Course Summary 

Subject Recommendations for Tertiary Courses

Course Requirements

YEAR 9
The Year 9 programme at Takapuna Grammar School is an introductory course consisting of;

Compulsory Learning Areas
All students will study the following core subjects;
• English / ESOL
• Mathematics
• Health & Physical Education
• Science
• Social Studies

Learning Area where there is some choice of subjects
is Languages 

All students will study two languages for half a year each chosen from;
• French
• German
• Japanese
• Te Reo Maori
• Spanish

Extension and Support
Extension and support is offered in Year 9.  Some students may, after consultation with senior staff, choose the following courses;
• Special Education Courses
• Sports Institute (this would be in place of their Technology option)
• Learning Support Programme (this would be in place of their Language option)

YEAR 10
The Year 10 programme at Takapuna Grammar School is an exploratory course consisting of:

Compulsory Learning Areas
All students will study the following core subjects;

• English / ESOL
• Health and Physical Education
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social Studies
• Enterprise and Financial Literacy

Optional Subjects
All students will study 3 options chosen from the following (you may only choose ONE from each column). Language options with (*) must have been studied in Year 9.  NB: Sports Institute is by application only.

LEVEL 1 - YEAR 11 
The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (the NCEA) is the national qualification for all Year 11 students. This qualification means that each subject the student studies will;
• Consist of a number of Achievement Standards or Unit Standards that will tell students what they should know and what they should be able to do
• Assess students on the Achievement Standards either internally, that is by common tasks given by their teachers, or externally, that is by exams or tasks that are set nationally. All Unit Standards will be assessed internally
• Award students a number of credits for each Achievement Standard or Unit Standard where they reach the level required. For Achievement Standards it is also possible to achieve at a Merit or Excellence level
 
If a student gains 80 or more credits at Level 1, they will gain a National Certificate of Educational Achievement, Level 1. They must, however, have gained at least 10 credits from nominated literacy standards and 10 credits from numeracy standards.

At Takapuna Grammar School each Year 11 student will be expected to;
• Study a course that consists of 6 subjects.  Most subjects will consist of between 19 and 24 credits
• Select as part of their course English or English Alternative or English for Academic Purposes
• Take a course of Mathematics
• It is also highly recommended that all students take at least one science subject and that that is Science or Science Alternative.  It is possible to also do a maximum of 2 science subjects chosen from Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Science

LEVEL 2 - YEAR 12
The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (Level 2) will be awarded to students who are credited with 80 credits or more , of which a minimum of 60  credits is at level 2 or above, from anywhere on the National Qualifications Framework. Credits gained for the NCEA (Level 1) may be used towards meeting the requirements of the NCEA (Level 2) as well as other qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework.
At Takapuna Grammar School each Year 12 student will be expected to;
• Study a course that consists of 6 subjects. Most subjects will consist of between 19 & 24 credits.
• Select as part of their course English or English Alternative or English Language Support for Speakers of other Languages
• Multi – level courses are available and are a  recommended choice for a number of students.
For accelerate students, there may be the opportunity to study Mathematics at an advanced level.

International Baccalaureate

IB Diploma Programme students study six courses, 3 at higher level (HL) and 3 at standard level (SL). Students must choose one subject from each of groups 1 to 5, thus ensuring breadth of experience in languages, social studies, the experimental sciences and mathematics. The sixth subject may be an arts subject chosen from group 6, or the student may choose another subject from groups 2 to 5.

LEVEL 3 – YEAR 13
The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (Level 3) will be awarded to people who are credited with 80 credits or more , of which a minimum of 60 credits is at Level 3 or above, from anywhere on the National Qualifications Framework.  Credits gained for the NCEA (Level 1) and NCEA (Level 2) may be used towards meeting the requirements of the NCEA (Level 3) as well as other qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework.

At Takapuna Grammar School each Year 13 student will be expected to;
• Study a course that consists of 6 subjects.  Most subjects will enable 19 - 24 credits to be gained. One of these subjects may be a Study option.
• Multi – level courses are available and are a recommended choice for a number of students.

Year 13 Scholarship

Takapuna Grammar School encourages students studying subjects at the Year 13 level to consider entering the Scholarship examinations. These examinations are designed so that top performing students can demonstrate excellence academically. They enable them to apply skills of critical thinking, problem solving and applying and relating knowledge – skills inherent in our teaching and learning philosophy.

Students will be asked to indicate their intention to enter scholarship later in the term and departments will be setting up a number of structures to tutor students in their subjects.