Contact
Jessica Wright (08) 9273 6752
Jessica.Wright@scsa.wa.edu.au

The Authority’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) data integrity checks target incorrect reporting of enrolments and achievements and missing information that may impact on qualification completion data. Schools should carefully check their VET data in SIRS to ensure information is correctly reported on a student’s Western Australian Statement of Student Achievement (WASSA).

Incorrect reporting of VET enrolments and achievements may have a significant impact on a student’s eligibility to meet the WACE requirements or receive an Award for Outstanding Achievement in VET.

Schools are reminded that in cases where:

(a) a qualification code has changed from the previous year (e.g. has been superseded) and units of competency from the superseded qualification are intended to be used to meet the requirements of the current qualification, or

(b) if a student is using a previously completed units of competency from a different qualification to meet the requirements of another qualification,these units of competency must first be linked to the current qualification code and be resulted with 60: credit transfer.

IMPORTANT NOTE
If a student does not have the correct number of units linked to a qualification in SIRS the VET Results Qualification file (RSQUAL) will not upload successfully.

It is important that schools carefully read messages regarding the status of uploads made to SIRS and act on any warning or error messages that result. The consequence of not acting on SIRS error messages or warnings may be that the achievement is not successfully processed in SIRS and a completed qualification is not registered on the students’ record of achievement in the SIRS database. This will impact whether a student meets the Certificate II or higher requirement or the contribution of VET unit equivalents towards the C grade standard and depth requirement.

More detailed information about the RSQUAL file is provided in the Data Procedures Manual in Section 7: Achievements (links are provided to database specific manuals). The WACE procedures file is available on the Authority website at http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/data-procedures-manual.

Where relevant, schools are also reminded to check that their VET enrolment data contains the new RTO code for TAFE colleges for units of competency that were not resulted prior to the 11^th April 2016. For more information see the article in the June 11 to 12 Circular titled ‘Changes to Registered Training Organisation codes – adjusting VET enrolments in the Student Information Records System (SIRS)’

Contacts
Lynn Galbraith (08) 9273 6702
lynn.galbraith@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are reminded the last date for uploading Year 12 student registration and demographic data is 18 November 2016.

All schools are requested to upload their Student Registration and Demographic File (SRGDG) on a regular basis to ensure the accuracy of student registration and demographic data. This is particularly important for the Year 12 students who will be receiving their WACE and/or Western Australian Statement of Student Achievement (WASSA) through Australia Post early in 2017.

Please ensure that the student home and postal address details are correct. The Certificate Name that appears on the CSE059 Report is the name that will be printed on the student’s WASSA and WACE. This information is taken from the Certificate Name field in the SRGDG file. These details can be checked by running the Verification of student details report via the pathway Reports > Other Reports > Enrolments > CSE059 – Verification of Student Details.

Schools should ensure students check this information carefully, make any changes and upload their SRGDG file. Instructions for uploading the SRGDG file can be found in Section 3 of the Data Procedures Manual.

If a student has received prior learning block credit, this will also show on the Verification report.

Community service hours
The number of community service hours a student has completed can be uploaded through the SRGDG file, and this will appear on students’ statements of results. If no hours are noted, no mention of community service will be made on the statement.

Left Provider/Left Secondary Education
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, or
• the student has already turned 18 years of age.

Students with a ‘Left’ status on SIRS will not receive a WASSA, 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 WASSA detailing any results achieved at school.

Contact
Lynn Galbraith (08) 9273 6702
lynn.galbraith@scsa.wa.edu.au or dataservices@scsa.wa.edu.au

During 2016, students at primary schools implementing the Brightpath or ABLEWA assessment programs were allocated an SCSA Student Number and registered on the Student Information Records System (SIRS). This was undertaken to ensure the accuracy of student data and avoid duplication of records.

These students will enter secondary school (Year 7) in 2017 with an existing SCSA Student Number.

While record duplication is less likely for students entering Year 7 from within K–10 and K–12 schools, the Authority is developing processes for students entering secondary schools with an existing SCSA Student Number in 2017.

From 2017, the Authority will:

1. no longer issue batches of Year 7 Student Numbers in Term 4
2. only issue Year 7 Student Numbers in Term 1, 2017 following a student record check
3. establish processes to ensure continuity of the SCSA Student Number.

The Authority anticipates that transfer of student record data between Department of Education schools will facilitate importing of student numbers and other student information.

