2015 Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment briefings

Contact
Jo Merrey (08) 9273 6348
jo.merrey@scsa.wa.edu.au

The briefings for 2015 school leaders began on 10 March and will conclude on 28 April.

Over 833 school leaders registered for the Kindergarten to Year 6 briefings and 509 for the Year 7 to Year 12 briefings. Sessions were held in metropolitan and regional centres and through a webinar service.

The slideshow and speaking notes of the presentations will be made available to school leaders on the Authority website in early May.

In addition, companion videos that provide updates of the Authority’s work in 2015 will be available on the Authority website.

Eligibility of Year 11 students to enrol into Foundation courses and OLNA results

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

Foundation course units are restricted to students who have not demonstrated the minimum standard of literacy and/or numeracy. Year 11 students enrolled in Foundation course units in Semester 1, who have now demonstrated the minimum standards, are not eligible to continue in the associated Foundation courses in Semester 2. This means that Year 11 students who have been enrolled in Foundation course units in Year 11 and who have met the standard in literacy and/or numeracy via the OLNA are required to enrol in a General or ATAR course in Semester 2.

To assist schools to identify which Year 11 students need to have their enrolments changed (due to meeting the minimum standards of literacy and/or numeracy), the Authority has developed a report in SIRS. The pathway to this report is as follows:

Reports > other reports > Report type: enrolments, Report: CSE188 – Foundation course eligibility report.

Schools must run this report from Tuesday, 12 May 2015 to determine which of their Year 11 students need to have their enrolments changed.

Student enrolments in course units (including opting out of Stage 2 WACE examinations)

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

Schools are reminded that the due date for uploading Year 12 student enrolments in all WACE course units into Student Information Records System (SIRS) is Friday,
15 May 2015. As part of the upload, schools will need to indicate which of their Year 12 students have chosen to opt out of sitting Stage 2 WACE examinations.

Provision of course enrolments
The following sections of the Data Procedures Manual 2015 provide instructions relating to required actions (extracting data of students enrolled in course units, uploading the enrolments into SIRS and verifying these enrolments in SIRS):

Opting out of Stage 2 WACE examinations
Schools can view a report in SIRS to monitor the examination status of their Year 12 students studying Stage 2 WACE courses.  The report (CSE187 – Examination Status of Year 12 Students Enrolled in Stage 2 Courses) lists, in alphabetical name order, the Year 12 students who are enrolled in a Stage 2 pair of units by their type of enrolment (i.e. examination candidates, non-examination candidates or all students enrolled in that course).

The pathway to the report is: Reports > Other Reports > Enrolments.

Schools are also reminded that the last date for changes to Year 12 student enrolments in Stage 2 WACE course units is Wednesday, 1 July 2015.  After this date, schools will not be able to:

• opt Year 12 students out of sitting Stage 2 WACE examinations;
• enrol Year 12 students into Stage 2 WACE course units; or
• withdraw from Stage 2 WACE course units.

Year 12 student enrolments in VET units of competency

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

Schools are reminded that the Authority requires Year 12 student enrolments in VET to be uploaded into the Student Information Records System (SIRS) as soon as possible, but not later than Wednesday, 17 June 2015.

Schools need to ensure that they receive the correct enrolment information from registered training organisations (RTOs) relating to their students’ enrolments in units of competency and qualifications. It is important that schools acquire the appropriate documentation from the RTO to confirm enrolments before submitting the data to the Authority. This will ensure that accurate information is uploaded in SIRS to avoid issues at the time of providing student achievement reports.

Provision of course enrolments
The following sections of the Data Procedures Manual 2015 provide instructions relating to required actions (extracting data of students enrolled in VET units of competency, uploading the enrolments into SIRS and verifying these enrolments in SIRS):

This information is available on the Authority website at
http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/Publications/Data_Procedures_Manual

It is important to note:

• VET units of competency and course unit enrolments must be uploaded into SIRS before schools can seek exemption for Year 12 students from sitting Stage 3 WACE examinations. The online application process requires student enrolments to be uploaded into SIRS before proceeding with an application for exemption.
• the VET Unique Student Identifier (USI) is optional in the VET enrolment file (ENVET).  However, it is required for units of competency and qualifications to contribute towards meeting the WACE requirements when reporting achievements through the RSVET and RSQUAL. If assistance is required regarding the USI, it is suggested that schools contact the Western Australian Department of Training and Workforce Development atusi@dtwd.wa.gov.au or refer to the USI help centre at www.usi.gov.au, by phone on 13 38 73 or via email atusi@industry.gov.au.
• schools delivering VET that is integrated into a WACE course unit must enrol the students in the units of competency as VET integrated in the ENVET file. No unit equivalence will be given for units of competency delivered and achieved in this manner.

Student enrolments and achievements in VET units of competency and the Unique Student Identifier (USI)

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

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

Nicole Gazey(08) 9442 9401
nicole.gazey@scsa.wa.edu.au

2015 is the first year in which schools are required to include the Unique Student Identifier (USI) in their VET enrolment (ENVET) and VET achievement (RSVET and RSQUAL) files which are uploaded into Student Information Records System (SIRS). The USI field is optional in these three files, however, it is required in the RSVET and RSQUAL files for units of competency and qualifications to contribute towards meeting the WACE requirements.

Students are required to have a USI before they can be issued with a statement of attainment or certificate (from their RTO).

If assistance is required regarding the USI, it is suggested that schools contact the Western Australian Department of Training and Workforce Development at usi@dtwd.wa.gov.au or refer to the USI help centre at www.usi.gov.au, by phone on 13 38 73 or via email at usi@industry.gov.au.

Application to sit WACE examinations for students not in Year 12

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

Permission must be obtained from the School Curriculum and Standards Authority for a student who is not in Year 12 to sit a WACE course examination in 2015.

Note that a student who sits an examination for a particular course in Year 11 will be exiting the course and will not be permitted to sit the equivalent Year 12 ATAR course in the future.

An application form for permission to sit an examination for students not in Year 12 is available on the Authority website at http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/Events_and_Forms/Application_Order_Forms.

Applications close Friday, 15 May 2015.