11to12 Circulars – Edition 10, November 2023
Courses
WACE Language course applications – Year 11 or 12 2024
Contact
Nadia Civa (08) 9273 6355
Nadia.Civa@scsa.wa.edu.au
Adriana Douglas (08) 9273 6784
Adriana.Douglas@scsa.wa.edu.au
Schools in Western Australian are advised that applications for new enrolments in Year 11 and Year 12 language courses resumes from Monday, 22 January 2024 to Thursday, 28 March 2024. Applications are to be submitted online via the Student Records Management System (SRMS) student portal https://studentportal.scsa.wa.edu.au/.
How to check the language course application status of students intending to enrol in a language course
To complement report CSE208 (Language Course Application Status) in the Student Information Records System (SIRS), a new report (CSE229 – SRMS Language Course Application Status) has been developed. CSE229 shows the status of all online language course applications submitted via the Student Record Management System (SRMS) student portal. CSE208 shows the application status of students who have submitted language applications using the paper form, and those students who have submitted online language applications through the student portal that have been finalised. CSE208 will be phased out in 2024.
CSE229 is available via the following SIRS pathway:
Reports > Other reports > Report type: Enrolments, Report: CSE229 – SRMS Language Course Application Status.
After selecting the current calendar year, it is important to select the relevant Academic Year (e.g. Year 10 in 2023 for students intending to enrol in Year 11 in 2024).
If you have any questions, please use the School guide for online applications for WACE language courses or Student guide for online applications for WACE language courses to assist you/your students in completing the applications, or email languagesenrolment@scsa.wa.edu.au.
Non-school candidates
Where a course is not offered by the school, before submitting the Non-school Candidate enrolment form 2024, Year 12 students must complete an Application to enrol in a WACE Language course if they are undertaking:
- Chinese: First Language course examination or a background language course examination in French, German, Hindi, Italian or Korean
or - Chinese or Japanese: Background Language, or Indonesian: First Language course examinations through Interstate Language offerings.
Forms are due by Thursday, 28 March 2024.
If you have any questions regarding students undertaking a language as a non-school candidate, please email languagesenrolment@scsa.wa.edu.au.
Notification of new Languages courses for 2024 – Year 11 ATAR Tamil: Background Language and Year 11 ATAR Tamil: Second Language
Contact
Adriana Douglas (08) 9273 6784
Adriana.Douglas@scsa.wa.edu.au
Hanneke Rekelhof (08) 9273 6724
Hanneke.Rekelhof@scsa.wa.edu.au
School Leaders, Heads of Learning Area – Languages, and Teachers of Languages are requested to note that the syllabuses for Year 11 ATAR Tamil: Background Language and Year 11 ATAR Tamil: Second Language have now been endorsed by the Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority. The Year 11 syllabuses are endorsed ‘For teaching from 2024’.
The syllabus documents are available on the Tamil page of the Authority website: https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/tamil-background-language and https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/tamil-second-language under ATAR. Supporting materials will progressively be made available.
Notification of new Languages syllabuses for 2024 – ATAR Hindi: Background Language and ATAR Hindi: Second Language
Contact
Adriana Douglas (08) 9273 6784
Adriana.Douglas@scsa.wa.edu.au
Hanneke Rekelhof (08) 9273 6724
Hanneke.Rekelhof@scsa.wa.edu.au
School Leaders, Heads of Learning Area – Languages, and Teachers of Languages are requested to note that the syllabuses for Year 12 ATAR Hindi: Background Language and Year 12 ATAR Hindi: Second Language have now been endorsed by the Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority. The Year 12 syllabuses are endorsed ‘For teaching from 2024’.
The syllabus documents are available on the Hindi page of the Authority website: https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/hindi-background-language and https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/hindi-second-language under ATAR. Supporting materials will progressively be made available.
Notification of new Languages courses for 2024 – ATAR Indonesian: Background Language
Contact
Lisa Djanegara (08) 9273 6382
Lisa.Djanegara@scsa.wa.edu.au
School Administrators, Heads of Learning Area – Languages, and Teachers of Languages are requested to note that the syllabus for Year 11 ATAR Indonesian: Background Language has now been endorsed by the Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority. The Year 11 syllabus is endorsed ‘For teaching from 2024’.
The syllabus document is available on the Indonesian page of the Authority website: https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/indonesian-background-language/_nocache under ATAR.
Supporting materials will progressively be made available.