The Authority will communicate with primary and secondary schools regarding these processes and the introduction of the Western Australian Student Number (currently called the SCSA Student Number), in 2017.

Schools can use the search facility in SIRS to identify students with existing student numbers, to avoid record duplication during student registration.

Further information can be found in the Data Procedures Manual, on the Authority website at: http://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/data-procedures-manual.

Contact
Lynn Galbraith (08)9273 6702
lynn.galbraith@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools and other education providers will be required to register their Year 10, Year 11 and Year 12 students with the Authority by Thursday, 16 February 2017.  All other students in Years 7, 8, and 9 must be registered by Thursday, 16 March 2017.

It is critical that Year 10, Year 11 and Year 12 students are registered by 16 February to ensure their inclusion in the compulsory Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment in March (unless pre-qualified through Year 9 NAPLAN performance or their achievement of the standard in Year 10 or Year 11).  Demonstrating the minimum standard in the three components of the assessment (reading, writing and numeracy) is a requirement for students to achieve the WACE from 2016.

Schools that will be participating in NAPLAN Online in 2017 will also be required to register their Year 7 and Year 9 students by Thursday, 16 February 2017.

Details of how to register students will be provided in the updated Data Procedures Manual 2017, with links to assist schools using Reporting to Parents, MAZE, and Excel.

School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) student numbers
For information about SCSA student numbers, see the relevant item in this eCircular regarding students entering Year 7 who have already been issued a student number.

Contact
Lynn Galbraith (08) 9273 6702
lynn.galbraith@scsa.wa.edu.au

Limited places are available for secondary school staff, using the Student Information Records System (SIRS), to attend a familiarisation seminar at the School Curriculum and Standards Authority. The seminar is aimed at new and existing secondary school users who have not previously attended a seminar.

Ideally, two staff members should attend; the clerical staff member who may be responsible for maintaining the changes on the school database and the deputy or associate principal who is responsible for timetable changes for students.

The seminar will cover the basic operations and functions of SIRS. This includes data transfer and the generation of reports which enable the information transferred to SIRS to be checked.

The seminar will be approximately two and a half hours duration. Participants will log into SIRS using their own school login and password.

There will be four sessions available prior to school commencing in 2017, which may be preferable for staff in remote and country Western Australia.

Seminar dates and times (2017)

More sessions may be provided if these sessions are fully booked.

Registrations can be made online at

http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/SIRS_intro.

The seminars will be held in the Mason Bird Building Training Room 1 at 303 Sevenoaks Street, Cannington.  Further details will be supplied to participants once registered.

In 2015 and 2016, two sessions were held in Bunbury for South West participants, and if we have enough interest for 2017, it may be possible to conduct sessions there again.  Please contact Lynn.Galbraith@scsa.wa.edu.au if you would be interested in attending SIRS familiarisation in Bunbury.

Contact
Lynn Galbraith (08)9273 6702
lynn.galbraith@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 SCSA number. All you need is a surname, given name and date of birth.

All student registrations are recorded in SIRS by the end of March in the current year. After this time you will be able to search for students using the current year. This will then give you the student’s previous school and you will know where to send a transfer note if required.

1. Hover over Enrolments in the horizontal blue menu bar.
2. Click on Student Enrolment > Student Maintenance > Find Student Number (see image below).
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 etc.), 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).

1.1.1 Troubleshooting: Search SCSA student numbers

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 only 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 7, 8, 9 and 10).

Contact
Lynn Galbraith (08) 9273 6702
lynn.galbraith@scsa.wa.edu.au

Students who received an approved Notice of Arrangements late in the year may be entitled to receive results for completed courses, VET units of competency or Endorsed Programs.  

If you are uploading results for a student who has previously been withdrawn from a course unit on transfer to code 9000 with a Notice of Arrangements, you will receive warning messages similar to the following:

“The Course Results (RSCOS): rscos1234y1up.csv has been successfully processed but has recorded the following warnings:

Warning occurred on record: 8 (Student: 12345678: Doe, Jane). The following issue should be noted:

• The student with Student No 21345678 has been re-enrolled to the course or course unit GTENG of course ENG.

Warning occurred on record: 23 (Student: 12345678: Doe, Jane). The following issue should be noted:

• The student with Student No 21345678 has been re-enrolled to the course or course unit GTAET of course AET.”

