ICAS writing gold for Christchurch student

A Christchurch student has won gold for her writing in the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) awards.

Mette van Pallandt, from Rangi Ruru Girls’ School, was placed first in the year ten section for New Zealand and the Pacific region. She was one of 100 New Zealand entrants to win medals for outstanding achievement in ICAS 2015 which attracted 980,000 entries. 

Her winning submission is described as an account of a frightening and unconventional game of hide and seek.  Rangi Ruru head of English, Erin Fitzpatrick, says it’s a noteworthy achievement for Mette and Rangi Ruru.

“To be placed first out of all year ten participants from across New Zealand and the Pacific region is significant. The piece she wrote is so evocative that it places the reader right there with Sam, in that dark space, being hunted. I was totally absorbed while reading Mette’s work.”

ICAS Writing and English exams are optional extra examinations at Rangi Ruru. Students who wish to challenge and extend themselves sit these exams after school. The test was sat on Tuesday 13th June.

ICAS writing is a criterion-referenced assessment that uses a common scale. This means that the assessment is marked against criteria which are specific to the task and that every student’s work is assessed against the same marking scheme. There are between nine and twelve marking criteria which are divided into four domains or sections: genre, textual grammar, syntax/punctuation, and spelling.