Contact
Andrew Sinfield (08) 9273 6738
andrew.sinfield@scsa.wa.edu.au

OLNA helpdesk (08) 9273 6726
olna@scsa.wa.edu.au

https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/olnahttps://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/assessment/testing/olna

Schools are asked to note the following important dates and information:

March 2018 OLNA testing window
Writing – Tuesday 6 March to Friday 9 March
Numeracy and Reading – Tuesday 6 March to Thursday 29 March

Student Information Records System (SIRS) reports: 
LAN001 – Registration of all 2018 Year 10, 11 and 12 students must be completed before they appear in the OLNA student list.
LAN002 ­­– Student usernames and passwords will be available in SIRS on Monday 26 February 2018.

Further information on how to access these reports is available in the OLNA Handbook via https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/olna/schools.

Preparation of students

In preparation for the OLNA, students should:

• have the opportunity to sit the relevant practice (or example) tests. These tests can be accessed by using the following login credentials: 
  https://assess.scsa.wa.edu.au/engine/index.php/login/olna
  username: schools should use their school code
  password: prac14
• receive a copy of the OLNA Information for students sheet to advise them of the day, time and location of each test session they will sit. This form is available under the Forms section via https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/olna/schools.

Further information on steps coordinators should take to prepare students for the OLNA is contained on pages 58–69 in the OLNA Handbook available via 
https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/olna/schools.

Preparation of school and staff

Coordinators should:

• provide supervisors with their OLNA timetable
• organise mode/s of communication to manage difficulties should they arise
• advise supervisors that if a student’s device/browser freezes during the writing component, the supervisor should phone the OLNA helpdesk where they will be authorised to take a screen shot of the student’s work and will be asked to email it to olna@scsa.wa.edu.au.

Further information on steps coordinators should take, including a checklist (page 25), to prepare for the OLNA is contained in the OLNA Handbook available via https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/olna/schools.

Technical preparations

IT staff/Coordinators should ensure that:

• the school’s internet and network infrastructure is able to handle the expected load of students sitting the OLNA and any other users accessing the internet
• non-urgent system maintenance and upgrades are not conducted during the OLNA period. Changes to the IT system can affect delivery and collection of OLNA data.

Further information on the checks that schools’ IT staff should undertake is contained in the OLNA Test-delivery website user guide available via https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/olna/schools.

OLNA publications and forms
All OLNA publications and forms are now available from the Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/olna/schools.

Contact
Patricia Dunnett (08) 9273 6794
patricia.dunnett@scsa.wa.edu.au

Secondary school principals and deputy principals are invited to register to attend a briefing about the School Curriculum and Standards Authority's 2018 Key Messages.

The briefings will be organised to provide updates on the Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline for Years 7 - 10 and the WACE 2018.

The briefings will be presented across the State, in February and March, by the Authority's Chief Executive Officer Allan Blagaich and senior members of his executive team.

Register now at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/2018-briefings.

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

The Chair of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority Board, Patrick Garnett, outlined to all school principals activities planned to meet specific goal in relation to the current Strategic Plan.

In particular, Professor Garnett outlined

• Kindergarten to Year 10 Languages, the Arts, Technologies, NAPLAN Online and moderation trial
  • implementation of the Arts P-10, Technologies P-10 and Languages Year 3 commence this year for all schools
  • trial planned for schools to participate in NAPLAN Online
  • publication of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages Framework
  • Year 6/7 moderation process in 2017 for English, Mathematics and Science will be continued in 2018, and extended to include Humanities and Social Sciences.
• Year 11 and Year 12 curriculum and standards
  • syllabus delivery audit for all ATAR Year 12 courses
  • consensus moderation processes for selected courses
  • non-approval of grades processes.
• P–12 school information briefings
  • details about upcoming briefings for secondary school principals and deputy principals
  • details about upcoming briefings and optional workshops for primary principals, deputy principals and up to two classroom teachers per school.

A copy of the letter sent to principals may be viewed here under News: https://scsa.wa.edu.au/ and https://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/communication-to-schools.

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

Schools are kindly reminded that the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) has developed a WACE Checker for Year 12 students. The WACE Checker is a tool which Year 12s can use to check their progress towards achieving their Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) and is now available on the Authority website at: https://wacechecker.scsa.wa.edu.au/.

