New syllabuses for Years 11 and 12 Physics ATAR

Contact
Ian Wilson (08) 9273 6788
Ian.Wilson@scsa.wa.edu.au

School leaders, Heads of Learning Area (Science) and teachers of Physics are advised that the new Physics ATAR syllabuses for Year 11 and Year 12 are now available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) website. The new ATAR Physics syllabuses have been endorsed for teaching from 2025 for Year 11 and 2026 for Year 12.

The syllabus documents are available on the Physics page of the Authority website
https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/science/physics.

The support documents will be published in Term 4.

The development of the new syllabus documents was supported by an extensive consultation process that culminated in the syllabus acceptance and implementation timeline survey that was completed by all schools currently teaching the Physics ATAR course.

We thank teachers for their participation in and support of the syllabus review process.

New General course for Years 11 and 12 Humanities and Social Sciences in Action

Contact
David Johnson (08) 9273 6708
David.Johnson@scsa.wa.edu.au

School Leaders, Heads of Learning Area (Humanities and Social Sciences), and teachers are advised that the syllabuses for the new Years 11 and 12 Humanities and Social Sciences in Action General course are now available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website. These syllabuses have been endorsed for teaching from 2025 for Year 11 and 2026 for Year 12.

The syllabuses are available on the Humanities and Social Sciences in Action page of the Authority website at
https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/humanities-and-social-sciences/humanities-and-social-sciences-in-action.

To support the implementation of new Year 11 Humanities and Social Sciences in Action General course, the Authority will schedule assessment, which will focus on:

• developing a shared understanding of the assessment requirements
• development of a course outline and an assessment outline
• unpacking sample support material provided by the Authority.

The Year 11 sample support materials will be published online in Semester 2.

The development of the new syllabus documents was supported by an extensive consultation process during 2023 and 2024 involving teachers and leaders from metropolitan and regional schools across systems and sectors.

We thank teachers for their participation in and support of the syllabus development process.

Notification of new Languages courses for 2025 – Indonesian: Background Language ATAR syllabus for Year 12

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 advised that a Year 12 ATAR Indonesian: Background Language syllabus is endorsed for teaching from 2025.

The syllabus is now available on the course page on School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/indonesian-background-language under ATAR. Supporting materials will be made available progressively.

Notification of new Languages courses for 2025 – Punjabi: Background Language and Punjabi: Second Language ATAR syllabuses for Year 12

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

Harpreet Kaur (08) 9442 9434
Harpreet.Kaur@scsa.wa.edu.au

School Leaders, Heads of Learning Area – Languages, and Teachers of Languages are advised that Year 12 ATAR Punjabi: Background Language and ATAR Punjabi: Second Language syllabuses are endorsed for teaching from 2025.

The syllabuses are now available on the course pages on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/punjabi-background-language and https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/languages/punjabi-second-language under ATAR. Supporting materials will progressively be made available.

Notification of new Languages courses for 2025 – Tamil: Background Language and Tamil: Second Language ATAR syllabuses for Year 12

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 advised that Year 12 ATAR Tamil: Background Language and ATAR Tamil: Second Language syllabuses are endorsed for teaching from 2025.

The syllabus are now available on the course pages of the School Curriculum and Standards 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 be made available progressively.

Years 11 and 12 ATAR Physical Education Studies – school-based performance external assessment professional learning

Contact
Dino Manalis (08) 9273 6356
dino.manalis@scsa.wa.edu.au

The Board of the Authority, at its meeting held on Tuesday, 21 May 2024, endorsed the revised Year 12 ATAR Physical Education Studies syllabus, including the replacement of the practical (performance) examination with a school-based external assessment process, to be implemented for Year 12 in 2025.

The Authority will be conducting professional learning seminars, both regional and metropolitan, which will support schools and teachers to implement the school-based external assessment.

Registration for all events will be available via the Authority’s events page at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/year-11-and-12-atar-physical-education-studies-school-based-performance-external-assessment .

The revised Years 11 and 12 syllabuses will be published for the start of Semester 2.

