Professional Responsibilities and Relationships/Nga Tirohanga Whanui

All forms of cheating and dishonest practice are taken seriously and penalties will result. Students should refer to Regulation J of the General Course and Examination Regulations. Work submitted may be analysed by the software Turnitin, to check for plagiarism. Where there is evidence that cheating or plagiarism has occurred students will be awarded an X grade and the matter will be referred to the Head of the School of Teacher Education.

Assessment procedures will follow the established policies of the UC College of Education, Health and Human Development Assessment Guidelines.

Grading Scale
Grade    GPA      Marks
A+          9      90 – 100
A            8      85 – 89.99
A-           7      80 – 84.99
B+          6      75 – 79.99
B            5      70 – 74.99
B-           4      65 – 69.99
C+          3      60 – 64.99
C            2      55 – 59.99
C-           1      50 – 54.99
D            0      40 – 49.99
E           -1       0 – 39.99

The score for each assessment item will be aggregated for the final grade. Normally a student will need to pass all assignments in a course. However, at the time of the examiner’s meeting when one of the grades for an assignment is just below the passing grade and the other grades are at a satisfactory level, the examiner may also consider factors such as attendance, engagement and the tertiary literacy standard of the assignment. In consultation, the examiner may decide to award the aggregated scores/grades. Assessment procedures will follow the policies of the UC College of Education, Health and Human Development Assessment Guidelines. Final grades will be calculated and reported using the UC Common Grading Scale.

A student seeking credit in any course must attend such lectures, workshops and/or tutorials and perform satisfactorily such oral, practical, written and other requirements specified by the course coordinator

You are enrolled in a professional programme. As you enter a profession you also commit to a set of professional and ethical obligations. On completion of your programme the College is required to attest to the Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand your fitness to be a teacher. Fitness to teach is evidenced by:

• Professional behaviour
• Commitment to being fully prepared for professional experience
• Engagement with colleagues
• Reliability and trustworthiness

Your classes are structured to prepare you for your professional experiences out in early childhood centres and kindergartens. These classes are an important and integral part of preparing you for this professional experience and your future teaching profession. In our experience, students who miss lectures and/or tutorial/workshops are often inadequately prepared for their professional experience in centres and kindergartens. Students with less than 80% attendance are at-risk of not meeting the criteria for seeking credit in the course. The course coordinator may require evidence that they have actively engaged with the content and activities of the missed sessions.

We reserve the right to not allocate you a place on professional practice where we determine that you are not sufficiently prepared. This could result in failure of the entire professional experience paper for that year. Should exceptional circumstances arise regarding attendance, students need to notify the course coordinator with an explanation. Extended absences must be accompanied by a medical certificate or similar (as for aegrotat provisions).

Formal and informal evaluation will take place in accordance with the relevant Course Evaluation Policy, to provide feedback to staff about the relevance and validity of what has been learned as well as the quality of course delivery.

The courses will be internally moderated in accordance with the processes adopted by the College of Education, Health and Human Development. An examiners’ meeting will be held at the end of the course to determine the final grades and to ensure fairness and consistency.

All assignments must be submitted on or before the due date. If an assignment is late (without a prior arranged extension) then it will normally not be marked. However, if the course coordinator is notified within 24 hours of the due date and there is a genuine issue, for which evidence must be given, it may be considered but the assignment grade is usually restricted to a minimum passing grade (50%) for that assessment.

Assignments must be processed in Times New Roman, 12 point font with a 3cm left hand margin, 1.5 line spacing. Every page must be named and numbered.  APA format is required for references. Keep a copy of all assignments. Students must attach a completed cover sheet to all work.

Extensions are reserved for exceptional circumstances only (e.g., illness, accident, bereavement or critical personal circumstances) and are not granted automatically. The course coordinator must be contacted by email at least two working days before the due date, and the application must be supported by relevant evidence (e.g. medical certificate, letter from counsellor). An extension will normally be for no more than one week and the date of the extension will be provided to the student in writing.

Extensions will not be granted because of pressure of university study, e.g. several pieces of work being due around the same time. The procedure for extensions is fully outlined in the College of Education, Health and Human Development Assessment Guidelines.

Resubmits are not permitted.

Where for reasons beyond their control, students are prevented from completing an assessment or suffer significant impairment, they may apply for what is known as “special consideration”. University of Canterbury Special Consideration provisions may apply to impaired performance, non-completion of assessment items, and to late discontinuation (withdrawal) from a course.

A detailed description of special consideration and materials to support the applications process are available at: Special Considerations Process.  


Generally speaking, applications for special considerations should be lodged within five working days of the due date of that assessment item. For more details on this, please refer to the Special Considerations Regulations.


This information replaces any previous references to special consideration, Aegrotat or Backdated (Late) Withdrawal in the Course Information System, Learn or Course Outlines. If you are unclear about the implications or process please discuss with your Course Coordinator or contact the Student Advice team for assistance.

All students must submit their assignment through Turnitin via the course Learn site by 5.00pm on or before the due date. Save your file as a Microsoft Word document (inclusive of the cover sheet) with your last name, first initial in the title box (e.g., Smith, C). Other file formats, e.g., RTF will not be accepted. Any student failing to meet submission requirements will be required to re-load their assignment according to these instructions. This will risk incurring a late penalty.It is the responsibility of the students to check their Internet access and ability to submit their work via the online system. Any technical difficulties should be notified well in advance of the due date so that assistance can be provided or alternative arrangements can be negotiated.

For ICT help call our free call number 0508 UC IT HELP (0508 824 843) or on 03 369 5000.  Monday to  Friday, 8am to 5pm (excluding public and university holidays).  Assignments will be returned via the Course Learn Site.