Notification of new Languages syllabuses for 2024 – ATAR Korean: Background Language and ATAR Korean: Second Language
Contact
Adriana Douglas (08) 9273 6784
Adriana.Douglas@scsa.wa.edu.au
Lisa Djanegara (08) 9273 6382
Lisa.Djanegara@scsa.wa.edu.au
School Leaders, Heads of Learning Area – Languages, and Teachers of Languages are requested to note that the syllabuses for Year 12 ATAR Korean: Background Language and Year 12 ATAR Korean: Second Language have now been endorsed by the Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority. The Year 12 syllabuses are endorsed ‘For teaching from 2024’.
The syllabus documents are available on the Korean page of the Authority website: https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/korean-background-language and https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/korean-second-language under ATAR. Supporting materials will progressively be made available.
Notification of new Languages courses for 2024 – ATAR Punjabi: Background Language and ATAR Punjabi: Second Language
Contact
Adriana Douglas (08) 9273 6784
Adriana.Douglas@scsa.wa.edu.au
School Leaders, Heads of Learning Area – Languages, and Teachers of Languages are requested to note that the syllabuses for Year 11 ATAR Punjabi: Background Language and Year 11 ATAR Punjabi: Second Language have now been endorsed by the Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority. The Year 11 syllabuses are endorsed ‘For teaching from 2024’.
The syllabus documents are available on the Punjabi page of the Authority website: https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/punjabi-second-language/_nocache and https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/punjabi-background-language/_nocache under ATAR.
Supporting materials will progressively be made available.
Minor syllabus changes for 2024 – the Science learning area – Marine and Maritime Studies
Contact
Nick Ognenis (08) 9273 6354
Nick.Ognenis@scsa.wa.edu.au
School administrators, Heads of Learning Area – Science and Teachers – Science are requested to note for 2024 the following minor syllabus changes in ATAR Year 11 Marine and Maritime Studies and General Year 12 Marine and Maritime Studies. These syllabuses are now available on course pages and labelled as ‘For teaching from 2024’.
Teachers of the General Year 12 course are also asked to note that an update to the 2024 General EST Unit 3 Content can be found on the MMS course page here https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/science/marine-and-maritime-studies.
Course | Syllabus change |
---|---|
General Year 12 Marine and Maritime Studies | For detail on the minor syllabus changes please see the document General Year 12 summary of minor syllabus changes for 2024 available directly below the updated 2024 syllabus at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/science/marine-and-maritime-studies. |
ATAR Year 11 Marine and Maritime Studies | For detail on the minor syllabus changes please see the document ATAR Year 11 summary of minor syllabus changes for 2024 available directly below the updated 2024 syllabus at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/science/marine-and-maritime-studies. |
Moderation
Small Group Moderation Seminars 2024
Contact
Adriana Douglas (08) 9273 6784
Adriana.Douglas@scsa.wa.edu.au
Where a school has an estimated number of fewer than six ATAR course examination candidates in a particular Year 12 ATAR course, it must become involved in a small group moderation partnership to increase the combined group size to six or more students for that pair of units.
Schools are informed that the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) is offering Small Group Moderation seminars in February to assist senior secondary teachers who are delivering ATAR Year 12 courses that require their school to take part in the small group moderation process.
Registration and further information can be located on the Authority website using the links below: https://webapps.scsa.wa.edu.au/apps/Bookings/Events.aspx?EventId=4930 and
https://webapps.scsa.wa.edu.au/apps/Bookings/Events.aspx?EventId=4931.
2024 Syllabus Delivery Audit of selected General and ATAR Years 11 and 12 courses
Contact
Graeme Quelch (08) 9273 6758
Graeme.Quelch@scsa.wa.edu.au
Schools are advised that in 2024 the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) will conduct a syllabus delivery audit (SDA) for selected General and ATAR Years 11 and 12 courses (see table below). This moderation activity is designed to ensure that all schools are teaching and assessing the current syllabus in line with the requirements of the WACE Manual 2023 available on the Authority website.
Schools are required to submit a separate course outline and assessment outline for each listed course delivered. Schools are reminded that for Year 12 courses, the course outline and the assessment outline must cover both Unit 3 and Unit 4 as a year-long course.
The process will require the upload of documents to SIRS2.
The Syllabus Delivery Audit 2024 School Coordinator Handbook and the Syllabus Delivery Audit 2024 Teacher and Head of Learning Area (HoLA) Handbook will be sent to all Principals towards the end November via the Student Information and Records System (SIRS). The handbooks will be available on the Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/moderation/syllabus-delivery-audit after this time.
