would be for the initial set-up only, with the clear idea that ongoing funding would come from the school's operational grant once the course is established. This is to ensure that STAR funding continues to meet the needs of as wide a range of students as possible.

Criteria

Appendix 3 to Chapter 1 of the Ministry of Education's Funding, Staffing and Allowances Handbook sets out the criteria that STAR courses are expected to meet.

Courses offered should meet one of the following criteria:

1. The course, in all or part, includes work-based learning; and/or

2. The course, in all or part, leads towards credit for unit standards on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), including NCEA, for vocational, education and training courses at Level 1 or above; and/or

3. The course leads to a quality-assured tertiary qualification* at a level beyond that of a typical Year 13 course that has by convention been provided in the senior secondary school.

* See the New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications (the Register)

Funding, Staffing and Allowances Handbook, Appendix 3

Examples

The following suggested examples demonstrate uses for STAR that comply with these criteria:

Identifying the students' needs, interests, and aspirations

One of the co-ordinator's tasks is to gather and analyse information about the students' needs, interests, and career aspirations (see pages 7-8). You can use some of this information to identify the needs of individual students and match them to the courses and placements offered in the school's STAR programme. You can then collate it to gain a broad picture of the needs, strengths, and interests of the wider student body. This picture can contribute to a programme review in the middle of each year, before the next year's senior course booklet is released (see page 26). You can then draw on this review when planning the programme for the next year and when developing or reviewing the school's long-term STAR policy.

You can gather some of this information directly from the students themselves, but you also need to consult with their teachers, parents or guardians, and the course providers.

This ongoing process, which requires you to use a variety of methods, could include:

• reviewing data about each student, including achievement data and information on potential career paths;1
• incorporating a process for identifying students' transition needs at the time when they select courses for the following year;
• carrying out a student needs survey (see the Ministry website);
• collating information from course evaluation sheets on how well the school's STAR-funded courses are meeting the students' needs and on what else they may need;
• inviting students to apply to take part in advertised STAR-funded courses and assessing the response rate;
• setting up a process that staff can use to refer a student or a group of students, perhaps out of a department analysis of needs;
• meeting regularly with other staff members (for example, the careers advisor, guidance counsellor, deans, and form teachers);
• consulting with parents about their children's needs;
• inviting feedback from providers;
• referring to the school's record of students with special needs as described in NAG 1 (iii) (see page 15).

1 Careers advisors collect information about each student's career planning as it develops, in a process that may include the development of a learning and career plan.

At School K, the careers advisor helps the form teachers to work with year 9 and 10 students to develop potential individual career plans. This is continuously reviewed, with input from the students' parents. The plans inform decisions about the STAR courses that are offered in the senior school.

• "I surveyed all the year 10 students at the end of the year to help me plan a programme of short courses for the new year. This allowed me to contact providers and see what they could do for us."
• "Some of our funds are targeted to at-risk students and some for those with particular talents. Both groups are identified through the assessment system. We generally pick up the gifted during years 9 and 10, so they are easy. For the others, teachers make referrals of students that they think will not achieve or who will underachieve, and the deans and guidance counsellor follow these up. I talk to the careers teacher once it has been identified that a student needs something a bit different if they are to pass their NCEA."
• "We believe that students need to have a clear idea of their possible career pathways as this motivates them to achieve and helps to ensure that they are successful when they leave school. We use the learning and career plan, so I read through the students' goals, and this gives me a good idea of what sort of courses will interest them and support them to reach their goals."

Restrictions

Entitlement staffing should provide adequate funding for schools to provide learning areas associated with the national curriculum as listed on the SEL. STAR is not intended to support schools looking to reduce class sizes or to support small optional subjects.

School subjects, for which there are achievement standards and non-vocational unit standards, as well as religious study courses, may not be resourced using STAR funding.

Funding, Staffing and Allowances Handbook, Appendix 3

Because new unit standards are continually being created, it is impossible to have a complete list of what is or isn't acceptable. Contact your STAR advisor for help (see Appendix B).

In some rare cases, exemptions may be considered. In the first instance, talk this through with your STAR advisor, who may suggest that you make a formal application for an exemption. Visit the Ministry of Education website and enter "STAR excluded" in the search field to find the STAR-excluded List (SEL) and the exemption form.

Course delivery

You can use STAR funding for a wide range of educational opportunities, including academic courses, industry training, and general courses on topics such as first aid. Such opportunities vary in length and include short introductory courses.

