Last date for changes to Year 12 student enrolments

Contact
Jenny Offer (08) 9273 6313
jenny.offer@scsa.wa.edu.au
Jenny Morup (08) 9273 6309
jenny.morup@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are reminded that the last date for changes to Year 12 student enrolments in Stage 3 course units that do not have a practical examination is Wednesday, 24 September 2014.
Schools can upload changes to Stage 3 course unit enrolments which do not have a practical examination (until Wednesday, 24 September) directly into SIRS, instead of providing the changes in writing to the Authority.
Please note:

• changes to Year 12 student enrolments in Stage 2 course units closed on Wednesday, 2 July 2014
• changes to student enrolments to sit the 2014 WACE examinations in Stage 3 courses with a practical examination closed on Friday, 1 August 2014.

Year 12 students to remain on school roll unless advised otherwise

Contact
Veronica Wimmer (08) 9273 6344
veronica.wimmer@scsa.wa.edu.au

Under The Acts Amendment (Higher School Leaving Age and Related Provisions) Bill 2005 and the School Education Act, the compulsory education period is until the end of the year in which the child reaches the age of 17 and six months, thereforestudents must not be removed from the school roll unless the school has received advice of:

• a transfer to a new school or home education, or
• an approved Notice of Arrangements (from either Participation Unit or School Curriculum and Standards Authority) or
• the student has officially been placed on the Whereabouts Unknown list, or
• the parent advises that the student is leaving the school to enrol outside the State.

A student with a date of birth between 1/1/1997 and 30/6/1997 cannot be marked as ‘Left Provider’ or ‘Left Secondary Education’ because they have decided they no longer wish to attend school.

If a student has ceased attending school, then the school should withdraw that student from the course units that have not been completed and upload the enrolment file to SIRS. For course units without a practical exam, this must be done prior to 24 September, otherwise a late fee of $105 will be charged per course unit changed. Course units with a practical exam can no longer be withdrawn and the student will be marked as absent from the exam and the enrolment removed after the examinations are complete at a fee of $105 per course unit. Any achievements must also be uploaded to SIRS.

Students with a ‘Left’ status on SIRS will not receive a Statement of Results which they may require at a later stage as proof of their education or to apply for further studies. However, students still on the school roll, or on an approved Notice of Arrangements who will have a current record at 9000 (Department of Education), and who have achieved results in Years 11 and/or 12, will receive a Statement of Results detailing any results achieved at school.

Minor edits to 2015/16 syllabuses

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

Minor edits to the following syllabuses are listed in the table below. The updated version of each syllabus can be found within the relevant Learning Area page of the WACE 2015-2016 section of the Authority website.

Change to the VET industry specific ADWPL Skills Journal questions requirements

Contact
Angela Kiely (08) 9273 6751
angela.kiely@scsa.wa.edu.au
Nicole Gazey (08) 9442 9401
nicole.gazey@scsa.wa.edu.au

During the development of the new VET industry specific courses various mechanisms aimed at strengthening the link between the workplace and the relevant VET industry specific qualification have been considered.

Following consultation, the decision was made to incorporate the VET industry specific replacement questions into the bank of questions listed within the ADWPL Skills Journal and to remove the requirement for students to answer different questions from a separate item bank of questions.

From 2015 for every mandatory WPL unit required to complete a VET industry specific course, students will need to complete ten (10) questions from the ADWPL Skills Journal in the context of a workplace setting related to the VET industry specific industry area.

The ADWPL Skills Journal comprises a bank of questions for each of the tenSkill Areas which sit within the threeSkill Clusters. Questions that are marked with an asterisk in the ADWPL Skills Journal have been identified as aligning well with the VET industry specific courses.

Schools should ensure that students answer the questions from the ADWPL Skills Journal based on their experience of the work placement or work setting related to their VET industry specific qualification.

VETinfo@scsa.wa.edu.au email address for VET queries

Contact
VETinfo@scsa.wa.edu.au
Julia McHenry (08) 9273 6707
julia.mchenry@scsa.wa.edu.au

A central email address, VETinfo@scsa.wa.edu.au, has been created for VET policy queries. Enquiries will then be forwarded to the appropriate officer for a response.

Queries to this email address may include VET industry specific and credit transfer requirements and general issues for the current year. From 2015, VET industry specific course auditing queries may also be directed to this email address.

For linking units of competency to qualifications, please continue to use VETlinking@scsa.wa.edu.au

Year 8 or Year 9 students enrolling in WACE languages ATAR courses

Contact
Hanneke Rekelhof (08) 9273 6724
languagesenrolment@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools planning to enrol Year 8 and Year 9 accelerated language students in WACE languages ATAR courses in 2015 are advised that students must submit to the Authority an Application for permission to enrol in a WACE language course.

This form must be received by the Authority by Friday 29 August 2014.

Permission to enrol will be granted to these students with the following conditions:

• permission is granted for two years only. That is, permission will be granted to enrol in the Year 11 course in 2015 and the Year 12 course and the WACE examination in 2016
• students must enrol in the Year 11 course followed by the Year 12 course in the following year
• students must sit the WACE examination in the year they complete the Year 12 course
• if a student, to whom permission to enrol in a course has been granted, chooses to defer enrolment to a later year, they must reapply.