Assessment workshop for Unit 2 of the 2024 Year 11 Agribusiness ATAR syllabus

Contact
David Johnson (08) 9273 6708  
David.Johnson@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of Science and Teachers of Humanities and Social Sciences courses are advised that the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) will be conducting an assessment workshop. The purpose of the workshop is to provide teachers with information on the Authority’s assessment requirements for Unit 2 of the Year 11 Agribusiness ATAR syllabus.

The workshop is intended for schools that are offering the ATAR Year 11 Agribusiness syllabus or intending to offer the ATAR Year 11 Agribusiness syllabus in 2025.

The workshop will focus on developing a shared understanding of the assessment requirements for Unit 2.

The Year 11 Agribusiness ATAR syllabus and support material for teaching in 2024 is available on the Agribusiness course page of the Authority website at
https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/humanities-and-social-sciences/agribusiness.

The workshop is on Thursday, 20 June 2024 from 3.30 to 5.00 pm and will be held via Webex.

The workshop is not compulsory and is free to attend.

Register for the workshop online at
https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/assessment-workshop-for-unit-2-of-atar-year-11-agribusiness-syllabus.

Online assessment workshop for 2024 Year 11 Modern History ATAR syllabus – Unit 2

Contact
Crystal Wieringa (08) 9273 6778
crystal.wieringa@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of ATAR Modern History are advised that the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) will be conducting an online assessment workshop on marking source analysis and explanation responses to reflect the assessment requirements for the Year 11 Modern History ATAR syllabus.

The workshop is intended for regional schools currently offering the Year 11 Modern History ATAR course.

The focus of the workshop is to assist teachers to develop an understanding of marking source analysis and explanation responses using marking keys that align to the assessment table in the Year 11 Modern History ATAR syllabus.

The workshop will include:

• guidance on marking source analysis responses for Unit 2 assessments
• guidance on marking explanation responses for Unit 2 assessments.

This online workshop is scheduled for Thursday 27June 2024, 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm and will be held via Webex.

The workshop is not compulsory and is free to attend.

Register for this workshop at:
https://scsa.wa.edu.au/events/online-assessment-workshop-for-2024-atar-year-11-modern-history-syllabus-unit-2-marking-source-analysis-and-explanation-responses

Media Production and Analysis General syllabus review information sessions

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

Teachers and stakeholders of the Media Production and Analysis General course are invited to register for a Years 11 and 12 Media Production and Analysis General syllabus review information session.

Teachers and stakeholders are invited to register to attend a School Curriculum Standards Authority (the Authority) Webex meeting to:

• identify the main changes between the current and the draft course syllabuses
• learn about the draft revised syllabuses
• ask clarifying questions
• provide feedback.

Following the information session, attendees will be emailed a copy of the draft syllabuses and encouraged to provide informed feedback on the draft documents.

The information sessions are free to attend. The dates for the events are:

• Thursday, 20 June 2024, from 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm online via the Webex platform
• Friday, 21 June 2024, from 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm online via the Webex platform

Registrations can be made on the Authority website
https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/media-production-and-analysis-general-syllabus-review-information-sessions.

Dance ATAR syllabus review information sessions

Contact
Max Leech (08) 9273 6740
max.leech@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers and stakeholders of the Dance ATAR course are invited to register for a Years 11 and 12 Dance ATAR syllabus review information session.

Teachers and stakeholders are invited to register to attend a Webex meeting to:

• identify the main changes between the current and the draft syllabuses
• learn about the draft revised syllabuses
• ask clarifying questions
• provide feedback.

Following the information session, attendees will be emailed a copy of the draft syllabuses and encouraged to provide informed feedback on the draft documents.

The information sessions are free to attend. The dates for the events are:

• Thursday, 20 June 2024, from 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm online via the Webex platform
• Friday, 21 June 2024, from 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm online via the Webex platform

Register for these information sessions at
https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/dance-atar-syllabus-review-information-sessions

Year 12 Music ATAR Composition Moderation Workshop

Contact
Nick Fielding (08) 9273 6756
nick.fielding@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers are invited to register to attend a workshop to support the implementation of the new Music ATAR course.