Schools have the option of offering their students STAR programmes that are delivered either internally or externally or that combine the two approaches. Using external providers gives students access to expertise and facilities that are not available within the school as well as the opportunity for some "real world" experience. On the other hand, internal delivery can be less disruptive and more cost-effective. Schools can purchase course materials and assessors from an external provider while supervising the students themselves, or they may pay for an external provider to come on-site to provide tuition. They can also accumulate STAR funding to help build a workshop or industrial kitchen and then use funding from the operational grant to develop and staff a new course.

STAR course providers must be accredited by the NZQA in order to offer assessments in their courses. If the STAR programme includes a course that is delivered by an external provider, it must run under that provider's accreditation. Schools can engage other organisations, such as local employers, to provide work-based learning (see criterion 1, page 17). A memorandum of agreement should be signed by the school and organisation, which clearly outlines the expectations, roles, and outcomes required of the relationship.

External providers

The NZQA website lists accredited external providers. Many have a designated person in charge of STAR. You will often find that they have brochures outlining the STAR-funded courses they offer, but they may also be willing to consider a course proposal from you. The school is responsible for checking that courses are eligible for STAR. If in doubt, ask your advisor.

Providers may present you with a prepared memorandum of agreement that outlines the understanding between them and the school. Remember that this is a partnership and that, within it, you have the ultimate responsibility for the welfare of your students. You have the right to create the memorandum yourself or to negotiate with the provider to ensure that it reflects what you believe to be best practice. Make sure that it is consistent with your school's policy and that it includes details of:

• funding arrangements;
• how attendance will be recorded and reported;
• how the provider will provide quality assurance;
• how and when the students' achievement will be assessed and reported.

Visit the Ministry of Education website and enter "STAR memorandum" in the search field to find a template for a memorandum of agreement.

School L conducted student surveys and identified a big interest in careers in automotive engineering. The co-ordinator found that the local polytechnic had a series of units that could be purchased and run within the school. These units were paid for from STAR, and staffing was provided from the school's existing staffing formula. The course was run under the polytechnic's accreditation, an arrangement that was negotiated in the memorandum of agreement.

School M has decided that the students' career aspirations will be the basis for deciding how their STAR funding is used. They use individual career plans to match students to local providers. Students generally attend a STAR-funded course on one day a week throughout the school year.

School N has identified catering as a growth industry in the local area. The school has decided to supplement its operational grant funds with some money from STAR to help set up a professional kitchen that interested students can use while studying catering. A teacher who is qualified for this has already been asked to run the courses. He is organising the documentation to extend the school's accreditation so that the school can offer the standards involved.

The National Qualifications Framework

The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) is a system for structuring national qualifications and is administered by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). It is designed to provide:

• nationally recognised standards and qualifications;
• recognition and credit for a wide range of knowledge and skills.

Unit standards and achievement standards, national certificates, and national diplomas are registered on the NQF. Every standard registered on the Framework describes what a learner needs to know or what they must be able to achieve. Students can accumulate credits from unit standards and achievement standards towards national certificates, including the NCEAs, and towards national diplomas. For more information visit www.nzqa.govt.nz

The National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEAs) Levels 1-3 are New Zealand's national school qualifications normally assessed in years 11 to 13. Credits from all standards on the NQF can count towards the NCEA. Many credits also count towards specialist national certificates in areas such as horticulture and electronics technology. At school, students can gain credits through traditional school curriculum areas, through alternative school curriculum programmes, and through links with tertiary and industry qualifications. STAR provides a mechanism through which these links can be made.

Only providers that are registered with and accredited by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) can award credit for unit standards. These providers can be any individual or organisation supplying education and/or training and/or assessment services that has shown that they have the tutors, resources, and equipment necessary to run their programmes.

You can search the NZQA website for a list of registered education providers by going to

www.nzqa.govt.nz/providers/index.do The list is updated weekly and includes information about the fields, subfields, and domains for which each provider is accredited. A "field" is a broad area of learning on the NQF (for example, engineering and technology), a "subfield" is an area of learning within that (for example, mechanical engineering), and a "domain" sits within a subfield (for example, composites).

You can also search the NZQA website to find information about NQF-approved courses by going to www.nzqa.govt.nz/framework/explore/index.do If you search for a unit standard or qualification in the subject of your choice, you can then view the accredited providers.

