It seems like a great idea, reduce student stress by reducing 'high stress, timed exams' and introducing a mandatory assignment for all students in many courses. There will be 'depth study' focus tasks in all Science courses, assignments in the Maths courses and multi-modal presentations in the English Courses. I can't even guess what the requirements will be for other courses as they are published.
So the question comes, when would a school choose to run an assignment for students? Surely not Term 3 (the last term of the HSC year) as this is when schools typically run Trial HSC exams. Most likely not Term 4 (the first term of the HSC year) as students have likely not covered enough content, which leaves students facing a number of assignments in Term 2 and Term 3 of their HSC year. How will students cope with this when they already struggle to manage the balance between work, rest and play? (Yes, the Mars slogan!) More important, how will school's work to resolve this by managing student workload and spreading out tasks? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Assessment and Reporting Requirements can be found here:
http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/about/news/news-stories/news-stories-detail/stage-6-syllabuses-course-guides-assessment-and-reporting-requirements
