Updated Years 11 and 12 Assessment Requirements commencing in 2024

Contact
Adriana Douglas (08) 9273 6784
Adriana.Douglas@scsa.wa.edu.au

Graeme Quelch (08) 9273 6758
Graeme.Quelch@scsa.wa.edu.au.au

John Newman (08) 9273 6757
John.Newman@scsa.wa.edu.au

Nick Ognenis (08) 9273 6354
Nick.Ognenis@scsa.wa.edu.au

The Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) Manual 2023 in Section 2.4 provides information in relation to assessment practice.

At its 5 December 2023 meeting, the Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) approved from the commencement of 2024, embedding the assessment requirements in the syllabus for each course to assess each Assessment Type at least once over the year/pair of units as a permanent adjustment. There are two courses for which additional information will need to be provided. These are:

Years 11 and 12 Mathematics Essential
In addition to this advice on the minimum number of assessments students in Years 11 and 12 must complete one practical application and one statistical investigation to meet the minimum requirement in the practical application section of the Assessment Table.

Years 11 and 12 ATAR and General English
In addition to this advice on the minimum number of assessments students in Years 11 and 12 must complete a speaking/listening assessment at least once for the pair of units (or once for a single unit where only one is being studied).

The course syllabuses will be updated to reflect this advice in preparation for the start of the 2024 school year.

Change to the Year 12 ATAR EAL/D eligibility process in the SRMS

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

Schools are advised that there is a change to the process in the SRMS to reflect the 2022 change in the Year 12 ATAR EAL/D eligibility policy. As the eligibility policy is now applied by schools, the Authority no longer processes declarations. Principals must now process the declarations for their school by deciding about the eligibility status of each student and then publishing this status in the SRMS. Please note that if a student’s declaration is not published in the SRMS, the student will not be eligible to enrol in Year 12 ATAR EAL/D and the extra 10 minutes for OLNA will not be applied.

Information about the updated policy can be found on the EAL/D page on the Authority website: https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/english/english-as-an-additional-language-or-dialect under Eligibility and ‘Eligibility to enrol in the Year 12 ATAR EAL/D course from 2023’.

Notification of revised Interstate Languages courses for 2024 – Hebrew, Hungarian, Persian, Polish, Russian, Sinhala, Turkish, Chinese: Background Language and Japanese: Background 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, Teachers of Languages and Community Languages Schools are requested to note that the revised syllabuses for Year 11 and 12 ATAR Hebrew, Hungarian, Persian, Polish, Russian, Sinhala, Turkish, Chinese: Background Language and Japanese: Background 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 Interstate Languages page of the Authority website:  https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/interstate-languages under WACE versions of interstate language syllabuses. Implementation workshops will be advertised in the new year.

2024 Syllabus Delivery Audit: List of courses revised

Contact
Graeme Quelch (08) 9273 6758
Graeme.Quelch@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are advised that the list of courses for the 2024 Syllabus Delivery Audit (SDA) of selected General and ATAR Years 11 and 12 courses has been revised.  Mathematics Essential Year 11 is not included in the SDA for 2024. School Leaders should ensure relevant staff are advised of this change.

Courses selected for the 2024 SDA – General and ATAR Years 11 and 12 courses.

2024 Meeting WACE Requirements Seminars

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

Schools are advised that the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) is offering both learning area specific and generic administrators Meeting WACE Requirements seminars from February 2024.

Meeting WACE Requirements seminars are designed for teachers in:

• schools that are offering a course for the first time in 2024
• schools that are reintroducing a course for the first time since 2016
• teachers delivering one or more WACE courses for the first time in 2024 (e.g. graduate teachers, teachers who have not previously taught Year 11 or Year 12, teachers whose experience has been interstate or overseas)
• new school leaders (for example, Heads of Learning Area) and those leaders who would benefit from being made aware of the Authority’s current requirements for delivering senior secondary courses.

The purpose of these seminars is to provide teachers with information on the Authority’s assessment and moderation requirements that teachers need to follow when delivering senior secondary courses.

An online learning area seminar will be conducted for teachers in regional, remote, or international schools.

Registration and further information can be located on the Authority website using the link below:
https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/meeting-wace-requirements-2024-seminars.

2024 Consensus Moderation

Contact
Graeme Quelch (08) 9273 6758
Graeme.Quelch@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are advised that the Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority has endorsed consensus moderation processes for selected ATAR, General and Foundation Year 11 and Year 12 courses in 2024.

Participation in this moderation process is compulsory for all schools delivering a course in the table below. In 2024, consensus moderation meetings will be full day meetings.

Consensus meetings will focus on the review of student assessment files and the application of the grade descriptions in a course to determine a grade, and on assessment practice as outlined in the WACE Manual 2023 in Section 2.4.

A key aspect to achieving comparability in standards is the development and implementation of valid and appropriate school-based assessment tasks that provide for a comprehensive sampling of the syllabus content and provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate the full range of achievements.

Teachers participating are required to provide a student assessment file for three students (one at each grade from A to C), including all assessment types and all marked assessments up to the time of providing the file. Additionally, schools will be required to provide a proposed grade distribution for the course at the time of the meeting.

Course specific information will be provided to schools in Term 1, 2024.

In the Perth metropolitan area and larger regional centres consensus moderation occurs at meetings of typically 10–15 teachers. Schools more than 100 km from the nearest scheduled meeting venue will be given the option of either attending meetings at their nearest location or participating in an online meeting following the same process as the face-to-face meetings.

Consensus moderation meetings will be conducted in Weeks 8, 9 and 10 of Term 2 and in Weeks 2, 3 and 4 of Term 3, 2024.

Further information on consensus moderation can be found in Section 3.4.3 of the WACE Manual 2023.

During Term 1, 2024, each school will be required to register one teacher for each of the courses below that the school is delivering.

Information regarding registration of teachers and specific course requirements will be sent to Principals in Term 1, 2024.

Teachers are reminded they need to have procedures in place to ensure that all marked student work is retained for moderation purposes. This includes evidence collected for courses with portfolios and/or practical requirements. Please see the WACE Manual 2023 (Section 2.8) for further details.

Courses in Consensus Moderation in 2024

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 following Curriculum Advisory Committees:

• Ancient History 11–12
• Agricultural Science and Technology 11–12
• Agribusiness 11–12
• Human Biology 11–12
• Modern History 11–12.

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, by email (maureen.lorimer@scsa.wa.edu.au) if you require further information.

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 we do 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

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.

1. Hover over Enrolments in the menu bar.
2. 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.

3. 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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 in 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, it may 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.

Thursday, 28 March 2024

• Registration and demographic information for all remaining students in Kindergarten, Pre-primary and Years 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10to be uploaded by this date (via SRGDG file)

Please note we do not issue numbers for Pre-Kindergarten students.

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.