The WACE Checker is provided as a guide only. The report it provides students must not be interpreted as a guarantee that the student will achieve a WACE. Achievement of the WACE is dependent on the calculation of a student’s final results and completion of courses. Individuals are encouraged to consult the WACE Manual for the relevant year, or their school, should they wish to confirm WACE eligibility for a student based on enrolment and predicted/actual achievement.

To use the WACE Checker, students will need to add information about their achievements in Year 11 and their expected achievements in Year 12. The checker will be of most assistance if the information provided for Year 12 is realistic. When students add their anticipated grades for Year 12, they need to add what they realistically expect to achieve this year.

The WACE Checker will be particularly useful for students considering changes to their education program which may affect their eligibility for the WACE.

The WACE Checker allows students to save the summary of their input as a Portable Document Format (PDF). They can use this PDF to track their progress and to check the impact of any changes to their enrolment or achievement.

Students can also use a save function which will keep the data entered into the checker for a month. An access code is provided to allow students to use the ‘Fetch My Data’ button when they select that option in the checker.

More information is available under the ‘Tell me more’ button on the checker.

Contact
Rita Colliander (08) 9273 6378 (partnership registration) 
John Newman (08) 9273 6757 (moderation queries)

Schools planning to run a class with fewer than six examination candidates in an ATAR Year 12 course are reminded of the need to establish a small group moderation partnership for 2018. All schools with one or more small groups must register their partnerships with the Authority using the required form by Thursday 15 February 2018.

To ensure the required comparability of marks, a partnership should be made with another school early to ensure delivery of the course at the same time. Establishment of a partnership before teaching commences enables the teachers involved to agree to the sequence and timing of delivery and to plan a common assessment outline.

All schools in a partnership are required to:

• co-develop and document agreed marking strategies to ensure comparability of marking, which can include:
• use an identical assessment outline (typically developed collaboratively)
• establish and use identical assessment tasks and marking keys
• conduct all assessment tasks under the same agreed conditions (or conditions that are as similar as possible)
• co-develop and document agreed marking strategies to ensure comparability of marking, which can include:
  • one teacher marking a task from all students in all partner schools (i.e. rotating the marking of tasks between teachers)
  • double-marking a task from all students or from selected students across the range of grades (i.e. both teachers independently mark the whole task or particular sections/questions, then discuss comparability, review marks and make adjustments where required)
  • co-marking a task (i.e. each teacher marks particular sections/questions for all students).

Full details of the small group moderation procedures for 2018 are available in Section 3.6 (page 47) of the WACE Manual 2018, available on the Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/wace-manual.

A copy of the form required for registering Small Group Moderation partnerships with a principal's signature can be found here under Moderation: https://scsa.wa.edu.au/forms/forms.

A seminar with a repeat session will be provided early in 2018 for those teachers who have not participated in a small group moderation partnership before, or for those who wish to refresh their understanding of the required procedures. Details about the seminars are available here.

Contacts
Lynn Galbraith (08) 9273 6702
lynn.galbraith@education.wa.edu.au opens in new window
dataservices@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools and other education providers are asked to note the following important dates as the last date for the initial upload of student registration and demographic information to Student Information Records System (SIRS) in 2018.  Please do not leave it until the last date to upload your data.

Thursday 15 February 2018

• Initial 2018 registration and demographic information for Years 10–12 students (required for Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) student lists and password generation).
• Initial 2018 registration and demographic information for ALL Kindergarten–Year 6 students where these students attend schools either administering National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) Online or delivering Brightpath.
• Initial 2018 registration and demographic information for all Year 7 and Year 9 students where these students attend schools administering NAPLAN Online.

Thursday 15 March 2018

• Registration and demographic information for Years 7–9 students where these students attend schools not administering NAPLAN online is due to be uploaded on Thursday, 15 March 2018.

Thursday 12 April 2018

• Registration and demographic information for Kindergarten–Year 6 students where these students attend schools not administering NAPLAN Online is due to be uploaded on Thursday, 12 April 2018.

Updates to registration and demographic information should be uploaded into SIRS on a regular basis for the remainder of the year.

Details of how to register students are provided in the updated Data Procedures Manual 2018 - https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/438159/Data-Procedures-Manual-2018.pdf, with links to assist schools using Reporting to Parents, MAZE, and Excel. There is also a separate Student Registration Procedures Manual 2018 – Primary Students found on the following web page https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/sirs-info/primary-schools to assist primary schools with creating and uploading their Student Registration and Demographic File (SRGDG).