This workshop is for teachers and other stakeholders involved in, or interested in, the delivery of the Music ATAR course. The workshop will focus on:

• reinforcing the new approach to teaching and assessing composition
• moderating standards through cross marking of the student composition work samples provided by participants
• sharing composition assessment tasks and teaching resources provided by participants
• facilitating discussion and collaboration between colleagues to support each other through implementation of the composition component of the new syllabus.

There are four opportunities to engage in the workshop:

• Monday, 5 August 2024, 9.30 am–3.30 pm (Bunbury)
• Wednesday, 7 August 2024, 9.00 am–12.00 pm (online)
• Monday, 12 August 2024, 9.00 am–12.00 pm (south metro)
• Tuesday, 13 August 2024, 12.30 pm–3.30 pm (north metro)

Note: on Monday, 5 August the afternoon session will focus on topics of interest identified by those registering to attend the event.

The workshop is free to attend; however, schools are responsible for teacher relief (if required).

Registrations are now open at: https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/atar-music-year-12-composition-moderation-workshop.

Those attendees currently teaching the Year 12 Music ATAR course are asked to bring with them the following:

1. the completed composition task of up to three of their Year 12 Music ATAR students. Note:
   1. where available the samples should cover a range of student achievement
   2. each student sample must include a score in PDF format and evidence of the development process
   3. samples may include an audio track and a short musical analysis and/or purpose statement
   4. each student sample should be on a separate USB flash drive (type A) and clearly labelled with the teacher or school name
2. the composition task and marking key from their school (i.e. the task brief provided to the students), even if this is identical to the SCSA sample task. Place a copy of the task and marking key on each student USB flash drive
3. teaching resources used to support the teaching of the composition component of the Music ATAR course.

All attendees are asked to bring with them a laptop (including USB type A connectivity) for the purpose of reviewing student composition work.

Years 11 and 12 Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies ATAR syllabus review information session

Contact
Carolyn Fleischer (08) 9273 6735
Carolyn.Fleischer@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers and stakeholders of the Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies ATAR and General courses are invited to register for a Years 11 and 12 Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies ATAR syllabus review information session.

Teachers and stakeholders are invited to register to attend a Webex meeting to:

• identify the main changes between the current and the draft course syllabuses
• learn about the draft revised syllabuses
• ask clarifying questions
• provide feedback through an online survey.

Teachers and stakeholders are requested to access the draft materials prior to attending the information session. Following the information session, teachers and stakeholders are encouraged to complete the online syllabus review consultation survey.

The draft syllabus materials and a link to access the survey will be accessible on the Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies page of the Authority website, found under ‘syllabus review’, at
https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/humanities-and-social-sciences/aboriginal-and-intercultural-studies.

The information session is on Tuesday, 18 June 2024, from 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm via the Webex platform. It is free to attend.

Register for the information session at
https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/aboriginal-and-intercultural-studies-atar-syllabus-review-information-session.

2024 ATAR course examination timetables available online

Contact
Barclay Jones (08) 9273 6309
barclay.jones@scsa.wa.edu.au

The 2024 Year 12 ATAR course written and practical examination timetables can be accessed via the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website:
https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/examinations/examination-timetables.

The 2024 Year 12 ATAR course written examinations are scheduled from Monday, 28 October to Friday, 15 November 2024.

From Tuesday, 3 September 2024, students will be able to download their Personalised written examination timetable and Personalised practical examination timetable from the student portal: https://studentportal.scsa.wa.edu.au.

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

2025 ATAR course examination dates

Contact
Barclay Jones (08) 9273 6309
barclay.jones@scsa.wa.edu.au

The 2025 ATAR course written examinations are scheduled from Monday, 3 November to Friday,
21 November 2025.

The 2025 ATAR course practical examinations are scheduled from Saturday, 27 September to Sunday, 26 October 2025. The 2025 ATAR course practical examinations are scheduled as follows:

1. Saturday, 27 September to Sunday, 5 October (Saturday, Sunday and the public holiday included):
   Aviation, Dance, Drama and Music.
2. Saturday, 11 October to Sunday, 26 October (Saturday and Sunday included):
   Chinese: Second Language, French: Background Language, French: Second Language, German: Background Language, German: Second Language, Indonesian: Background Language, Indonesian: Second Language, Hindi: Background Language, Hindi: Second Language, Italian: Background Language, Italian: Second Language, Japanese: Second Language, Korean: Background Language, Korean: Second Language, Punjabi: Background Language, Punjabi: Second Language, Tamil: Background Language and Tamil: Second Language.

