Years 11 and 12 Mathematics Preliminary Seminar

Contact
Marcela Pasquini (08) 9442 9427
Marcela.Pasquini@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of the Mathematics Preliminary course are invited to register for one of the seminars being offered by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority in Term 3, 2023. Due to the nature of the seminar, teachers are encouraged to attend face-to-face sessions where possible.

• Busselton: Monday, 21 August, 1.00–3.00 pm
• Perth Metropolitan Area: Thursday, 24 August, 1.00–3.00 pm
• Via Webex: Friday, 25 August, 3.15–5.15 pm

The seminars will aim to provide opportunities for teachers to:

• understand course requirements
• analyse and discuss assessment task samples
• review student files and self-reflection
• discuss findings and plan future action.

Please register at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/years-11-and-12-mathematics-preliminary-seminar.

Please contact marcela.pasquini@scsa.wa.edu.au should you have further questions.

Examination reports for the 2022 ATAR course examinations

Contact
Gabby Raggio (08) 9273 6787
Gabby.Raggio@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers are advised that the 2022 ATAR course examination reports are now available on the course page of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website once logged into the extranet.

The Extranet is the Authority’s secure area for teachers to access materials and resources to support them in their work. Please use the link below to log into the Extranet or to register: https://scsa.wa.edu.au/extranet/login.

The 2022 Summary examination reports for candidates are also available on the course page.

An examination report is not available for some courses where there were insufficient candidates to enable any valid statistical analysis.

Policy for setting the written ATAR course examination dates

Contact
Gloria Richmond (08) 9273 6309
Gloria.Richmond@scsa.wa.edu.au

In August 2019, the Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority amended the principles for setting the dates of the Year 12 ATAR course written examinations:

• Written examinations will commence on Monday of the week in which November 1 falls on a weekday; and Monday of the following week, when November 1 falls on a weekend.
• The written examination period will be for a period of approximately 15 weekdays.
• Large candidature examinations will be scheduled, where possible, in the first ten days of the examination period.
• No practical examinations will be scheduled on the weekend immediately prior to the commencement of the written examinations.

It should be noted that the scheduled date range of Year 12 ATAR course written and practical examinations from year to year will not always fall in the same cycle of weeks of school terms.

The 2023 Year 12 ATAR course written examinations are scheduled from Monday, 30 October to Friday,
17 November 2023. The 2023 Year 12 ATAR course written examination timetable will be published on Wednesday, 7 June 2023 on the Examination Timetables webpage of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at:
https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/examinations/examination-timetables.

No information regarding the date of specific examinations is available prior to this date. The scheduled date range for the Year 12 ATAR course written examinations for the next three years is also available on this webpage.

The 2023 Year 12 ATAR course practical examinations are scheduled from Saturday, 23 September to Sunday, 22 October 2023. See the schedule on the Examination Timetables webpage.

From Tuesday, 5 September 2023 students will be able to download their Personalised written examination timetable and Personalised practical examination timetable from the student portal at https://studentportal.scsa.wa.edu.au.

The written examination timetable will contain the date, time and examination centre for the student’s written examination. The practical examination timetable will contain the date, time, venue and location of the student’s practical examination.

Marker applications for 2023 ATAR course examinations

Contact for practical marker applications
Dianne Rogers (08) 9273 6772
Dianne.Rogers@scsa.wa.edu.au

Tim Chiew (08) 9273 6377
Tim.Chiew@scsa.wa.edu.au

Contact for written marker applications
Cristina Caruso (08) 9273 6317
Cristina.Caruso@scsa.wa.edu.au

Janifar Salam (08) 9273 6307
Janifar.Salam@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority is seeking applications from qualified people interested in marking the 2023 ATAR course written and/or practical examinations.

For information regarding marker applications or to apply, please refer to https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/about-us/employment.

Applications open on Thursday, 4 May 2023. Applications close on Tuesday, 20 June 2023.

Music ATAR course practical (performance and/or composition portfolio) examination Information summary sheet/s and Information collection form/s

Contact
Dianne Rogers (08) 9273 6772
Dianne.Rogers@scsa.wa.edu.au

The Information summary sheet/s and Information collection form/s have been sent to schools to arrive by Thursday, 4 May 2023.

The pack has been sent to the Music teacher through the Principal and includes instructions and the date for returning completed materials to School Curriculum and Standards Authority.

Physical Education Studies ATAR course practical (performance) examination: sport elective data collection

Contact
Tanya Andrew (08) 9273 6394
Tanya.Andrew@scsa.wa.edu.au

A pack containing documentation to gather sport elective data (sport and skill level) for the 2023 Physical Education Studies ATAR course practical (performance) examination has been sent to schools to arrive by Thursday, 4 May 2023.

This pack has been sent to the Physical Education Studies teacher through the Principal and includes instructions and the date for returning completed materials to School Curriculum and Standards Authority.

Vocational Education and Training – Awards Selection Report 2022 now online

Contact
Arti Dogra (08) 9273 6751
Arti.Dogra@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) recommends that School Leaders and people delivering VET to secondary school students read the Awards Selection Report now available on the Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/certification/exhibitions-and-awards under Awards for outstanding achievement in VET.

The report provides valuable information for teachers who supported the nomination of students in 2022 and for those who plan to do so in 2023.