Schools who have never previously registered their students for a Western Australian Student Number (WASN) will be contacted during 2018 with instructions on how to request and allocate the WASN and how to upload an SRGDG to SIRS.

Requesting Western Australian Student Numbers

WASNs for Kindergarten students ONLY can be requested directly through SIRS. Please see instructions in the Section 3.3 of the Student Registration Procedures Manual 2018 – Primary Students found in the above link.

Schools, where most students already have a WASN and new students have enrolled who require a number, should check first using the ‘Search for WASN’ process – explained in ‘How to Search for WA Student Numbers in SIRS’ in this Circular.  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.

To request WASNs, where you have a large number of students requiring numbers, please send a spreadsheet containing the students’ surname, first name, date of birth and academic year to numbers@scsa.wa.edu.au and a check will be made before returning with allocated numbers and a request made for new numbers where appropriate.

Schools are requested to include their school code in any correspondence.

Contact

Lynn Galbraith (08) 9273 6702
lynn.galbraith@scsa.wa.edu.au
numbers@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 surname, given name and date of birth.

All student registrations are recorded in SIRS by the end of March. After this time, you will be able to search for students including a 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 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).

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 (for example, 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 opens in new window

Kerry Tarrant (08) 9273 6770
kerry.tarrant@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 in duration. Participants will log into SIRS using their own school login and password.

Seminar dates and times (2018)

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

Registrations can be made online at

https://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 previous years, two sessions were held in Bunbury for South West participants, and if we have enough interest for 2018, 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.

Sessions were also funded in 2017 by schools in Port Hedland, Kalgoorlie and Geraldton and any future sessions in these areas would include a session dedicated to primary schools only.

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

In 2018, an individual may enrol to sit an ATAR course examination as a non-school candidate (formerly private candidate) in the event that the individual is:

• seeking entry to university as a mature-age applicant, or
• a student who has previously completed Year 12, or
• a Year 12 student undertaking language course examinations through interstate language offerings where the course is not offered by the school, or
• a Year 12 student undertaking French, German and Italian Background language examinations where the course is not offered by the school.

To enrol as a non-school candidate in an Interstate Languages course examination or in the French, German or Italian Background language course examination, the candidate must be enrolled to sit at least three other ATAR course examinations in 2018.

An individual may not enrol in:

• an external examination for an Interstate Language at the same time as being enrolled in that course with the State that hosts the language, and
• more than one Interstate Language examination.

An individual enrolled in an ATAR course examination as a non-school candidate is unable to use the mark from that examination to contribute towards the achievement of an exhibition or award.

Enrolments as non-school candidates in ATAR course examinations are due by Thursday, 5 April 2018. No further applications will be accepted after this date.

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

In 2018, Year 11 and Year 12 students can enrol in ATAR, General, Foundation, Preliminary and VET Industry Specific courses.

Schools are reminded that Year 11 and Year 12 student enrolments in these courses must be uploaded to the Student Information Records System (SIRS) by Thursday, 1 March 2018.

Enrolments in course units
The instructions to assist schools to enrol their students in courses are detailed in the Data Procedures Manual 2018. The manual is available on the Authority website at the following address: http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/Publications/Data_Procedures_Manual.

The specific sub-sections for information relating to extracting data of students enrolled in courses, uploading the enrolments into SIRS and verifying these enrolments in SIRS are listed below.

Details relating to enrolments in course units
Further information relating to the study of courses can be found in Section 5: Enrolments of the Data Procedures Manual 2018.

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

A copy of the slides from the Deputy Principal and Senior Administrator Term 4 2017 Briefings are now available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website via the Publications | Presentations page.

https://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/presentations

https://scsa.wa.edu.au/__data/assets/powerpoint_doc/0006/459141/Power-Point-Presentation-2017-Deputy-Principal-And-Senior-Administrators-Term-4-2017-Briefings.PPTX.

Contact
Andrew Sinfield (08) 9273 6738
andrew.sinfield@scsa.wa.edu.au

OLNA helpdesk (08) 9273 6726
olna@scsa.wa.edu.au

Schools are asked to note the following important dates and information.

https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/olna
https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/assessment/testing/olna

The March 2018 OLNA testing window
Writing – Tuesday 6 March to Friday 9 March
Numeracy and reading – Tuesday 6 March to Thursday 29 March
Alternative test dates are not available for schools or individuals who make arrangements to undertake camps, travel, work experience or other activities that prevent completion of the OLNA during the testing window.