Schools will not be able to specify particular day/s for the practical examinations to be held for any student. Students from a school must be randomly allocated to examination times throughout all of the days allotted for a course. This process ensures anonymity for all candidates.

Schools are advised to plan activities such as school examinations, final-day assembly, graduation, valedictory dinners and leavers’ breakfast on dates other than those listed above.

Schools are requested to communicate the written and practical examination dates to students, teachers and parents. No allowance in the timetable can be made for holidays, work or personal arrangements.

The date ranges for the future Year 12 ATAR course written examinations schedules are below. Note that the proposed end date may alter given the policy states, ‘The written examination period will be for a period of approximately 15 weekdays’.

2026       Monday, 2 November – Friday, 20 November

2027       Monday, 1 November – Friday, 19 November

2028       Monday, 30 October – Friday, 17 November

Uploading data files to SIRS

Contact
Buddhini Daluwatta (08) 9273 6315
dataservices@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools and other education providers are reminded to upload their Student Registration and Demographic file (SRGDG) and Teacher Registration file (THREG) for Brightpath schools.

All students are required to have a Western Australian student number (WASN) and be registered in the School Curriculum and Standards Authority’s Student Information Records System (SIRS).

To ensure our data is current, updates to registration and demographic information should be uploaded into SIRS on a regular basis for the remainder of the year.

At minimum, it is recommended that schools update and upload their student registration file (SRGDG) at the beginning of each term to record any student/s who may transfer from and/or to a school.

If you require new numbers, please send a request to numbers@scsa.wa.edu.au. Please include the student’s family name, given name, date of birth and academic year the student is being registered in at the school.

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

Details about how to register students are provided in the Data Procedures Manual with links to assist schools using various school databases.

There is also a separate Student Registration Procedures Manual to assist schools with creating and uploading their Student Registration and Demographic file (SRGDG) and Teacher Registration file (THREG) for schools participating in Brightpath.

Schools are requested to include their school code in any correspondence.

WACE Language course applications – Year 11 or 12 2025

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

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

Schools are advised that the School Curriculum and Standards Authority’s (the Authority) Application for permission to enrol in a WACE language course (WACE Language Application) for 2025is available from Monday, 24 June 2024 via the student portal (https://studentportal.scsa.wa.edu.au/).

The purpose of the WACE Language Application process is to ensure that students with a linguistic advantage in a language are not assessed against students who do not have the same advantage.

When students have submitted the online applications in the student portal, schools complete the three school stages in the SRMS portal (https://srms.scsa.wa.edu.au/). Once the three school stages have been completed, the Authority reviews the applications and determines students’ WACE language course enrolment status in the SRMS portal. Students can see their WACE language course enrolment status in the student portal and school users can monitor the progress of applications in the SRMS portal.

All Year 10 students, and Year 9 gifted and talented accelerated language students currently studying a language, and intending to enrol in Year 11, complete a WACE Language application for study in one or more of the following Languages courses:

• Chinese
• Indonesian
• Punjabi
• French
• Italian
• Tamil
• German
• Japanese
• Hindi
• Korean

Schools are advised that the 2024 dates for submission of an Application for permission to enrol in a WACE language course are:

• Wednesday, 24 July 2024 or earlier if students start the 2025 school year in Term 4, 2024
• Friday, 23 August 2024 or earlier if students start the 2025 school year in Term 1, 2025.

It is advised that schools use the School guide for online applications for WACE language courses or inform students to access the Student guide for online applications for WACE language courses (both guides are available on the course page on the Authority website and have been updated) to assist when completing the applications, or email languagesenrolment@scsa.wa.edu.au.

