Play It Strange Music Competitions
Secondary school students who are entered for the Play It Strange National Secondary
School Song Writing competition, the Peace Song competition and/or the Band of Strangers
concert will have their composition or performance assessed as evidence contributing
towards the Music achievement standards listed below. All students/competitors should have
access to these standards, not only those enrolled in Music classes.
Level 1
91090 – Perform two pieces of music as a featured soloist
91091 – Demonstrate ensemble skills through performing a piece of music as a member of a
group
91092 – Compose two original pieces of music
Level 2
91270 – Perform two substantial pieces of music as a featured soloist
91274 – Perform a substantial piece of music as a featured soloist on a second instrument
91272 – Demonstrate ensemble skills by performing a substantial piece of music as a member
of a group
91271 - Compose two substantial pieces of music
Level 3
91416 – Perform two programmes of music as a featured soloist
91417 – Perform a programme of music as a featured soloist on a second instrument
91418 - Demonstrate ensemble skills by performing two substantial pieces of music as a
member of a group
91419 – Communicate musical intention by composing three original pieces of music
Experienced music teachers will assess the students’ composition or performance against the
registered criteria of these standards and provide a Mark Sheet recording each student’s
results to confirm that they are eligible for the award of credits or have evidence that
contributes towards achievement of the composition or performance achievement standards.
Compositions or performances for Play It Strange competitions may already be part of the
programme in a Music class. Where the student work has been assessed by the Music
department, the Mark Sheets may provide additional evidence.
Reporting results to NZQA
Students should return their Mark Sheet(s) to their school’s Music department or
Principal’s Nominee
If the student has been awarded the standard, the school may report the result to
NZQA
If the evidence is incomplete, usually because students have only written one song,
the school may suggest further work. When this is completed and combined with the
evidence on the Mark Sheet, the student may achieve the standard.
External Moderation
The judgements will be monitored by NZQA as part of the external moderation process. The
school should retain the mark sheets as these will be regarded as sufficient attested evidence
for external moderation purposes.
Play It Strange song writing competitions
Song lyrics may provide evidence for level 1 or 2 English creative writing standards.
Students will be advised on the entry form to discuss this possibility with their English
teacher before they begin writing their song. If students are not taking English, they should
discuss the possibility of using their song lyrics as evidence with their school’s Head of
English. An NZQA Approved Level 2 (91101) task for poetry writing suitable for selfdirected study is available on TKI: this task could be adapted for Level 1 (90052v4).