Student Information Records System (SIRS) reports: LAN001 and LAN002
LAN001 – Registration of all 2018 Year 10, 11 and 12 students must be completed before they appear in the OLNA student list.
LAN002 ­­– Student usernames and passwords will be available from SIRS on Monday 26 February 2018.

EAL/D eligibility               
To be granted an extra ten minutes to complete the OLNA reading, writing and numeracy tests students must be registered as eligible to be enrolled in a Year 12 EAL/D course.
Forms and deadlines are available under Extra time for OLNAvia https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/english/english-as-an-additional-language-or-dialect.

Disability adjustment requests 
Schools will only need to request disability adjustment for students once each year.  The following will apply:

• All disability adjustments provided to students in the March 2018 round will be automatically provided to students in the September 2018 round.
• For students with a newly diagnosed disability or a change in the severity of their disability, schools will need to make a new request for adjustment before the September deadline.
• Adjustment for March 2018 must be entered into the OLNA Dashboard by 15 February 2018. Due to processing requirements late requests will not be accepted.

For more information, visit the following links: https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/olna/disability-adjustments and https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/disability-adjustment-guidelines

Sitting OLNA at TAFE Admissions (for entry into TAFE) while of compulsory school age
Students will only be able to sit the OLNA at TAFE Admissions if they have not sat in the previous OLNA round. If a student sits an OLNA test with TAFE Admissions this sit will count as one of the six opportunities for each component available to students of compulsory school age.

OLNA publications and forms
All OLNA publications and forms are now available from the Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/olna/schools.

Contact
Nolene Harris (08) 9273 6727
Nolene.Harris@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of Years 11 and 12 General and ATAR Science courses are asked to note that for those courses which include a glossary in the syllabus there has been an amendment, after consultation with the Science Course Advisory Committees, to the definition for ‘hypothesis’. The definition for hypothesis has been amended to the following:

A scientific statement based on the available information that can be tested by experimentation. When appropriate, the statement expresses an expected relationship between the independent and dependent variables for observed phenomena.

Contacts
John Watson (08) 9273 6374
John.Watson@scsa.wa.edu.au

Lisa Honczarenko (08)92736 763
Lisa.Honczarenko@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of selected Year 11 and Year 12 ATAR and/or General WACE courses are advised that the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) will be conducting a series of workshops during 2018, designed to support improving student performance.

Workshops will be conducted for:

• Applied Information Technology Year 11 and Year 12 ATAR
• Chemistry Year 11 and Year 12 ATAR
• English Year 12 ATAR
• Mathematics combined for Year 12 ATAR Applications and Methods
• Media Production and Analysis Year 12 ATAR
• Music Year 11 and Year 12 ATAR
• Physical Education Studies Year 12 ATAR
• Languages combined for Year 11 and Year 12 ATAR Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese
• HASS combined for all ATAR and General courses.

These hands on workshops will support participants to develop their understandings of syllabus content, course standards and assessment task design.

Details of all workshops can be accessed when the teacher registers online from the Authority website at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/events.

The workshops are free to attend, but schools are responsible for teacher relief and any travel and accommodation expenses.

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

Teachers of Politics and Law ATAR Year 12 are advised that the following content has been corrected in the syllabus for Year 12 ATAR Politics and Law for teaching in 2018.

In Unit 4 – Accountability and rights, within the content Political and legal systems, the term ‘rights’ has been replaced with the term ’law’.

Contact
Gabby Raggio (08) 9273 6306
gabby.raggio@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of Accounting and Finance are advised that the following content has been corrected in the syllabus for Year 11 ATAR Accounting and Finance and Year 12 General Accounting and Finance for teaching in 2018.

The Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of General Purpose Financial Reports (The Framework)has deleted the accrual basis of accounting as an underlying assumption. However, the objectives of The Framework still refers to financial performance being reflected by accrual accounting.

The sample course outlines have been updated accordingly.

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

Teachers are advised that samples of excellent, high and satisfactory student performance in ATAR EAL/D practical exams are now available on the extranet. The samples can be found under the Support Materials tab at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/english/english-as-an-additional-language-or-dialect

The samples are available to listen to in MP3 format and are accompanied by the relevant stimulus item for Part B of the exam as well as notes that exemplify elements from the marking key for each performance.

