2019 Activities Schedule

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

The 2019 Activities Schedule is available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the 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 2019 Term Calendar and 2019 Term 1 Outlook calendar will be available in Term 1 2019.

As in 2018, the Outlook calendar will be available to download on a term by term basis. Any updates to the activities schedule will be noted in the Circular and replicated in new versions of the calendar.

The dates in this schedule are colour-coded:

• Orange ◆ dates are for items to be received by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority
• Blue 🌢 dates are for items that will be available to, or received by, schools/providers
• Green ▲ dates are significant to both schools and the Authority
• Pink ★ indicates activities relating to or including primary schools.

WACE results online Monday, 17 December 2018

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

Schools are advised that 2018 Year 12 students will be able to access their results online at https://www.wace.wa.edu.au opens in new window on Monday, 17 December 2018.

To log on, students will need their student number and other personal identification information. It is advisable that students provide an alternate email address via the student portal. This is to avoid issues where school email accounts close prior to the release of results.

Students who experience technical difficulties in accessing their information need to contact the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) at wacehelp@scsa.wa.edu.au [monitored from Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) between 8:00am to 4:00pm].

Schools are reminded that the Authority may need to speak with the specified contact person early in January should students question the results reported by schools to the Authority.

Students will receive their folios of achievement (i.e. WACE, WASSA and ATAR course reports) during January 2019.

Students who are seeking details relating to university admission (including their ATAR) are advised to contact Tertiary Institutions Service Centre (TISC).

Collection of Year 12 students’ achievement data – 2018

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

Further to the email sent to schools on the 8 October this is a reminder that schools are required to provide all achievement data for Year 12 students in:

• course units for the full year
• VET qualifications
• VET units of competency
• endorsed programs.

In addition, achievements are also required for Year 10 and Year 11 students sitting 2018 ATAR course examinations.

The achievements are to be submitted to the Student Information Record System (SIRS) through the RSCOS, RSVET, RSEND, and RSQUAL files by 1 November 2018.

Course Grades
For each completed pair of units for ATAR, General and Foundation, schools must submit a grade of A, B, C, D, or E. In the case of Preliminary course units, schools report either ‘completed’ (A) or ‘not completed’ (U). For Year 12 students completing Year 11 courses, a grade must be submitted for each unit or pair of units.

Course marks
A course mark must be submitted for each pair of units. For Year 12 students completing Year 11 courses, a mark must be submitted for each unit or pair of units.

For ATAR courses with a practical examination (oral, performance, portfolio or production submission), a course mark must be submitted for the:

• practical component
• written component
• pair of units.

Marks must be entered as a whole number out of 100.

The last date for upload of course achievements into SIRS is Friday, 16 November 2018. After this date, this SIRS facility will be locked and it will not be possible to upload further changes.

2.       VET achievements

VET units of competency
Information about the values that schools need to use for reporting achievement in units of competency, under the national reporting requirements, are listed in Section 8.6.3 of the Data Procedures Manual 2018. Elaboration of assessment description values are listed in Table 5: Section 8. This publication is available on the Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/438159/Data-Procedures-Manual-2018.pdf.

VET qualifications
VET qualifications should only be uploaded into SIRS once the school has received written verification from the RTO that the student has achieved the qualification.

Note: The VET Unique Student Identifier (USI) is required for units of competency and qualifications to contribute towards meeting the WACE requirements when reporting achievements through the RSVET and RSQUAL.

Schools will be able to upload changes to Year 12 student VET achievement data until Tuesday, 27 November 2018. After this date, this SIRS facility will be locked and it will not be possible to upload further changes.

3.       Endorsed programs achievements

The achievement descriptors for each endorsed program is available on the Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/vet/endorsed-programs.

The last date for upload of endorsed program achievements into SIRS is Friday, 16 November 2018. After this date, this SIRS facility will be locked and it will not be possible to upload further changes.

Reminder: Applications for exemption from enrolment eligibility criteria for Foundation units 2018 for Semester 2

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

Principals are reminded that Applications for exemption from enrolment eligibility criteria for Foundation units for Semester 2 will be considered after the September Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) results are released in October.

Applications must be received by the Authority no later than Thursday, 7 November 2018. These 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.

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

Visual Arts Practical (production) examination submission samples

Contact
Lisa Bowden (08) 9273 6349
Lisa.bowden@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of the Visual Arts ATAR Year 12 course are advised that annotated Visual Arts Practical (production) examination submission samples are now available on the Visual Arts course page: https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/arts/visual-arts under ATAR > Examination Materials.

The annotated samples exemplify adherence to the practical (production) examination requirements and demonstrate the candidate’s thinking and working process to support the practical (production) examination submission.

Chinese: Second Language ATAR changes to written examination design brief and clarification of syllabus content for Year 12 from 2019

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

Use of grid paper in the ATAR written examination

Teachers of the Chinese: Second Language ATAR course are reminded that from 2019, grid/square pages will replace the lined pages in Section Three: Written Communication of the written examination.

This design brief change is reflected in the Chinese: Second Language ATAR Year 12 syllabus (for use from 2019) available on the course page https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/chinese-second-language .

A sample of the grid/square paper is available on the course page under Examination Materials.