Gateway

The Gateway programme offers senior secondary students an opportunity to experience the workplace first-hand while taking part in structured learning and can help them to make decisions about apprenticeship opportunities. The students are assessed for unit and achievement standards that contribute to the NCEAs as well as industryspecific qualifications. Like STAR, Gateway is designed to help schools to make learning relevant to the needs of all students and to ensure that young people make a smooth transition from school to work. STAR has a broader mandate than Gateway, and schools that operate both programmes can operate them in a complementary way. The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) administers the funding and management of Gateway.

Youth Apprenticeships

Through the Youth Apprenticeships programme, secondary students will be able to see a clear industry-related pathway to their particular career aspirations. Schools will be able to offer curriculum and career-related courses that build knowledge and understanding. These courses provide hands-on learning experiences that are relevant to students wishing to pursue modern apprenticeships and tertiary training across more than 40 industries.

Youth apprenticeships lever off existing school-based resources such as STAR, Careers Information Grant (CIG) (both administered by the Ministry of Education), and Gateway (structured workplace learning administered by the TEC).

Administering the programme

Statutory responsibilities

Informed consent

Before a student can take part in a STAR course, they need the informed consent of their parents or guardians and of the affected teachers. All parties need to understand the reasons for placing the student in a particular course and how it contributes to meeting the objectives of STAR. (See also page 11.)

It is not necessary to obtain parental consent for each event in a series of events, provided that:

• the school has obtained the consent of parents for a student's participation in the school's STAR programme (one or more events); and
• the parents are provided with the vital information about each event.

Attendance records

Students enrolled in school while also attending STAR courses with outside providers are still considered to be the responsibility of the school for enrolment and attendance purposes. The legal requirements for school attendance are outlined in Appendix 3 to Chapter 1 of the Ministry of Education's Funding, Staffing and Allowances Handbook (Appendix A of this handbook).

Your memorandum of agreement with external providers will make it clear that they will keep attendance records and will send them to the school and that the school and provider will communicate about absences.

Health and safety

STAR programmes are regarded as education outside the classroom (EOTC) and come under its provision. EOTC is "curriculum-based learning that extends beyond the four walls of the classroom" (Safety and EOTC: A Good Practice Guide For New Zealand Schools, page 5). The school's EOTC policy and procedures should provide the STAR co-ordinator with the appropriate procedures for all STAR activities.

Under the Education Act 1989, reinforced by the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 and the Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 1995, boards of trustees are legally responsible for the students who take part in EOTC.

If there is an accident during an EOTC event, a board may be held accountable whether the accident is caused by the actions or omissions of a teacher, outside helper, student or commercial operator contracted by the board. Whether accountability goes so far as being legally liable for the accident will depend on whether the board has complied with its legal obligations when planning and carrying out the EOTC programme.

Safety and EOTC: A Good Practice Guide for New Zealand Schools, page 31

When students attend a course off-site or at a workplace, the responsibility for their health and safety transfers to the provider or employer. The STAR co-ordinator must ensure that the provider or employer is aware of this, that they have health and safety procedures in place, and that these procedures are detailed in the memorandum of agreement.

When students are on work experience, the primary responsibility for health and safety matters rests with the management of the workplace. The Department of Labour provides guidance, via pamphlets and the Internet, to employers who have people undertaking work experience in their workplace. This information can be sourced from www.workinfo.govt.nz.

Work Experience Notice 2004

When students are in transit, the school is responsible for their welfare, and so the EOTC policy must include clear and well-understood procedures for keeping them safe.

Safety and EOTC: A Good Practice Guide for New Zealand Schools points out that EOTC activities can provide students with the opportunity for great gains but that there is also the potential for loss. Examples of loss include death, physical injury, psychological injury, a lost person, damage to the environment, and damage to equipment. As well as putting in place procedures to mitigate against such loss, schools, providers, and workplaces also need to have procedures to deal with any that do occur (for example, procedures to deal with a serious physical injury and with the associated trauma).

For further information, you could order copies of the book or CD-ROM version of Safety and EOTC: A Good Practice Guide for New Zealand Schools from the Ministry. Alternatively, you could download a copy from Te Kete Ipurangi at www.tki.org.nz/e/community/eotc

Financial management

STAR funding goes into the school's operational grant, where it is tagged for the purposes of STAR. The school may provide the "hands on" financial management, but it is the co-ordinator who is responsible for managing the STAR funding, which must be held in a separate account.

At School O, the executive officer has set up a dedicated account for STAR and has set up the records so that they provide accurate individual transaction and summary information in the format required by the funding report form. This requires the co-ordinator to provide additional information to that of the executive officer on how the expense is tagged when a payment authority is signed. This process makes it much easier for the co-ordinator to complete the funding report form.