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

There is to be a focus in school grading reviews on the  moderation of the practical component of the EAL/D course in 2018. Therefore,  teachers are reminded to record and retain all practical formal assessments.
Teachers of EAL/D are reminded of Authority access requirements as per  2.8.1 of the WACE Manual:

For courses with a  practical component, in addition to written tasks, students’ work typically  consists of recordings of their performances (e.g. recordings of oral  presentations for Languages, videos of performances for Music and Dance),  portfolios for Design and Materials Design and Technology, and digital  productions for Media Production and Analysis. (page 33)

This includes ATAR, General and Foundation  courses. Teachers may make either audio or audio-visual recordings. These need  to be in a format which is easily accessible for moderation purposes.

Contact
Lisa Bowden (08) 9273 6349
lisa.bowden@scsa.wa.edu.au

Following consultation with the Visual Arts Course Advisory Committee, the Practical (production) examination design brief for Visual Arts ATAR Year 12 has been updated to align with the Visual Arts ATAR course Practical (production) examination requirements document. The updates to the design brief clarify the current requirements including audio-visual file formatting requirements. The updated syllabus is now available on the Visual Arts course page under Syllabus for the ATAR menu:
https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/9871/Visual-Arts-Y12-Syllabus-ATAR-GD.pdf.

Contact
Nick Fielding  (08) 9273 6756
nick.fielding@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of ATAR Music are advised that there will be a change to the syllabus for teaching in 2019-2021. Following consultation with the Music Course Advisory Committee, the compulsory areas of study for Music will change in 2019 to align with the new rotation of Designated Works.

The following tables show the current compulsory areas of study to be taught and examined in 2018, and the new compulsory areas of study to be taught as of 2019.

Compulsory areas of study 2018

Compulsory areas of study 2019-2022

The syllabus has been revised to reflect this change and is available on the Music Course page indicating that it is to be used for teaching and examining in 2019. The updated syllabus can be located at the following link:

https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/9751/Music-Y12-Syllabus-ATAR-GD.pdf.

Designated Works 2019-2021

A new rotation of designated works for teaching and examining from 2019-2021 has been published on the Music course page. These are available under the Support materials: Written component tab on the Music course page, ATAR:

https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/arts/music

Contact
Nadia Civa (08) 9273 6355
nadia.civa@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers are advised that the Chinese: First Language ATAR syllabus has been updated to reflect:

• a change to the name of the NSW course from 'Chinese Background Speakers' to 'Chinese and Literature'
• a change to the name of the educational authority from Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW (BOSTES NSW) to NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA)
• the new prescribed themes, contemporary issues and course prescriptions for Chinese: First Language for 2018–2023. Schools were advised of these changes in the October 2017 11to12 Circular https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/circulars/11to12-circulars?month=October+2017
• a change to the Grades Descriptions Year 12 heading from 'Written production and oral production' to 'Written production' because ‘oral production’ is not a Year 12 assessment type
• changes to the Written examination design brief – Year 12 (see table below).

Contact
Lisa Djanegara (08) 9273 6382

lisa.djanegara.email@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers are advised that the Indonesian: First Language ATAR syllabus has been updated to reflect:

• a change to the name of the NSW course from 'Indonesian Background Speakers' to 'Indonesian and Literature'.
• a change to the name of the authority from Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW (BOSTES NSW) to NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA)
• the new prescribed themes, contemporary issues and course prescriptions for Indonesian: First Language for 2018–2023. Schools were advised of these changes in the October 2017 11to12 Circular https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/circulars/11to12-circulars?month=October+2017
• a change to the Grade descriptions Year 12 heading from 'Written production and oral production' to 'Written production' because ‘oral production’ is not a Year 12 assessment type.
• changes to the Written examination design brief – Year 12 (see table below).

Contact
Lisa Djanegara (08) 9273 6382
lisa.djanegara.email@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers are advised that the Japanese: First Language ATAR syllabus has been updated to reflect:

• a change to the name of the NSW course from 'Japanese Background Speakers' to 'Japanese and Literature'.
• a change to the name of the educational authority from Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW (BOSTES NSW) to NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA)
• the new prescribed themes, contemporary issues and course prescriptions for Japanese: First Language for 2018–2023. Schools were advised of these changes in the October 2017 11to12 Circular https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/circulars/11to12-circulars?month=October+2017
• a change to the Grades descriptions Year 12 heading from 'Written production and oral production' to 'Written production' because ‘oral production’ is not a Year 12 assessment type.
• changes to the Written examination design brief – Year 12 (see table below).