It presents statistics on the number of students involved in the awards selection process and detailed information on how students were selected for awards, including feedback and recommendations for teachers.

The names of award winners, published in the media in December 2022, are listed on the Authority website.

The 2023 VET Awards for Outstanding Achievement Brochure and 2023 VET Awards Nomination Kit are available on the website under Awards for outstanding achievement in VET.

Access to the online nomination process will be available to schools on Friday, 30 June 2023. The last date for schools to submit VET award nominations via SIRS is Monday, 28 August 2023 at 4.30pm.

Commencement of the OLNA testing in Term 2

Contact
OLNA Helpdesk (08) 9273 6726
olna@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools and other education providers are reminded that in Term 2 2023, OLNA testing for Window A will conclude on Friday, 12 May. Window B will commence on Monday, 12 June and will conclude on Friday, 23 June. Schools are also reminded of the following important dates for OLNA in Term 2:

Monday, 22 May: Updates to requests from schools for adjustments for Term 2 Window B.

Thursday, 1 June: Closing date for adjustment requests for Term 2 Window B.

Tuesday, 6 June: OLNA student login details and updated student lists for Term 2 Window B. Results from the OLNA Term 2 Window A available in SIRS.

Monday, 17 July: Results from the OLNA Term 2 Window B available in SIRS.

Students’ marks for Externally Set Tasks 2023

Contact
Kerry Tarrant (08) 9273 6770
Kerry.Tarrant@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are reminded that all students enrolled in a Year 12 General course and/or a Year 12 Foundation course are required to complete the externally set task (EST) developed by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) for that course.

The EST is compulsory and forms part of the school-based assessment. The EST is included in the assessment table in the Year 12 General and Foundation syllabuses for all courses as a separate assessment type with a weighting of 15 per cent for the pair of units.

Schools are required to administer the ESTs during a period designated by the Authority (Weeks 3, 4 and 5 in Term 2 – Monday, 8 May to Friday, 26 May 2023). Detailed information about the administration of ESTs is outlined in the Externally Set Task Handbook 2023 and can be accessed on the Authority website through the link:

https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/externally-set-tasks.

Schools are required to upload into SIRS the raw total mark for each student in each EST course by the beginning of Week 6 (Monday, 29 May).This mark will be out of the total indicated on the appropriate EST marking key for the course, which is provided by the Authority.

A mark of zero (0) should only be used if the student has attempted the assessment but received no marks. Only use ‘ABS’ for absent students.

Information relating to the recording, saving and uploading of EST marks are contained in Section 6: Externally set tasks in the Data Procedures Manual 2023 which is available on the Authority website through the link: https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/data-procedures-manual.

A complete list of EST codes can be found on the Authority website through the link https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/sirs-and-srms-info/sirs-information/est-codes.

For issues relating to the information contained in the Data Procedures Manual 2023, contact the Data Services team at dataservices@scsa.wa.edu.au. For other queries, please refer to page 11 of the Externally Set Task Handbook 2023 for the relevant contact details within the Authority.

Online Student Declaration and Permission

Contact
Kerry Tarrant (08) 9273 6770
Kerry.Tarrant@scsa.wa.edu.au

This is an early reminder that the completion date for the online Student Declaration and Permission is Thursday, 24 August 2023 as per the 2023 Activities Schedule.

Information about the online Student Declaration and Permission procedure was sent to schools on Thursday, 16 February 2023.

Please advise students about the purpose of the Student Declaration and Permission and encourage them to discuss this with their parents/guardians/carers prior to completion.

Further information about the online Student Declaration and Permission is available on the Authority website at: https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/the-wace/student-declaration.

The student portal login link is: https://studentportal.scsa.wa.edu.au/.

For further information to help students log in to the student portal and complete the online Student Declaration and Permission, please refer to the Student login and navigation guide.

Schools can monitor in SIRS which students have completed the online Student Declaration and Permission by generating the Report CSE058 – Student Release Choices by Provider.

The pathway to the report CSE058 is: Reports > Other reports > Report type: Students, Report: CSE058.

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority appreciates your assistance in obtaining this important information.

Final dates for Year 12 students to withdraw from courses, 2023

Contact
Lisa Honczarenko (08) 9273 6763
Lisa.Honczarenko@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are reminded of the final dates to withdraw Year 12 students from courses:

• Thursday, 20 July 2023 – final date for withdrawing students from ATAR courses with practical examination components. No changes will be made to student enrolments in these courses after this date.
• Monday, 7 August 2023 – final date for withdrawing students from ATAR courses which do not have practical examination components. No changes will be made to student enrolments in these courses after this date.
• Monday, 7 August 2023 – final date for withdrawing students from General, Foundation, Preliminary and Vocational Education and Training (VET) industry specific courses. No changes will be made to student enrolments in these courses after this date.

As withdrawing from a course is a significant decision, the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) strongly encourages students and their schools to use the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) checker to test the possible impact of their decision. The WACE checker is available on the Authority website at https://wacechecker2021.scsa.wa.edu.au/.

Schools are reminded that students who are enrolled in a Year 12 ATAR course must sit the external examination in that course. For ATAR courses with practical components, students must sit both the written and practical examinations. Students who do not sit an ATAR course examination and do not have an approved sickness/misadventure application for that course, will not have the grades for the pair of units completed in that year contribute to the calculation of the WACE.

As a consequence, a student may not meet the requirements to receive a WACE.