Assessment and reporting in Textiles and Design

Schools are required to submit to NESA a grade for each student based on their achievement at the end of the course.

Teachers use professional, on-balance judgement to allocate grades based on the Common Grade Scale for Preliminary courses.

Teachers consider all available assessment information, including formal and informal assessment, to determine the grade that best matches each student’s achievement at the end of the course.

See ACE (Assessment, Certification and Examination rules and requirements) for further information.

Assessment programs must reflect course components and weightings

The course components and component weightings for Year 11 are mandatory.

Schools may determine specific elements of their assessment program

Schools have authority to determine the number, type of task and the weighting allocated to an assessment task. Schools may also follow the sample assessment programs provided by NESA.

Sample assessment program

NESA’s sample Year 11 formal school-based assessment program for Textiles and Design includes:

• 3 assessment tasks, including:
  • a formal written exam.

The recommended weighting for any individual task is 20% to 40%.

NESA requires schools to submit a school-based assessment mark for each Year 12 candidate in a course. Formal school-based assessment tasks should reflect the syllabus outcomes and content. The mark submitted by the school provides a summation of each student’s achievement measured at several points throughout the course.

A school’s program of school-based assessment includes both mandatory and non-mandatory elements.

See ACE (Assessment, Certification and Examination rules and requirements) for further information.

Assessment programs must reflect course components and weightings

The course components and component weightings for Year 12 are mandatory.

Schools may determine specific elements of their assessment program

Schools have authority to determine the number, type of task and the weighting allocated to an assessment task. Schools may also follow the sample assessment programs provided by NESA.

Sample assessment program

NESA’s sample Year 12 formal school-based assessment program for Textiles and Design includes:

• 4 assessment tasks, including:
  • a minimum weighting for an individual task of 10%
  • a maximum weighting for an individual task of 40%
  • one task that is a formal written exam with a maximum weighting of 30%.

Formal written exam

This task may assess a broad range of course content and outcomes. Schools may choose to replicate the timing and structure of the HSC exam.

If a school includes the development of the externally assessed Major Textiles Project in conjunction with the written paper, the combined weighting of the tasks should not exceed 30%.

School-based assessment of the Major Textiles Project

Schools are reminded that the use of the external marking criteria to assess HSC project work at school is not appropriate.

The progress of the Major Textiles Project should be assessed in other valid ways, such as oral presentations or reports on progress linked to other syllabus outcomes.

The following examples provide two possible approaches for the formal assessment of the major project.

Example 1: Design and Planning – Presentation

A presentation after the completion of the design and planning assesses a student’s knowledge, understanding and skills at a key point in time.

A presentation may require students to include:

• research and resource selection
• development of ideas including drawings sketches and/or visual communication
• appropriate design development including experimenting and evaluating
• planning, including timelines.

Example 2: Project Development and Management – Report

A report after the completion of substantial aspects of the development and production of the major project

A report may require students to:

• consider the materials, equipment and manufacturing processes necessary for the successful completion of their textile item(s)
• analyse the functional and aesthetic design features of their textile item(s)
• evaluate the properties and performance of the fabric, yarns and fibres used in the construction of their textile item(s)
• develop the sketches to support their visual design development, identify the strengths and weaknesses.

The supporting documentation will be limited to 24 written A4 pages OR 12 written A3 pages printed on ONE side only.

A clear and easily read font equivalent in size to 12-point Times New Roman must be used for text.

The overall volume of the packaging container, which includes both the supporting documentation and the item(s), must not exceed 0.2m3. Examples of package sizes that equal the maximum volume are 1m x 1m x 0.2m and 1.2m x 0.5m x 0.33m. Note that the maximum length of any side must not exceed 1.2m. Packaging should be of a lightweight material.

In addition, the following rules apply to all projects for the HSC Textiles and Design exam and should be strictly adhered to. Failure to comply with these rules could penalise marks awarded to students.

• Textiles items must not be framed under glass or rigid plastic sheeting.
• Items must be able to be safely and reasonably handled by one person.
• Any HSC item that might be considered dangerous to health or safety may not be marked and will be returned to schools.
• Dangerous materials must not be used. Those considered as dangerous include those that have very sharp points or cutting edges such as glass, mirror fragments, barbed wire, pins, hypodermic syringes with needles.
• Packaging should be of a lightweight material.

Development of the Major Textiles Project may commence from the beginning of the HSC course.

Schools must have procedures in place that will allow effective supervision of the development of students’ Major Textiles Projects. This is particularly the case where work is done away from school.

Schools must be confident that effective supervision and sufficient documentation of this work is possible before giving consent for students to begin work on their Major Textiles Project.

Students will be required to certify that the Major Textiles Project is their own original work, and that any material drawn from other sources and any outside assistance is acknowledged. Group projects are not permitted.

Teachers must certify that the work has been completed under their supervision, and that the rules and procedures described here and in the ACE website have been followed.

Principals must be able to endorse the teacher’s declaration that the work:

• has been done under the teacher’s supervision
• is the student’s own work consistent with earlier drafts and other examples of the student’s work
• was completed by the due date.

On occasions it may be necessary for some minor aspect of the project to be undertaken by some other person or agency. In such cases, the contribution of the outside agent/organisation must be documented in the supporting documentation and project coversheet. Students will not be given credit for work completed by others. The justification for such work will be recognised in the marking process.

A brief written record of each student’s progress throughout the Major Textiles Project must be kept by the teacher. This should not be submitted with the project, but may be requested in exceptional circumstances where the examiners require further information. This record should be retained in the school together with assessment records. A Practical Project: Record of Student’s Progress pro-forma is available to download from Schools Online.

Some students with disability may require adjustments to undertake the Major Project on the same basis as students without disability. This could include adjustments to access the folio, such as a scaffold, or adjustments to access tools and resources, such as the use of assistive technology or physical assistance.

Adjustments in response to a disability are not considered ‘outside assistance’ and do not need to be recorded on supporting documentation that is submitted to NESA, including the project coversheet. Schools should follow school and sector protocols for recording adjustments. Where a student with disability has been provided with outside assistance in addition to an adjustment, the outside assistance must be recorded in the student’s folio, as outlined above.