Brightpath: Response to literature – assessment launch

Contact
Paula Beck (08) 9273 6331
Paula.Beck@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers are advised that the new Brightpath ‘Response to literature’ assessment will be introduced and launched via an online meeting on Tuesday, 7 November 2023 from 4–5 pm.

The Brightpath team has developed, in conjunction with the English team at the School Curriculum and Standards Authority, an assessment of students’ response to literature, appropriate for years four (4) to ten (10).

During the online meeting Dr Sandy Heldsinger will explain the research undertaken to develop the assessment, describe the assessment, and show exemplars.  The session will include information about how the assessment may fit within a school teaching and assessment program and align with delivery of the English curriculum (including any proposed changes to the P–10 curriculum), as well as provide an opportunity to collect evidence of reading and writing.

The ‘Response to literature’ assessment will be made available within Brightpath Progress shortly after the online meeting.

Register for the meeting at https://webapps.scsa.wa.edu.au/apps/Bookings/Events.aspx?EventId=4911.

For schools currently registered and using Brightpath, the assessment will be available within your existing access. For schools not currently using Brightpath, please contact Maureen.Lorimer@scsa.wa.edu.au or (08) 9273 6397 to register your school.

2024 Activities Schedule availability

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

The 2024 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 2024 Term Calendar will be available on Wednesday, 29 November 2023.

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 coded by coloured icons:

• Pink  activity relates to or includes primary schools
• Orange  updates are for items to be received by the Authority
• Blue  updates are for items to be available to or received by schools/providers
• Green  updates are significant to schools and the Authority.

Please see the PDF, on the Activities Schedule page, titled ‘Explanation of changes to the 2024 Activities Schedule’.

Collection of other than Year 12 students’ achievement data – 2023

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

This is an early reminder that the ‘other than Year 12 achievement data’ is due to the School Curriculum and Standards Authority by Thursday, 7 December 2023 as per the 2023 Activities Schedule.

Information about collecting achievement data will be received by schools by Wednesday, 25 October 2023.

Schools will need to provide the achievement data for:

• Year 11 students enrolled in ATAR, General, Foundation, Preliminary and VET Industry specific courses
• Year 11 students studying VET qualifications, VET units of competency, VET skill sets and endorsed programs
• Year 10 students studying VET qualifications, VET units of competency and endorsed programs.

Reminder: Application for recording of enrolment and achievement in ATAR Units 1 and 2 for students in Year 10 in 2025 (Year 8, 2023)

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

Principals are reminded that Applications for recording of enrolment and achievement in ATAR Units 1 and 2 for students in Year 10 in 2025 (Year 8, 2023) must be received by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) no later than Thursday, 16 November 2023. The completed application form is to be emailed to certification@scsa.wa.edu.au.

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

Schools should only apply if the studies are part of a longer-term program for students who are:

• either gifted and talented or
• accelerated language students.

For further information please refer to Section 7 in the WACE Manual 2023. This publication is available on the Authority website via the following link: https://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/wace-manual.

The importance of uploading the RSQUAL file for WACE certification

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

Schools are reminded of the importance of ensuring the VET Qualification Results (RSQUAL) file is uploaded to the Student Information Records System (SIRS) database at the end of each calendar year. The information in the RSQUAL file is used to allocate unit credit towards the Western Australian Certificate of Education (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 Registered Training Organisation (RTO) that the student has achieved the qualification.

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

Failure to upload this file may result in students not achieving their WACE and may therefore be 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 updating the data.

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.

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).

Schools should 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 Section 9.6.5 of the Data Procedures Manual 2023. This publication is available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/wace-manual.

Links are provided to database-specific software programs in Section 13 of the Data Procedures Manual 2023 using the above link.

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 beginning in 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.

How to Search for a WASN in SIRS

Contact
Data Services (08) 9273 6344
numbers@scsa.wa.edu.au

dataservices@scsa.wa.edu.au

If a student arrives at your school from another school in Western Australia, or even from overseas/interstate, you have the ability to 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.

All student registrations are recorded in SIRS by the end of Term 1. After this time, you will be able to search for students including the student’s previous school/s. You will know where to send a transfer note, if required.

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).

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. 2012 to 2012) 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 K-10).