Requests for SCSA student numbers for 2016

Contact
Lynn Galbraith(08) 9273 6702
lynn.galbraith@scsa.wa.edu.au
SCSA student numbers info line (08) 9273 6344
numbers@scsa.wa.edu.au

Effective 12 October 2015, schools can request School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) student numbers automatically through the student information record system (SIRS) for Year 7 students starting in 2016. Details of how to request SCSA student numbers are in Section 1.2 of the Data Procedures Manual 2015 -http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/Publications/Data_Procedures_Manual.

For students other than Year 7, schools are encouraged to do an initial search in SIRS for student numbers via Enrolment > Student Enrolment > Find Student Number. If no record is found, schools can emailnumbers@scsa.wa.edu.au and advise the following:

• your school code
• student first name
• student surname
• date of birth
• academic year
• if the student has arrived in WA from overseas or interstate.

This will enable a more comprehensive search to be undertaken before a new number is issued.

Year 12 students to remain on school roll unless advised otherwise

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

As a result of the amendments to the High 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, therefore students 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 1/7/1997 and 30/6/1998 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 14 September, otherwise a late fee of $75 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 Course units with a practical exam can no longer be withdrawn and the student will be marked as absent from the exam and the enrolment removed after the examinations are complete at a fee of $75 per course unit.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.

WACE requirements – 2016 and beyond

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

The requirements to achieve a WACE in 2016 and beyond are different from those that apply in 2015.

The requirements to achieve the WACE in 2016 can be found in Section 7: Certification of student achievement in the WACE Manual 2015­–16.  This manual is available on the Authority website at the following address:

http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/Publications/WACE_Manual.

Achievement of a WACE signifies that a student has successfully met the breadth and depth, the achievement standard and English language competence requirements in their senior secondary schooling.

Clarification of the 2016 rules [to be included in the revised edition of the WACE manual to be published in January 2016]

The Authority has received several inquiries from schools as to whether students are able to study four units in a course in the same year and have their grades contribute towards meeting the WACE requirements.

The Authority’s position is that students can enrol in a maximum of two units in a subject course type (e.g. ATAR course) in a given calendar year, except in the ATAR and General courses with defined contexts*. For example, a student can enrol in AEENG or A1ENG and A2ENG in the same year, however, a student cannot enrol in AEENG, or A1ENG and A2ENG, together with ATENG in the same year.

*Details relating to students who study more than one context can be found in Section 1: Senior Secondary Schooling in Western Australia of the WACE Manual 2015–16.

Electives for Modern History ATAR Year 12

Contact
Vicki Vitali(08) 9273 6762
Vicki.Vitali@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of Modern History who currently deliver an Australian context (from Unit 3A) and the Russia context (from Unit 3B) are reminded that in 2016, only one of these electives can be delivered as they are both in Unit 3 in the ATAR Year 12 course.

From Unit 3 one of the following electives must be taught:

• Australia 1918–1955 (which reflects a context in the current Unit 3A)
• Russia and the Soviet Union 1914–1945 (which reflects a context in the current Unit 3B)
• China 1935–1989 (which reflects a context in the current Unit 3B).

Note:  The start and end dates of all Unit 3 electives vary slightly from those in the current contexts in Unit 3A and Unit 3B.

From Unit 4 one of the following electives must be taught:

• The struggle for peace in the Middle East (which reflects a context in the current Unit 3B)
• Australia’s engagement with Asia (which reflects some content in the current Unit 3A but has a different emphasis and includes new content)
• The changing European world since 1945 (which reflects a context in the current Unit 3B and includes some new content).

Note: All Unit 4 electives cover the same time period: 1945–2001.

A document summarising the syllabus changes is available at:
http://wace1516.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/humanities-and-social-sciences/modern-history . Also provided on the course page are sample course outlines, an assessment outline and sample assessment tasks with marking keys.

New English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) eligibility criteria

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

At its meeting of August 11, 2015 the Board of the SCSA approved changes to the eligibility criteria for EAL/D.