Please note this is not an error; it means the student has been re-enrolled into the course unit and a result has been recorded for that unit. It will not create a new enrolment, it will only re-enrol. To receive a green tick to indicate a successful upload, please upload the same file again – the warning messages will not appear as the re-enrolment has already taken place.

Year 12 students on a Notice of Arrangements will also receive a Western Australian Statement of Student Achievement (WASSA) from the Authority.

Contact
Chris Stone (08) 9273 6365
chris.stone@scsa.wa.edu.au

Consensus moderation was not conducted in 2015 or 2016 while new moderation activities (the syllabus delivery audit and the externally set task) were introduced and enrolment patterns for courses became evident.

The Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority has endorsed the 
re-introduction of the consensus moderation process for the senior secondary years commencing in 2017.

The key features of the process will be the same as when it was last conducted in 2014:

• Participation in this moderation process is compulsory for all schools delivering a course involved in the particular year (see table below).
• All teachers participating are required to provide a student assessment file for a prescribed number of students (typically three students, one at each grade from A to C).
• Each student assessment file must include all the marked assessment tasks for that student (including the Externally Set Task where it has been conducted) up to the time of providing the file.
• In the Perth metropolitan area and larger regional centres consensus moderation occurs at meetings of typically 10-15 teachers.
• Schools more than 100km from the nearest scheduled meeting venue are required to send the materials to the Authority for review.
• All assessment files are reviewed independently, twice by other teachers attending the meeting (or organised to by the Authority to review files sent in by schools more than 100 km from the nearest scheduled meeting venue).
• For each assessment file, feedback from each reviewing teacher in the form of a grade and a supporting comment for that judgement.
• The teachers reflect on the feedback received from their colleagues to help determine any adjustments that may be required so that the school’s marking and grading is comparable with the standard of their colleagues in the group.

The process will be conducted in Term 2 and Term 3.

The courses involved for 2017 are:

During Term 1 2017, each school will be required to register one teacher for each of the courses above that the school is delivering.

Prior to attending the meeting, the teacher registered to represent the school will be required to download two Authority-selected student scripts and mark the scripts using the marking key provided by the Authority in preparation for discussion about marking and grading standards for the course. Teachers will be required to bring these scripts and their mark for each script to the meeting. Alternative arrangements will be made for those schools more than 100 km from the nearest scheduled venue.

Details of the registration process and sample script marking will be provided to schools early in Term 1.

Teachers are reminded that they need to have procedures in place to ensure that all marked student work is retained for moderation purposes.

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

Schools are reminded that the Authority requires achievements for students in years other than Year 12 by 2 December 2016.

A mark and a grade are required for all Year 11 students.

• A student’s school-based achievement for a Year 11 course may be recorded for each pair of units (i.e. one mark and grade), OR
• for each unit completed (i.e. two marks and two grades).

Additionally

• the VET Unique Student Identifier is a requirement for VET achievement intended for contribution towards the WACE requirements.

Information regarding the submission of achievement data was emailed to schools on 3 November 2016. If schools require clarification regarding the achievement collection processes, please contact Kerry Tarrant.

Contact
Robyn Smith (08) 9273 6386
robyn.smith@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 Senior Secondary section of the Authority website.

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

Please note that applications from students seeking permission to enrol in Year 11 or Year 12 WACE language course units for 2017 closed on 26 August 2016.

Schools are unable to enrol a student in a WACE language course until the Authority has finalised their enrolment status in SIRS. As each application is processed by the Authority, the enrolment status for the student is updated in Student Information Record System (SIRS) and can be viewed by the school in SIRS report CSE208 following the pathway: Reports > Other reports > Enrolments > CSE208 Language Course Application status.

If the student has been permitted to enrol in a background language course or a first language course (i.e. they are not permitted to enrol in the second language course) then:

• the student is notified of the decision by email
• the parent/guardian is notified of the decision by letter
• the student’s school is also notified by email to the M&S contact person and, where contact details were provided in the application, also the language teacher.

If a student wishing to study a Year 11 or Year 12 WACE language course in 2017 has not submitted their application due to extenuating circumstances, they can contact Hanneke Rekelhof at the Authority to discuss a possible late submission.