Schools are required tocomplete the task of uploading documents between 9.00 am Monday, 22 January 2024 and 4.00 pm Friday, 16 February 2024. The documents can be either in Microsoft Word or PDF format.
Following the Authority’s review of the documents in 2024, a report for each course will be available to schools. Schools will be informed if a document does not meet the requirements of the syllabus and/or the WACE Manual 2024. The report will specify the action/s that the school needs to take to ensure the document meets the requirements of the Authority.
Courses selected for the 2024 SDA – General and ATAR Years 11 and 12 courses.
Learning area | Courses |
---|---|
Arts | Year 12 Design ATAR Year 11 Drama General Year 11 Media Production and Analysis General Year 12 Music ATAR Year 12 Visual Arts General |
English | Year 11 English as an Additional Language/Dialect General |
Health and Physical Education | Year 11 Physical Education Studies ATAR |
Humanities and Social Sciences | Year 12 Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies General Year 11 Ancient History ATAR Year 11 Agribusiness ATAR Year 12 Economics ATAR Year 11 Modern History ATAR Year 11 Religion and Life Foundation |
Languages | Year 11 Chinese: Background Language ATAR Year 11 Indonesian: Background Language ATAR Year 11 Japanese: Background Language ATAR Year 11 Tamil: Second Language ATAR Year 11 Tamil: Background Language ATAR Year 11 Punjabi: Second Language ATAR Year 11 Punjabi: Background Language ATAR Year 11 Russian ATAR Year 11 Sinhala ATAR Year 11 Persian ATAR Year 11 Polish ATAR Year 11 Turkish ATAR Year 11 Hebrew ATAR Year 12 Hindi: Second Language ATAR Year 12 Hindi: Background Language ATAR Year 12 Korean: Second Language ATAR Year 12 Korean: Background Language ATAR |
Mathematics | Year 11 Mathematics Essential General |
Science | Year 11 Agricultural Science and Technology ATAR Year 11 Human Biology General Year 12 Psychology ATAR Year 11 Science in Practice General |
Technologies | Year 12 Computer Science ATAR Year 12 Design ATAR Year 11 Engineering Studies ATAR |
Vocational Education and Training and Endorsed Programs
Recording of enrolment and achievement of VET units of competency (delivered through VET credit transfer) or VET qualifications – Year 9 students, 2024
Contact
Sarah King (08) 9273 6391
Sarah.King@scsa.wa.edu.au
Permission must be obtained from the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) for Year 9 students to enrol and have achievements in VET units of competency (achieved through VET credit transfer)/VET qualifications contribute towards the WACE.
Schools should apply only if the studies for these students are part of a longer-term program where:
- students are in remote community schools where learning programs relate directly to the local industry, or
- students are accessing VET as part of an individual education program (IEP), and
- a valid opportunity has been presented which supports an ongoing and coherent training pathway.
An application form for permission for the recording of enrolment and achievement of VET units of competency (delivered through VET credit transfer)/VET qualifications – Year 9 students, 2024 is available on the Authority website via the following link: https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/forms/forms under Achievements.
The due date for receipt by the Authority of the completed application form is Thursday 7 December 2023.
SIRS, Enrolments and General Information
Curriculum Advisory Committees 2024
Contact
Maureen Lorimer (08) 9273 6397 [Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday]
maureen.lorimer@scsa.wa.edu.au
Practising teachers, and representatives of the following organisations: professional associations, universities, training, industry and community, are invited to nominate for the Curriculum Advisory Committees in the following phase of learning:
- Late Adolescence and Early Adulthood (Years 11 and 12)
- Ancient History
- Agricultural Science and Technology
- Agribusiness
- Human Biology
- Modern History.
These committees are responsible for providing expert advice to the School Curriculum and Standards Authority on a range of matters, including, but not limited to:
- the Principles of Teaching, Learning and Assessment
- external assessments (Externally Set Tasks (ESTs) and Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) course examinations)
- assessment and moderation
- the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) syllabus requirements.
The Nomination Form is accessible via the following link:
https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/7596383/Curriculum-Advisory-Committee-Nomination-Form-2024.
Please note that only the above listed committees that require new members in this round of nominations will be included in the dropdown list for selection.
The nomination process requires a 3-page curriculum vitae and an endorsement form (available to download from first page of the Nomination Form) to be attached.