The eligibility criteria for students applying for Year 12 EAL/D are changing from Term 3, 2015 for enrolments for 2016 onwards. The criteria for enrolling Year 12 ATAR EAL/D remain the same. An additional criterion has been included for eligibility for Year 12 General and Foundation EAL/D. This is highlighted below:

Please note that student enrolment into an EAL/D course will also be based on eligibility approval for specific courses. A student will be able to enrol in either:

• ATAR, General and Foundation EAL/D (Forms 1 – 3) or
• General and Foundation EAL/D (Form 4)

Therefore, if a student submits an eligibility application for General and Foundation EAL/D (Form 4) and it is approved, that student will not be eligible for ATAR EAL/D.

A detailed information sheet about the EAL/D eligibility process is available on the EAL/D course page of the Authority’s website:
http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/Senior_Secondary/Courses/WACE_Courses/English_as_an_Additional_Language_Dialect

Please note that the additional eligibility criterion for Foundation and General EAL/D will be applied from 12th August 2015 for students applying to EAL/D in 2016, regardless if they submit the current or previous versions of the application forms. Furthermore, previous versions of EAL/D eligibility applications will be accepted by the Authority until October 1st 2015. After this date, students must submit current applications, located on the EAL/D course page on the Authority’s website, as previous versions of the forms will no longer be processed.

New reporting requirement for Authority Developed Work Place learning (ADWPL) in a VET industry specific course from 2016

Contact
Angela Kiely(08) 9273 6751
angela.kiely@scsa.wa.edu.au

The Authority developed Work place Learning (ADWPL) is a mandatory co-requisite for a VET industry specific course. A new mechanism within SIRS will enable the Authority to determine the link between ADWPL that is intended for use towards the completion requirements of a VET industry specific course.

Schools currently report the workplace learning requirement to SIRS as ADWPL through ENEND and RSEND SIRS file formats. ADWPL can be completed independent of a VET industry specific course however as it is a mandated co-requisite of a VET industry specific course there currently exists no mechanism to determine ADWPL which is intended to meet the requirements of a VET industry specific course.

Additionally students may be enrolled in more than one VET industry specific course. Currently SIRS is unable to differentiate between ADWPL completed as part of a VET industry specific course or multiple VET industry specific courses.

To identify the link between ADWPL and the relevant VET industry specific course, an additional qualification codefield has been created in both ENEND and RSEND file formats. See SIRS file format excerpts below:

From 2016 schools will be required to identify the qualification code (in the ENEND and RSEND files) which is linked to the VET industry specific course.

The qualification code is not required for ADWPL completed independent of a VET industry specific course.

How does this affect schools when reporting ADWPL enrolments and results to SIRS?
Currently ADWPL is reported as a single entry along with the accumulated hours. The changes may affect some schools that use ADWPL for multiple purposes which include using ADWPL to meet VET industry specific course requirements.

For example a student may use their part-time job at a retail store to meet ADWPL requirements and in addition have completed an industry related work-placement as part of the Creative Industries VET industry specific course.

Schools will need to report ADWPL achieved for the purpose of meeting the requirements of a VET industry specific course separately in order to make the distinction.

The example below shows the different purposes of ADWPL for a student in one calendar year:

For SIRS to allocate course credit upon successful course completion, it is a requirement that ADWPL is linked to the relevant qualification before uploading to SIRS.

Career and Enterprise reminder of previewed sources for WACE examinations 2015

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

Teachers are reminded that the previewed sources for the 2015 Career and Enterprise Stage 2 and Stage 3 WACE examinations are available on the Authority website on the course page under the Examination Materials tab athttp://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/Senior_Secondary/Courses/WACE_Courses/Career_and_Enterprise.

There is one previewed source for Stage 2 and one previewed source for Stage 3.

Front covers for 2015 WACE examinations sent to schools

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

Front covers for all 2015 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 2015 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 2015 written examinations has been distributed to schools. A DVD and a CD were provided for Stage 3 and a DVD only for Stage 2 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.