Contact
Graeme Quelch (08) 9273 6758
graeme.quelch@scsa.wa.edu.au

Experienced teachers of ATAR Year 11 courses are invited to express their interest in the role of school-based reviewer for the SDA 2017. During the period Thursday 9 to Tuesday 14 March 2017, reviewers will audit course outlines and assessment outlines for a selected ATAR Year 11 course to determine whether these documents reflect the current syllabus and meet the requirements of the WACE Manual 2017. It is anticipated that for 2017, school-based reviewers will be required for the courses listed below.

The audit process is completed online and takes approximately 7.5 hours to audit a typical batch of 30 schools (60 documents). The process can be completed either on a school day with teacher relief payment provided by the Authority or completed outside school hours with payment to the individual by the Authority.

To express interest in this role, teachers should complete the online application form available on the Authority website (http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/About_Us/Employment).

Expressions of interest close on Thursday, 1 December 2016 at 4.00pm.

NB: Interested teachers should ensure their principal will support their attendance at a half-day training session at the Authority offices in Cannington on Thursday, 23 February 2017, from 8.30 am to 11.30 am. The Authority will provide schools with one half day teacher relief payment per teacher attending.

Contact
Graeme Quelch (08) 9273 6758
Graeme.Quelch@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are advised that in 2017 the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) will conduct a syllabus delivery audit for all ATAR Year 11 courses. This moderation activity is designed to ensure that all schools are delivering and assessing the current syllabus in line with the requirements of the WACE Manual 2017.

Schools are required to submit a separate course outline and an assessment outline for each ATAR Year 11 course delivered.

For courses with defined contexts in ATAR Year 11, schools are required to upload a separate course outline and assessment outline for each defined context.

Schools are reminded that for ATAR Year 11 courses, the course outline and the assessment outline may cover both Unit 1 and Unit 2 (Year long) or cover Unit 1 (Semester long).

The process will require the upload of documents to SIRS2, as in 2016.

The School Coordinator Handbook for 2017 has been sent to all schools. It is also available on the Authority’s website.
http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/sirs-info/syllabus-delivery-audit
http://wace1516.scsa.wa.edu.au/moderation/syllabus-delivery-audit

Schools are required tocomplete this task between 9.00am Friday 4 November 2016 and 
4.00pm Friday 24 February 2017.

The documents can be either a Word document or in pdf format.

Schools are asked toensure that each file is correctly named according to the following naming convention.  NB: There is no separate code for semester long documents.

NB: the SDA 2017 software will not accept a document if an incorrect file name is used.

Following the Authority's review of the documents in 2017, a report for each course will be available to schools. Schools will be informed if a document does not meet the requirements of the syllabus and/or the WACE Manual 2017. The report will specify the action/s that the school needs to take to ensure the document meets the requirements of the Authority.

Contact
Sven Sorenson (08) 9273 6390
sven.sorenson@scsa.wa.edu.au

A new guide has been published on the Drama ATAR course page in a response to teacher and candidate inquiries about the nature of content required for the Drama ATAR Year 12 Practical (performance) examination cover pages. It provides advice related to the cover pages for the original solo performance and the scripted monologue performance.

The guide can be located in PDF form under Examination materials on the Drama course page. http://wace1516.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/arts/drama

Teachers and candidates are encouraged to view the notes in the guide in their preparation for the practical (performance) examinations for 2017. Please note that this document is a guide only and candidates in consultation with their teachers may vary the content added to the script cover pages.

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

Past WACE examinations are available on the Authority’s website and are accessible from two locations. Please click on either of the following tabs on the Authority’s website to download the papers:

• Publications http://wace1516.scsa.wa.edu.au/further-resources/past-wace-examinations
• Year 11 and 12 further resources http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/past-wace-examinations

Teachers are advised to use these past WACE examinations with caution as courses have undergone varying degrees of change in the transformation to ATAR courses. Those ATAR courses based on the Australian curriculum are significantly different. Consequently, past WACE examinations do not necessarily reflect current ATAR syllabus content and the ATAR course examinations.

Contact
Buddhini Daluwatta (08) 9273 6761
buddhini.daluwatta@scsa.wa.edu.au
Kerry Cribb (08) 9273 6787
kerry.cribb@scsa.wa.edu.au

Early in Term 1 2017, teachers will be able to attend teacher/examiner forums to provide feedback and ask questions of examining panels about the ATAR course examinations that have been held in 2016.

All teacher/examiner forums will take place from 4–6pm in meeting rooms at the School Curriculum and Standards Authority, 303 Sevenoaks Street, Cannington.

Registration information will be provided in the final, 11to12Circular Edition 13.