The funding formula is updated annually and can be found in Appendix 3 to Chapter 1 of the Funding, Staffing and Allowances Handbook (Appendix A of this handbook). Co-ordinators who wish to clarify the amount that their school receives should ask to see the operational funding entitlement information from the principal or the executive officer (or accounts manager).

STAR funding is not intended to cover the full costs of all STAR courses.

Rather, STAR funding is provided as a "top up" to a school's entitlement staffing and per-pupil funding. The operational funding and staffing entitlement that students on STAR courses generate as regular students should also contribute towards resourcing STAR courses.

Funding, Staffing and Allowances Handbook, Appendix 3

Administration costs

STAR is intended as a grant to help students move into further education or employment and is not intended to cover school administration costs because these are provided for in the operational grant. Levies for administration, heating, lighting and water, or rooms are all examples of inappropriate funding use.

In keeping with the concept of free state education, schools may not charge fees for STARfunded courses. If the funding is insufficient to cover the full costs of a course, they are expected to contribute the balance from their operational funding and staffing entitlement.

Schools may not charge fees for students to attend STAR courses, or for any equipment (excepting any take-home component) or activity associated with the course. Schools are expected to meet any additional costs where STAR funding is insufficient to meet the full costs of the course.

Funding, Staffing and Allowances Handbook, Appendix 3

If you do not intend to use your entire STAR funding, you can choose to receive just part of it. You should use the STAR funding request form (available from www.minedu.govt.nz/goto/resourcingforms) to indicate the portion of the funding you would like to receive in the following year.

Rolled-over funds

Appendix 3 to Chapter 1 of the Funding, Staffing and Allowances Handbook includes a table that shows the options available to your school if you have unused STAR funding at the end of the school year. Up to 10 percent of STAR funding may be carried forward to the following year without applying to the Ministry of Education. Where funds are carried forward, they are expected to be available to the STAR co-ordinator at the start of the new school year. This may mean that the co-ordinator needs to set up special year-end accounting procedures with the executive officer for STAR accounts.

Transport

Each school needs to develop its own policy for covering the transport costs associated with STAR courses. The options could include:

• paying for all of it out of STAR;
• asking the parents to contribute some money towards it and paying the balance out of STAR;
• paying for all of it out of the operational grant.

If the travel is STAR related, the student shouldn't bear the full cost of transport.

Bonds

Some schools charge parents a refundable bond, payable to the school, before they allow students to enter a STAR-based programme or participate in STAR-funded courses. This is permitted, provided the school places careful boundaries around it that are outlined in the STAR policy and are made clear to the parents. The school can do this by stressing the seriousness of the programme the student is involved in.

Sample extract

I agree that [name] should be subject to the polytechnic's regulations when attending classes, and I acknowledge that his/her continuation in the programme will be dependent on satisfactory attendance and conduct. I take responsibility for his/her transport and enclose a cheque for the bond of $20.00. I acknowledge that [school] will pay approximately $50.00 per day out of STAR funding for my son/daughter to attend this course.

Reporting requirements

Reporting to the Ministry of Education

Each year schools are required to maintain a record to confirm that the Crown's funds allocated for STAR have been used for the purpose intended.

Funding, Staffing and Allowances Handbook, Appendix 3

Schools are required to complete the Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource (STAR) funding report form, which is available online at www.minedu.govt.nz/goto/resourcing forms and on the Ministry's STAR web page. The form is to be completed annually, held on record in the school, and made available to the Ministry on request. It is the principal's and the board of trustees' responsibility to ensure that this and any other records related to STAR funding are accurate and are available for audit and reporting purposes.

See Appendix C (page 34) for a version of the funding report form that offers annotated instructions for its completion. If you have any problems with completing the form, talk to an advisor first or contact the Resourcing Division Contact Centre. You can email the centre at resourcing@minedu.govt.nz

Reporting to the board of trustees

At least once a year, the principal and co-ordinator will report to the board of trustees. Their report should outline the school policy and provide an overall picture of the way in which the STAR programme is being delivered in the school. This should be held on file together with the completed STAR funding report form for that year. The STAR funding report form provides valuable information that can be used to evaluate the STAR programme. The board of trustees' report should identify the key personnel and their roles and address the key outcomes. It could include information about the gender and ethnicity of students who have benefited from the STAR programme and their records of attendance. Drawing on all this information and on the course evaluations, co-ordinators can tell the trustees about the successes of the programme and highlight any trends, risks, or issues that are emerging.