Year 11 student achievements where students transfer schools between Terms 2 and 3

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

Schools are required to upload achievements for courses and/or units by Friday, 19 July 2024, where Year 11 students have transferred between schools at the end of Term 2. If the achievements are not uploaded for Semester 1, this may affect the student meeting all requirements to achieve the WACE in Year 12.

Note: this upload is optional for Year 11 students who are continuing their enrolments at the same school.

Details on the process for uploading achievement into SIRS can be found in Section 9 – Results and achievements of the Data Procedures Manual 2024, which is available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) website at
https://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/data-procedures-manual.

The Authority introduced this process to alleviate the situation, for example, where a Year 11 student transfers from one school delivering the course as year-long to another school delivering the course as single units. The new school can then enrol the student in the second unit of the course.

Before awarding a mark and grade for a course unit, schools must ensure students have met all of the assessment requirements for that unit.

Detailed advice on allocation of grades for Year 11 students enrolled in either single units or year-long courses is provided on pages 37–41 of the WACE Manual 2024, which is available on the Authority website at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/wace-manual in Section 2.7 – Assessing students who transfer.

Final dates for Year 12 students to withdraw from courses in 2024 – timeline

Contact
Perpetua Joseph (08) 9273 6771
Perpetua.Joseph@scsa.wa.edu.au

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

• Thursday, 18 July 2024 – 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, 5 August 2024 – final date for withdrawing students from ATAR courses without practical examination components. No changes will be made to student enrolments in these courses after this date.
• Monday, 5 August 2024 – 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 https://wacechecker.scsa.wa.edu.au/.

There is also a blog titled Are you considering withdrawing from a course? available on the Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/blog.  You may recommend it to your Year 12 students for their information.

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.

Online Student Declaration and Permission

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

This is a friendly reminder that the completion date for the online Student Declaration and Permission is Thursday, 22 August 2024.

Schools are requested to ensure the following students complete the submission process by the deadline.

• all Year 12 students
• Year 11 students who are studying Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) Units 3 and 4 and sitting the 2024 ATAR course examinations.

Students can find information about the following at https://student.scsa.wa.edu.au/student-portal

• How to log in to the student portal
• Student login and navigation guide
• Student Portal Helpdesk.

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

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

• could 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 or on our website.
• are unaware of the requirements for achieving the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE).

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 is: Reports > Other reports > Report type: Students, Report: CSE058.

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.

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

Nominal hours for Certificate II VET qualifications

Contact
Arti Dogra (08) 9273 6751
Sarah King (08) 9273 6391
vetinfo@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are reminded to check the total nominal hours of the units of competency selected within Certificate II vocational education and training (VET) qualifications to ensure that they will meet the minimum 220 nominal hour requirement to be allocated full unit equivalence towards the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE).

Completion of a Certificate II level qualification with fewer than 220 nominal hours may impact on a student’s WACE achievement as only two Year 11 unit equivalents are awarded.

Commonly delivered VET qualifications with low total nominal hours include:

• CHC24015 Certificate II in Active Volunteering (155 nominal hours)
• CPC20220 Certificate II in Construction Pathways (200 nominal hours)
• CPP20121 Certificate II in Surveying and Spatial Information Services (185 nominal hours)
• CSC20122 Certificate II in Justice Services (210 nominal hours)
• FSK20119 Certificate II in Skills for Work and Vocational Pathways (205 nominal hours)
• MSM21122 Certificate II in Recreational Vehicle Trade Pathways (181 nominal hours)
• SIS20321 Certificate II in Sport Coaching (190 nominal hours).

The following three qualifications meet the 220 nominal hours threshold; however, there is a risk that the hours could be lower than 220 depending on the elective units of competency chosen:

• AUR20720 Certificate II in Automotive Vocational Preparation (230 nominal hours)
• RII20220 Certificate II in Surface Extraction Operations (220 nominal hours)
• SIT20122 Certificate II in Tourism (225 nominal hours).

Nominal hours for units of competency can be accessed from the Department of Training and Workforce Development via the training product search https://www.dtwd.wa.gov.au/training-product-search.

Further information about the allocation of unit equivalence for VET qualifications can be found on page 72 of the WACE Manual 2024 https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/wace-manual.