The Application for permission to enrol in a WACE language course form and guidelines can be found athttp://wace1516.scsa.wa.edu.au/languages/

Schools should also note that, in addition to submitting the Application for permission to enrol in a WACE language course form, they are required to complete the Application for recording of achievement in senior secondary programs by Years 8 and 9 students form (WACE Procedures Manual 6.6.2).

Ancient History 2014 WACE Stage 3 examination

Contact
Kerry Cribb (08) 9273 6787
kerry.cribb@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are requested to inform students sitting the WACE 2014 Ancient History Stage 3 examination that the Question/Answer Booklet and Document Booklet will contain questions and sources for the prescribed learning context of Greece.

Questions and sources for the prescribed contexts of Egypt and Rome will not be available to candidates sitting the examination.

Dance 2014 WACE written examinations stimulus materials distributed to schools

Contact
Kaylene Power (08) 9273 6777
kaylene.power@scsa.wa.edu.au
Kerry Cribb (08) 9273 6787
kerry.cribb@scsa.wa.edu.au

The stimulus materials for the 2014 Dance WACE Stage 2 and Stage 3 written examinations have been distributed to schools. A DVD and a CD were provided to each teacher of the course and each candidate enrolled to sit the WACE examination.

Each DVD contains a copy of the stimulus material “G” and the CD contains the Supporting document for the stimulus material. Candidates will be required to make reference to the stimulus material in at least half of the questions in Section One of the written examinations.

The DVD will not be played during the examination. However, the examination papers will include a Source Booklet that contains images from the stimulus material as prompts or reminders of the stimulus DVD.

Front covers for 2014 WACE examinations sent to schools

Contact
Kerry Cribb (08) 9273 6787
kerry.cribb@scsa.wa.edu.au

Front covers for all 2014 WACE examinations have been sent to all schools that have students enrolled in WACE examinations. These front covers are also available under ‘examination materials’ on the course page of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/Senior_Secondary/Courses.

The examination front covers should be distributed to teachers of the relevant courses to help prepare students for the examinations. Feedback from students last year suggests that some teachers did not make copies of the front covers available to their students, nor did they discuss the significance of the information in them.

Principals and curriculum leaders in schools are asked to impress on their teachers the importance of sharing this information with students.

The front covers contain details of the structure of each examination, the allocation of marks and the rules governing the conduct of the examination. Teachers are strongly encouraged to familiarise their students with the front covers of both written and practical examinations.

In courses with both written and practical examinations, the front covers show the weightings for the two parts of the examination.

Front covers are not included for language examinations that are set interstate.

Media Production and Analysis 2014 WACE written examination stimulus material distributed to schools

Contact
Naidina Avery (08) 9273 6334
naidina.avery@scsa.wa.edu.au
Kerry Cribb (08) 9273 6787
kerry.cribb@scsa.wa.edu.au

The stimulus material for the WACE Media Production and Analysis Stage 2 and Stage 3 2014 written examinations has been distributed to schools. A DVD and a CD were provided for each teacher of the course and each candidate enrolled to sit the WACE examination.

Each DVD contains all the audiovisual stimulus material. For ease of viewing and printing, each CD contains the print stimulus material.

Candidates will be required to make reference to the stimulus material in their responses to Section One: Short answer in the Stage 3 written examination and Section One: Short answer Part A in the Stage 2 written examination.

The DVD will not be played during the examination, however the examination paper will include a source booklet with excerpts or stills from the stimulus materials.

Online access to Year 12 student information

Contact
Jenny Morup (08) 9273 6309
jenny.morup@scsa.wa.edu.au
Jenny Offer (08) 9273 6313
jenny.offer@scsa.wa.edu.au

Year 12 students can check their personal details and enrolments online at https://www.wace.wa.edu.au.

After Wednesday, 24 September 2014, students will also be able to access their WACE practical and written examination timetables at this address.

To log on, students will need their SCSA student number and other personal identification information.

Students must report inaccurate information to the school for updating.

Year 12 students will also be able to use this address to access their results online from Monday, 29 December 2014.

Students who experience technical difficulties in accessing the information need to contact the Authority atsirshelp@scsa.wa.edu.au or on 9273 6719 (during office hours).

Students may also find the Authority’s social media a convenient way to access information about the WACE examinations and certification. Go to:

• facebook.com/scsawa
• twitter.com/scsawa

Secondary school results held by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority

Contact
Customer service officer (08) 9273 6300
Customer.ServiceOfficer@scsa.wa.edu.au

A reminder that the Authority ceased keeping Year 10 records after 1993. Other secondary school results availability follows:

• The Authority has kept Year 11 records since 1985
• WACE statements of results Year 11 and 12 plus course reports are available since 2009
• TAE statements of marks (percentages only) are available for the years 1976-1985.

People seeking a copy of their results should complete the “Application for a copy of results document” on the Authority website at http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/Events_and_Forms/Application_Order_Forms

Please note that a letter of authorisation must be provided if documents are being collected on behalf of someone else.