11to12 Circulars

April 2018

General Information, SIRS and Enrolments

2018 School Briefings Webinar

Contact
Sven Sorenson 
(08) 9273 6390
sven.sorenson@scsa.wa.edu.au

School leaders are now able to register for the 2018 School Briefings Webinar for remote and regionals Western Australian schools and for international schools offering the Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline (the Outline) or the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE).

School Principals and Deputy Principals are invited to register to attend a briefing about the School Curriculum and Standards Authority’s 2018 areas of emphasis.

This briefing has been organised to provide updates on the Outline for Years P-10 and the WACE. The briefing will be presented by Russell Dyer, Executive Director, Examinations, Certification and Testing at the School Curriculum and Standards Authority.

Details

Thursday, 3 May 2018 starting at 4pm. The session will run for 90 minutes.

Registration

To register for this session, go to https://educationwa.webex.com/educationwa/k2/j.php?MTID=ta14eeba4a60134a21485e277d0a2e750 and register.


Changes to Application for exemption from enrolment eligibility criteria for Foundation units 2018

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

Principals are advised that changes have been made to the Application for exemption from enrolment eligibility criteria for Foundation units for:

  • current Western Australian students (Section A to be completed)
  • recent overseas or interstate students (Section B to be completed)
  • students who have demonstrated the standard in Semester 1, Year 11 (Section C to be completed).

In Semester 1, applications will be considered after the March Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) results are released in May. There will be a three week period to submit applications.

Applications for Semester 1 must be received by the Authority by no later than Thursday, 31 May 2018. Applications and supporting documentation should be emailed to foundationapplications@scsa.wa.edu.au.

In completing the application please refer to Section 1.8 of the WACE Manual 2018.

A revised application form can be downloaded from the Authority website https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/forms/forms under the Enrolments tab.


School Information Briefings 2018 – publication of presentation slides

Contact
Sarah Clough Sarah.Clough@scsa.wa.edu.au (08) 9273 6396

School leaders are advised they may now view slides featured in the School Curriculum and Standards Authority’s School Information Briefings 2018 for Primary Schools and for Secondary Schools:

https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/presentations

Copies of the slides may also be found in the Authority’s Kindergarten to Year 10 site and the Years 11 and 12 site.


Student Declaration and Permissions online

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

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) is now seeking your assistance to provide details regarding the online procedure to complete the Student Declaration and Permission to all of the following students:

  • all Year 12 students
  • Year 11 students who are studying ATAR Unit 3 and Unit 4 and sitting the 2018 ATAR course examinations
  • Year 10 students who have been given approval to study ATAR Unit 3 and Unit 4 and sit the 2018 ATAR course examinations.

Please note: Students will be required to complete the Student Declaration and Permission when they log in to the portal before they can gain access to other important information such as their examination timetable.

This information is available in schools on the Thursday, 3 May 2018 as per the Activities Schedule 2018.

The deadline for students to complete this process online by Thursday, 21 June 2018.

Students can access the submission page at https://www.wace.wa.edu.au opens in new window.

Information for teachers can be found at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/the-wace/student-declaration

The purpose of this online Student Declaration and Permission is to ensure students are aware of the requirements:

  • to achieve the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE)
  • for sitting the ATAR course examinations.

It also enables students to give permission for the:

  • release of certain personal information should they receive an award
  • use of school work for creating support materials and
  • use of examination responses (written and practical).

Failure to complete the submission process may impact schools with students who:

  • may win an award (including students who are not sitting ATAR course examinations) and who have not indicated their preference to have/not have their name published in the media
  • are unaware of the requirements for achieving the WACE.

Schools are able to monitor which of their students have completed the Student Declaration and Permission online via the following report, CSE058 – Student Release Choices by Provider. The pathway to the report is as follows: Reports > Other reports > Report type: Students, reports.

The Authority appreciates your assistance in obtaining this important information.


Final dates for Year 12 students to withdraw from courses, 2018

Contact
Jenny Offer (08) 9273 6313
jenny.offer@scsa.wa.edu.au

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

  • Friday, 27 July 2018 – 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.
  • Friday, 17 August 2018 – 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.
  • Friday, 17 August 2018 – final date for withdrawing students from General, Foundation, Preliminary and VET industry specific courses. No changes will be made to student enrolments in these courses after this date.

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 Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE).

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


Courses

Improving Student Performance Workshops (Repeat) - Languages ATAR Year 11 and Year 12

Contact
Nadia Civa 
(08) 9273 6355
nadia.civa@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of second language courses in Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian and Japanese are advised that the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) will repeat the two Languages ATAR Year 11 and Year 12Improving Student Performance workshops held in Term 1, on the following dates:

Workshop 1 – Written Communication

Tuesday, 22 May 2018 4:00 – 6:00 PM

School Curriculum and Standards Authority

303 Sevenoaks Street CANNINGTON 6107

Workshop 2 – Oral Communication

Wednesday, 30 May 2018 4:00 – 6:00 PM

School Curriculum and Standards Authority

303 Sevenoaks Street CANNINGTON 6107

These workshops will support participants to develop their understandings of syllabus content, course standards and assessment task design.

The workshops are free to attend, however participants are responsible for any travel and accommodation expenses. Details of the workshops can be accessed when the teacher registers online from the Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/improving-student-performance-workshops-2018.


English as an Additional Language/Dialect (EAL/D) eligibility timelines

Contact
Louise Dodman (08) 9273 6785
louise.dodman@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are advised that the submission dates for EAL/D eligibility applications have been extended for students applying for extra Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) time and have been updated to include students applying for Year 12 EAL/D course enrolment in 2019 and 2020. Furthermore, all students may submit their applications at any time from when they are in Year 9 to ascertain their eligibility status.