Topic clarification for ATAR Written and Practical (oral) examinations

Teachers are reminded that the following clarifying subtopics will apply to the ATAR written and practical examinations for Chinese: Second Language from 2019.

Teachers are advised to use these subtopics to inform their teaching and assessment programs from Year 12, 2019. These subtopics have been included in the Chinese: Second Language ATAR Year 12 syllabus (for use from 2019) available on the course page https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/chinese-second-language .

This information was initially communicated in the 11to12 Circular December 2017.

Minor Correction to Accounting and Finance Syllabus

Contact
Gabby Raggio (08) 9273 6306
gabby.raggio@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of Year 11 and Year 12 ATAR Accounting and Finance and Year 12 General Accounting and Finance are advised that the following content has been updated in the syllabus for teaching in 2019.

All references to ‘the Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of General Purpose Financial Reports (The Framework)’ have been updated in the syllabus documents to the current title ‘the Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements (the Framework)’.

Sample course outlines have been updated accordingly.

Supporting resources for prescribed texts for First Language courses

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

Lisa Djanegara (08) 9273 6382
lisa.djanegara@scsa.wa.edu.au

First Language courses affected by this update:

• Chinese: First Language ATAR Year 11 and Year 12
• Indonesian: First Language ATAR Year 11 and Year 12
• Japanese: First Language ATAR Year 11 and Year 12.

Teachers are reminded that for each of the above courses new prescribed texts apply for Year 12 from 2019. This information was initially communicated in the 11to12 Circular October 2017.

A document listing the texts and a revised ATAR syllabus of each course can be found under the Syllabus tab on the relevant course page. The course pages can be accessed at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages.

Resources to support the implementation of the new texts can be accessed from a link under the Support Materials tab on the course page.

ATAR and General Year 11 and 12 Media Production and Analysis Glossary

Contact
Gemma Wright (08) 9273 6783
gemma.wright@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers are advised that the Media Production and Analysis ATAR and General glossary is now available via the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website on the Media Production and Analysis Syllabus course page located in the ‘Support Materials’ menu under ATAR and General: https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/arts/media-production-and-analysis.

Assisting schools to monitor the effect of not providing a VET USI for Year 12 students in 2018

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

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

For units of competency and qualifications to contribute towards meeting the WACE requirements, a VET Unique Student Identifier (USI) is required.

Consequences of not having a USI
Students who achieve VET units of competency or VET qualifications without a VET USI will:

• not have the results reported on the Western Australian Statement of Student Achievement
• not have the achievements allocated unit equivalence and may not meet the requirements to receive a WACE
• not have the achievements recognised in the completion requirement for VET Industry Specific courses.

Monitoring the effect of not having a USI
Schools are able to identify whether or not a Year 12 student enrolled in VET in 2018 without a USI would achieve the WACE if he/she had a USI, by running the report CSE201 in the Student Information Records System (SIRS).

This report lists, for Year 12 students enrolled in at least one VET unit of competency, whether or not they would achieve the WACE if a USI was provided to the Authority. It is suggested that once a school has uploaded all of its Year 12 students’ achievements (course units, VET and endorsed programs) into SIRS, schools run the report via the following pathway:

Reports > Other reports > Report type: Certification, Report: CSE201 – Year 12 Students With VET Enrolments.

The report would alert schools to those Year 12 students who could possibly achieve the WACE if they had a USI.

Caution when using the report
Data contained in the report accurately reflects the status of students at the time of the last upload of information to SIRS from schools. Caution needs to be used when interpreting the data for the following reasons:

• the WACE cannot be calculated for a student until all achievement data have been uploaded into SIRS
• the data have not taken into account those students who have not sat an ATAR course examination and do not have an approved sickness/misadventure application for that course
• the achievement of the WACE could change if a school uploads changes to students’ achievements.

Assistance relating to USI
If assistance is required regarding the USI, it is suggested that schools contact the Western Australian Department of Training and Workforce Development at usi@dtwd.wa.gov.au opens in new window or refer to the USI help centre at www.usi.gov.au opens in new window, by phone on 13 38 73 or via email at usi@industry.gov.au opens in new window.

The importance of uploading the Results: VET qualification (RSQUAL) file for WACE certification

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

Anne Raheb (08) 9273 6345
anne.raheb@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are reminded of the importance of ensuring the VET Qualification Results (RSQUAL) file is uploaded to the SIRS database at the end of each calendar year. The information in the RSQUAL file is used to allocate unit credit towards the 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 RTO that the student has achieved the qualification.

The VET units of competency (RSVET) file is used to determine subsidiary rules associated with VET achievement.

Failure to upload this file will result in students not achieving their WACE and therefore 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 reprinting the student’s certification documents.

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.

It is also important for schools to ensure that the RSQUAL file processes successfully to SIRS and any error messages are resolved before achievement 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.

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). The diagram below illustrates the process for resulting student VET achievement and when to report whether a certificate has been issued or not in the RSQUAL file.

Schools can 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 the Data Procedures Manual 2018 in Section 8: Achievements (links are provided to database-specific manuals) available on the Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/438159/Data-Procedures-Manual-2018.pdf.