The Terms of Reference are available via the above link and describe the structure and composition of the committees.
Applications close on Monday 12 February 2024.
Please contact Ms Maureen Lorimer, Principal Consultant – Strategic Projects if you require further information.
Collection of other than Year 12 students’ achievement data – 2023
Contact
Kerry Tarrant (08) 9273 6770
Kerry.Tarrant@scsa.wa.edu.au
Schools are reminded that the other than Year 12 achievement data is due to the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (Authority) by Thursday, 7 December 2023 as per the 2023 Activities Schedule.
Information about collecting achievement data was emailed to schools on Wednesday,
25 October 2023.
Schools will need to provide the achievement data for:
- Year 11 students enrolled in ATAR, General, Foundation, Preliminary and VET Industry specific courses
- Year 11 students studying VET qualifications, VET units of competency, VET skill sets and endorsed programs
- Year 10 students studying VET qualifications, VET units of competency and endorsed programs.
Please check you have no missing achievements by running the CSE009 – Missing achievements by provider report in the Student Information Record System (SIRS). This report lists students and their enrolments in course units, endorsed programs and units of competency for which no results have been submitted.
The pathway to this report is: Reports > Other reports > Report type: Missing achievements > Report: CSE009 – Missing achievements by provider.
The importance of uploading the RSQUAL file for WACE certification
Contact
Kerry Tarrant (08) 9273 6770
Kerry.Tarrant@scsa.wa.edu.au
Schools are reminded of the importance of ensuring the VET Qualification Results (RSQUAL) file is uploaded to the Student Information Records System (SIRS) database at the end of each calendar year. The information in the RSQUAL file is used to allocate unit credit towards the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) and to determine that a student has met the Certificate II or higher requirement.
Please note: The RSQUAL file must only be uploaded once the school has received written verification from the Registered Training Organisation (RTO) that the student has achieved the qualification.
It is also important for schools to ensure that the RSQUAL file processes successfully to SIRS and any error messages are resolved before due dates. If a student does not have the correct number of units of competency linked to a qualification in SIRS, the RSQUAL will not upload successfully.
Failure to upload this file may result in students not achieving their WACE and may therefore be considered not eligible for first round offers for entry into university and TAFE courses.
If there are errors in student achievement data after the deadlines that are a result of the school providing incorrect or incomplete data, the school will be charged a fee for updating the data.
Schools are also reminded that if the RSQUAL is not uploaded at the end of that year for Year 11 students who have completed a qualification this may also prevent students from achieving their WACE in the following year.
The RSQUAL file should be uploaded at the conclusion of the year that the student completes the full qualification (whether that be Year 10, 11 or 12).
Schools should check that the qualification has been recorded correctly by running the report
CSE007 – VET qualifications achieved in full. The pathway to this report is: Reports > Other Reports > Report type: Achievements > Report: CSE007.
More detailed information about the RSQUAL file is provided in Section 9.6.5 of the Data Procedures Manual 2023. This publication is available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/wace-manual.
Links are provided to database-specific software programs in Section 13 of the Data Procedures Manual 2023: https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/further-resources/data-procedures-manual.
WASN requests for 2024
Contact
Data Services (08) 9273 6352
numbers@scsa.wa.edu.au
dataservices@scsa.wa.edu.au
All current students in Western Australia should have been allocated a Western Australian Student Number (WASN) and be registered with the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority). This number remains with the student throughout their school life. Schools need to recognise the importance of the WASN to avoid duplication of records and maintain continuity of student data.
From 16 October 2023, schools will only be able to request WASNs through the Student Information Record System (SIRS) for Kindergarten students commencing in 2024.
If a student other than Kindergarten arrives at your school from another WA school, please check to see if they have a WASN first using the ‘Search for WASN’ process – explained in ‘How to Search for WA Student Numbers in SIRS’ in this circular. For new students commencing in 2024 that do not have a WASN, schools should request a new number from January 2024.
Please note the Authority does not issue numbers for Pre-Kindergarten students.
If you cannot locate a number, then contact numbers@scsa.wa.edu.au and give details of the student’s legal surname, legal first name, date of birth and academic year. It is also useful to include your school code in any correspondence. If schools request a WASN for a student who already has a number, the correct WASN number will be sent back to schools.
All secondary schools with a Year 7 intake can send a complete list (spreadsheet) of Year 7 students entering their school, including the student’s legal surname, legal first name and date of birth and the Authority will look up the numbers on their behalf.