Reporting to the NZQA

Where students are involved in assessment by external providers, the results of student assessment must be reported to NZQA.

Effective from the beginning of 2010, an agreed protocol between NZQA, the Ministry of Education and the Tertiary Education Commission confirms that the accredited provider is responsible for ensuring all information relating to student assessment results is sent to NZQA.

When a school contracts an external provider to provide assessment for their students an arrangement for reporting results must be entered into. Such arrangements are to be contained within a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

There should an MOU for each external provider which formally documents the responsibilities between the two parties; the school where the student is enrolled and the external provider, which may be another school.

The purpose of the MOU is to:

• define the means by which the school ensures that the required standards of teaching, assessment and moderation will be maintained 
• ensure that collaborative arrangements are clearly set out and operate smoothly 
• ensure that clear channels of authority, accountability and executive action are identified 
• clearly identify which party will send assessment results information to NZQA 
• clearly identify the mechanism by which the school receives assessment results information so that parental and other reporting requirements can be met.

Some tertiary providers will have an MOU that schools can use. If not, NZQA can provide a sample which includes responsibilities for the moderation process.

Any accredited provider submitting assessment results data to NZQA for secondary school students must report ‘Not Achieved’¹ results. Where appropriate this should be clearly outlined in the MOU.

The annual fee paid to NZQA for each student at school covers the reporting of assessment results².

¹ TEOs submitting ‘Not Achieved’ results will incur a separate credit fee charge.

² Where TEOs report results direct to NZQA the current credit fees will apply. This is in interim policy until credit reporting measures can be put in place to accept all results from TEOs at no direct cost to TEOs. This will not change until 2011 at the earliest.

Reviewing and evaluating the programme

As with any school programme, you need to ensure that STAR really is meeting the students' needs by evaluating each of the courses they attend and by conducting a regular programme review.

Evaluating the courses

Whether courses are delivered internally or externally, they should always be monitored for their effectiveness. You can do this by asking your students to complete course evaluation sheets. Record information about each student's gender, ethnicity, and attendance record and the particular course they attended.

Try to find answers to such questions as:

• Did you find the course interesting? Was it relevant to your needs? Was it well planned?
• What did you think of the tutor? Could you understand his or her explanations? Was it easy to ask questions?
• Have you gained some new skills? If so, what are they?
• Has the course helped you to plan for your future? If so, what have you decided?
• What else do you need to know before you decide on your plans for future work or study?

You can use the evaluation information you gather to:

• shape future programmes;
• meet the ongoing needs of individual students;
• decide whether to stay with a particular provider;
• report to the board of trustees.

See Appendix D (page 39) for links to the Ministry website, including examples of course evaluation forms.

Most providers have their own evaluation forms. The memorandum of agreement could

include a negotiated agreement by which the provider shares summaries of these forms with the school. This would mean that the students had fewer forms to fill in, and it would also ease the co-ordinator's workload.

"We get all our students to complete an evaluation form for the internally run STAR programmes in June, prior to the senior options book being published. This helps us to understand whether the courses we are providing internally really are meeting the needs of our students."

"We sent fifteen students on a hairdressing course. The provider got them to fill in evaluation forms, which they sent to us along with the assessment information. The forms showed that the students found their experiences worthwhile and fun. This information helped us to decide that we would use this provider again."

Reviewing the programme

It is best to conduct a programme review in the middle of each year before releasing the next year's senior course booklet. It is important that the co-ordinator consults with all interested parties. This could include the principal, the heads of any departments providing STAR-funded courses, the senior deans, any teachers who are delivering courses, and the relevant external providers. The review will draw on experiences and observations as well as on evidence that comes directly from the students. Pages 18-19 of this book list some of the sources of evidence co-ordinators can use to establish the needs, strengths, and career aspirations of the school's current students. The co-ordinator can then collate this data to establish an understanding of the needs of the student body as a whole.

Having gained a picture of the students' needs, it is then important to establish how well the current programme is meeting individual needs and what else the students may require. Some of this information will be embedded in the course evaluation sheets. In addition, you may like to find out about the longer term impact of your STAR programme by carrying out exit interviews with your students when they leave school or follow-up surveys of students who left some time ago. Staff members, course providers, and the students' parents and guardians all have important perspectives to offer. Visit the Ministry of Education website and enter "STAR self-review" in the search field to find an example of a self-review process.

The information gained through this review will feed into your ongoing programme planning as well as into the less frequent process of policy development (see pages 13-16).