METHOD
Assessment was competency based, using the goals and specific teaching points set out in the Outline as a point of reference. In other words, assessment was based on observation of what students were actually able to do independently after approximately 8 weeks of work on the project, in comparison to their abilities in the same areas at the beginning of the project.

In Week 8 of Term 4, students were requested to create a report on an animal or plant of their choice following the model established in previous weeks. It was made clear that while this report would form another page of the website, the task was also an assessment task and that teacher support would be minimal - we wanted to see what they could do independently.

RESULTS
At the beginning of the project, the students' skills in report writing could be described as 'patchy'. While the genre was not new to them, they were clearly most comfortable with the recount genre. An obvious weakness was the ability to organise information under appropriate headings. Similarly, all students had some word processor, web browser and keyboard usage skills, but were clearly not 'fluent' or independent in their use. Keyboard skills and word processor editing skills in particular were noticeably weak.

The performance of all students in the assessment task was very good and surpassed teacher expectations. All students were able to independently research, draft, edit and write up a report based on the established model - requests for teacher support were minimal, and in several cases, no support at all was required at any stage. Furthermore, the students' word processing and keyboard skills were also sufficiently well developed that no requests for assistance were made in this area.

ATTENDANCE
In terms of encouraging attendance and positive attitudes to learning, the project has also been very successful. The attendance of all students involved in the project was generally good in any case, but absences were rare and always attributable to legitimate reasons such as illness or family commitments. Once students began to see the project take shape and they understood the scope and nature of the website, most sessions were marked by an enthusiastic attitude and high levels of focus and diligence (particularly for afternoon sessions!). It was also clear that students responded very positively to having their culture and their daily reality valued and brought into the school as a subject of serious study.