[Type text]

“To raise up effective leaders of godly character who will blend academic achievement and biblical truth, to influence society

for the glory of God.”

Principal: Mrs Melissa Brown M Ed St, BA, CEPA Orange Christian Schools Ltd ABN 50 002 302 776

500 Cecil Rd Orange NSW 2800 P: 02 6362 7258 F: 02 6362 7441 E: ocs@ocs.nsw.edu.au

2nd March, 2017

2017 ICAS International Competitions and Assessments for Schools

Dear Parents, ICAS is a highly regarded and internationally recognised assessment program for schools in Digital Technologies, English, Mathematics, Science, Spelling and Writing which enables schools to identify students’ levels of academic performance.

Each students will receive:

An engaging and challenging full-colour assessment booklet

An individual diagnostic report highlighting strengths and areas for development

Online access to their own ICAS results, which can be viewed and downloaded

A UNSW Global certificate recognising their achievement – Participation, Merit, Credit, Distinction and High Distinction

We encourage everyone to take advantage of these assessments, as they provide an external standardised check on your child’s progress. What are the Assessments?

Digital Technologies: (for students in years 3 – 10) There are 30 to 45 items in each paper, depending on the year level that require students to apply their knowledge, skills and understanding across the skill areas of operating systems and computer hardware; networks and other communications systems; word processing; graphic and multimedia; spreadsheets and databases; internet use and email programs and for senior papers, programming.

English: (for students in years 2 – 12) There are 35 to 60 items in each paper, depending on the year level, that require students to apply their knowledge, skills and understanding to locate, identify, interpret, infer and synthesis information in and about texts. Students read a range of texts that cover different forms and purposes.

Mathematics: (for students in years 2 – 12) There are 30 to 40 items in each paper, depending on the year level, that require students to apply their knowledge, skills and understanding across the skill areas of number and arithmetic; algebra and patterns; measurement; space and geometry; and chance and data.

Science: (for students in years 2 – 12) There are 30 to 45 items in each paper, depending on the year level, that require students to apply their knowledge, skills and understanding across five skill areas of observing/measuring; interpreting; predicting/concluding; investigating and reasoning/problem solving.

[Type text]

“To raise up effective leaders of godly character who will blend academic achievement and biblical truth, to influence society

for the glory of God.”

Principal: Mrs Melissa Brown M Ed St, BA, CEPA Orange Christian Schools Ltd ABN 50 002 302 776

500 Cecil Rd Orange NSW 2800 P: 02 6362 7258 F: 02 6362 7441 E: ocs@ocs.nsw.edu.au

Spelling: (for students in years 2 – 7) This paper assesses students’ skills at spelling words in four different context: dictation; proofreading; error correction and applying rules and conventions.

Writing: (for students in years 3 – 12) Students will have their skills assessed in writing an extended response to a given task. The writing task is criterion referenced and assessed by trained markers.

As you would be aware for the last couple of years we have been encouraging our Tier +1 students to enter the Literacy and Numeracy assessments by covering the entry costs. It has been wonderful seeing the growth in the number of entries during this time. From this year we request that you pay for your child’s entries into these valuable competitions. Thank you for your ongoing support. Please complete the attached form and return to school by Friday 17th March 2017, with the correct money, cheque or pay at the front office via EFTPOS, if you would like your child to be included in these assessments

Thanks, Cathy McPhee ICAS Coordinator

[Type text]

“To raise up effective leaders of godly character who will blend academic achievement and biblical truth, to influence society

for the glory of God.”

Principal: Mrs Melissa Brown M Ed St, BA, CEPA Orange Christian Schools Ltd ABN 50 002 302 776

500 Cecil Rd Orange NSW 2800 P: 02 6362 7258 F: 02 6362 7441 E: ocs@ocs.nsw.edu.au

2017 ICAS ENTRY FORM Student Name: _________________________________________ Class: _______________ Parent Name: __________________________________________ Signature: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________

Subject Years Entry Fee $ Amount to Pay Test Date

Digital

Technologies 3-10

$8.80 Tues 23 May

Science

2-12

$8.80 Tues 30 May

Writing 3-12 $18.70

Mon 12 – Fri 16

June

Spelling

2-7

$12.10 Wed 14 June

English

2-12

$8.80 Tues 1 August

Mathematics

2-12

$8.80 Tues 15 August

Total

Cash / chq / EFT

NB: Entries must be received at school by Friday 17th March 2017.