Schools should note that a student who has not submitted an EAL/D eligibility application by the published submission date will not be able to enrol in a Year 12 EAL/D course for that year and/or will not receive the extra 10 minutes for OLNA.

The way in which schools can find out the outcome of the submission of an EAL/D eligibility application is by generating the report CSE198 in the Student Information and Record System (SIRS). The instructions for this are located on the EAL/D page of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) website:

https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/76756/Information-Sheet-EALD-Eligibility-Notifications-in-SIRS.pdf

Please allow five working days for the processing of eligibility applications at peak times.

For information regarding the EAL/D eligibility application process, refer to the EAL/D Course page on the Authority’s website:

https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/english/english-as-an-additional-language-or-dialect

Submission dates for eligibility applications

Please note that, due to internal deadlines, the following dates are final:

Date

Students applying for Year 12 EAL/D course enrolment

15 February 2019

Year 12 students in 2019 applying for 2019.

14 February 2020

Year 12 students in 2020 applying for 2020.

Date

Students applying for extra OLNA time

8 August 2018

Students applying for the September 2018 round of OLNA.

14 February 2019

Students applying for the March 2019 round of OLNA.

14 August 2019

Students applying for the September 2019 round of OLNA.


Minor edits to Design ATAR Year 11 syllabus

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

Teachers are advised that there is a minor change to a content dot point in Unit 1 of the Design Year 11 ATAR syllabus.

The first dot point under Stakeholders previously stated ‘identification of specific audiences in terms of demographics and/or ergonomics’.

It now refers to:

  • identification of specific audiences in terms of lifestyle behaviour, values and beliefs.

Moderation

Consensus Moderation Year 12 2018

Contact
Mandy Hudson 
(08) 9273 6755
mandy.hudson@scsa.wa.edu.au

As previously advised the registration process is now open for the compulsory Consensus Moderation meetings in 2018. The registration details were provided in an email to Principals and the Moderation and Standards contacts in March, including the link to the registration page. Registrations close on Friday 11 May 2018.

Consensus Moderation is being conducted for the following courses in 2018:

Year 12 ATAR

Year 12 General

Applied Information Technology

Automotive Engineering and Technology

Chemistry

Building and Construction

English

Drama

Mathematics Applications

Integrated Science

Mathematics Methods

Religion and Life

Media Production and Analysis

 

Modern History

 

Music

 

Philosophy and Ethics

 

Physical Education Studies

 

Politics and Law

 

Visual Arts

 

The registration page and confirmation email provides details to teachers regarding the requirements for the meeting. Teachers are reminded that they need to have procedures in place to ensure that all marked student work is retained for moderation purposes.


Student Marks for Externally Set Tasks 2018

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

All students enrolled in a General Year 12 course and/or a Foundation Year 12 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 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 Weeks 2, 3 or 4 (Monday, 7 May 2018 to Friday, 25 May 2018) of Term 2. Information about the administration of ESTs can be found in the Externally Set Task Handbook 2018 available on the Authority website via: https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/externally-set-tasks.

Schools are required to upload a total mark for each student in each of the ESTs into SIRS by the beginning of Week 5 (Monday, 28 May 2018). This mark will be out of the total indicated on the appropriate EST marking key for the course, provided by the Authority.

Schools will be able to upload the total raw mark for each EST for each student into SIRS from the school database program, i.e. RTP, Civica (MAZE). If a student is absent for an EST but returns to school within the test period (Weeks 2, 3 or 4 of Term 2) he/she is expected to sit the EST under test conditions. However, as for all school‐based assessments, the school is required to apply its assessment policy should a student not sit the EST.

Where schools use MS Excel to transfer data to the Authority, details of the file format (RSEST) for EST marks can be found in Data Transfer from Providers to the School Curriculum and Standards Division for 2018 which is available on the Authority website at: https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/sirs-info/record-formats.

For further queries please refer to page 10 in the Externally Set Task Handbook 2018 for the appropriate contact within the Authority.

Examinations

Policy for setting the written ATAR course examination dates

Contact
Jenny Morup (08) 9273 6377
jenny.morup@scsa.wa.edu.au

The Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority has determined that the dates for the ATAR course examinations will reflect the following principles:

  • written examinations will start during the first working day in November and that they commence on a:
    • Monday where the first working day in November falls on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday
    • Wednesday where the first working day in November falls on a Thursday or Friday.
  • written examination period will be for 15 working days
  • large candidature examinations will be scheduled during the first 10 days of the examination period
  • no practical examinations will be scheduled on the weekend immediately prior to the commencement of the written examinations.

The written examination dates for the next three years are available at:

https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/examinations/examination-timetables.


Marker applications for 2018 ATAR course examinations

Contact
Melanie Jasper (08) 9273 6732
melanie.jasper@scsa.wa.edu.au

Cristina Caruso (08) 9273 6317
cristina.caruso@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority is seeking applications from qualified people interested in marking the practical and/or written 2018 ATAR course examinations.

For information regarding marker applications or to apply, please refer to

https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/about-us/employment.

Applications close on Wednesday, 27 June 2018.

Vocational Education and Training (VET)

2018 VET Awards Nomination Kit is now available

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

The 2018 VET Awards Nomination Kit and the 2018 VET Awards Brochure are now available here:

https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/certification/exhibitions-and-awards under Awards for outstanding achievement in VET.

This nomination kit has been designed to assist schools through the various steps of the VET awards nomination process.

Nominations for VET Exhibitions and Certificates of excellence (VET) close on Monday 3 September 2018 at 4:30 pm. The link to the Nomination Form will be available on the Authority website on Friday 29 June 2018.

Remember that for students to be eligible for a Beazley Medal: VET award in 2018, students must have been awarded a VET Exhibition.