A reminder that details of how to register students can be found in the Data Procedures Manual 2023 found at Data Procedures Manual with links to assist schools using Integris/Reporting to Parents (RTP), Civica Maze, SEQTA, Synergetic, Administration of Schools (AoS) and Excel.
Search for a WASN in SIRS
Contact
Data Services (08) 9273 6344
numbers@scsa.wa.edu.au
dataservices@scsa.wa.edu.au
If a student arrives at your school from another school in Western Australia, schools can search in the Student Information Records System (SIRS) for that student’s Western Australian Student Number (WASN) using a family name, given name and date of birth.
If a student arrives from overseas or interstate, schools should search to see if the student has previously been registered as a Western Australia school.
- Hover over Enrolments in the menu bar.
- Click on Student Enrolment > Student Maintenance > Find Student Number (see image below).
The Find Student Number directory will appear (see image below). Enter the student’s Family Name, Given Name and Date of Birth.
- Click Search.If the information you have entered exactly matches the information in SIRS, you will find a result even if the student is not at your school (see image below).
If the details you have requested are different from the information in SIRS (e.g. date of birth is different, Jackie is spelt as Jacky), no information will be found. In this case, please email numbers@scsa.wa.edu.au and provide the student’s:
- Family Name (Surname)
- Given Name (First Name)
- Date of Birth
- Academic Year
- Previous School (if known).
Please include your provider code in the email.
Troubleshooting: Search WASN
- What happens if the requested information does not show?
Email numbers@scsa.wa.edu.au and provide student name, academic year and date of birth. - What happens when a single year (e.g. 2022 to 2022) is entered in the date range?
Only a result for that year will be returned. - What does it mean when the Department of Education is shown as the student’s main provider?
It means the student is likely to be under a Notice of Arrangements or may have been on the Whereabouts Unknown List (more likely with Years 7, 8, 9 and 10).
Registration of students on SIRS in 2024
Contact
Data Services (08) 9273 6352
dataservices@scsa.wa.edu.au
Schools and other education providers are reminded that in 2024, National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests will be conducted from Wednesday 13 March to Monday 25 March 2024.
To ensure there are no delays in processing student data for NAPLAN, Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) or Brightpath, please note the following important dates for the upload of Student Registration and Demographic (SRGDG) files to the Student Information Records System (SIRS) in 2024.
Thursday, 8 February 2024
- Initial 2024 registration and demographic information for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 (required for NAPLAN) (via SRGDG file)
- Initial 2024 registration and demographic information for Years 11 and 12 students (required for OLNA) student lists and password generation (via SRGDG file)
- Initial 2024 registration information for all teachers where students attend schools using Brightpath (via THREG file).
After Thursday, 8 February 2024, only new school enrolments for NAPLAN and OLNA can be registered in SIRS until Friday, 23 February 2024.
After Friday, 23 February 2024, will not be possible for school data to be transferred to the NAPLAN platform and schools will need to enter students into the NAPLAN portal manually. Students participating in OLNA may have a delay in receiving their user login and password details.
Registration and demographic information for all remaining Kindergarten to Year 10 students other than those listed above is due to be uploaded by Thursday, 28 March 2024.
The SRGDG should be updated and uploaded regularly throughout the year. At a minimum, it is recommended that schools upload their student registration file at the beginning of each term. This will ensure any new students to the school are recorded in SIRS as well as update the status of any students who have left the school.
Details of how to register students via the SRGDG file may be found in section 4 of the Data Procedures Manual (Data Procedures Manual).
For all schools that have students participating in the Brightpath Program, please refer to section 4 of the Primary Student Registration Procedures Manual (Primary Student Registration Procedures Manual) for assistance with uploading the Teacher Registration File (THREG).
If you require Western Australian student numbers (WASN), please send an email to numbers@scsa.wa.ed.au.
Schools are requested to include their school code in any correspondence.
2024 Term Calendar availability
Contact
Perpetua Joseph (08) 9273 6771
Perpetua.Joseph@scsa.wa.edu.au
The 2024 Term Calendar is available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at three locations:
- https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/activities-schedule
- https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/resources/activities-schedule
- https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/further-resources/activities-schedule.
The Term Calendar is based on the Activities Schedule 2024.
The Outlook calendar will be available to download on a term-by-term basis. Any updates to the Activities Schedule 2024 will be noted in the Circular and replicated in new versions of the calendar.