Contacts
Mandy Hudson (08) 9273 6755
mandy.hudson@scsa.wa.edu.au

https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/consensus-moderation opens in new window

Schools are advised that the details for the registration process for Year 12 courses in Consensus Moderation in 2018 will be emailed to Principals on 12 March 2018. Registrations open on 29 March 2018. Each school will be required to register one teacher for each of the courses below that the school is delivering. Teachers are reminded that they need to have procedures in place to ensure that all marked student work is retained for moderation purposes. Participation in this moderation process is compulsory for all schools delivering a course involved in Year 12.

Teachers participating are required to provide a student assessment file for three students (one at each grade from A to C) including all assessment types and all marked assessments up to the time of providing the file. The registration process will provide teachers with additional course specific requirements.

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 School Curriculum and Standards 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. This feedback is provided to the Principal at the conclusion of the consensus moderation cycle. The process will be conducted during Term 2 (5 June 2018 to 22 June 2018) and Term 3 (23 July 2018 to 10 August 2018).

For enquiries relating to consensus moderation please email consensus.moderation@scsa.wa.edu.au.

Contact
Buddhini Daluwatta (08) 9273 6761
buddhini.daluwatta@scsa.wa.edu.au

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

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority is seeking applications from qualified people who wish to be considered for appointment as writers and checkers of the 2019 Externally set task (EST) materials.

Please see the link below to apply online and to read the Terms of Reference:

http://scsa.wa.edu.au/about-us/employment/application-for-writing-ests.

Applications must be received at the Authority no later than 5pm on Friday, 23 March 2018.

Successful applicants will be notified after Friday, 6 April 2018.

Contact

Melanie Jasper on 9273 6732 melanie.jasper@scsa.wa.edu.au

Tim Chiew on 9273 6377 tim.chiew@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority is seeking qualified people interested in marking 2018 Externally Set Tasks. For information regarding marker applications for the 2018 Externally Set Tasks please refer to:

https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/about-us/employment

Applications are live from Friday, 2 March 2018.

Contact
Nolene Harris (08) 9273 6727
nolene.harris@scsa.wa.edu.au

The Authority provides seminars during Term 1 each year to assist senior secondary teachers who are delivering Year 12 ATAR courses that require their school to take part in the small group moderation process.

Regional schools webinar

Teachers from regional schools unable to attend the meetings listed below can register their interest for a small group moderation webinar by contacting nolene.harris@scsa.wa.edu.au.

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

Teachers are advised that the 2017 ATAR course examination reports are available on the course page of the Authority’s extranet via login. The Extranet is the Authority’s secure area for teachers to access materials and resources to support them in their work. Please use the link below to log into the extranet or to register:

https://scsa.wa.edu.au/extranet/login

An examination report is not available for some courses where there were insufficient candidates to enable any valid statistical analysis.

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

Melanie Jasper (08) 9273 6732
melanie.jasper@scsa.wa.edu.au

In 2018, online marking of examinations will continue for the following ATAR courses:

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Drama
• Economics
• English as an Additional Language/Dialect
• Human Biology
• Literature
• Mathematics Applications
• Mathematics Methods
• Mathematics Specialist
• Modern History
• Physical Education Studies
• Physics
• Religion and Life.

Online marking will be introduced for the following ATAR courses:

• Geography
• Psychology.

For examination scripts to be scanned for online marking, the format of the paper includes the following features:

• a barcode at the bottom of the front page
• a solid 5mm square in each corner of the front page
• a unique identifying number printed on every page within the paper.

The margins of each page will be excluded from the area available for writing and will be marked with the wording ‘DO NOT WRITE IN THIS AREA AS IT WILL BE CUT OFF’.

Please advise your students not to use erasable pens, gel pens or pencil. Pencil is accept for diagrams.

The front covers of each examination will be available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website in August.

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

Melanie Jasper (08)9273 6732
melanie.jasper@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority is seeking applications for the role of Chief Marker for the written and practical components of the 2018 ATAR course examinations. For information regarding the application for 2018 ATAR course examination Chief Markers please refer to:

https://scsa.wa.edu.au/about-us/employment/chief-markers-2018.

Contact
Jenny Morup (08) 9273 6377
jenny.morup@scsa.wa.edu.au

For information regarding the 2018 ATAR course examination dates please refer to:
https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/examinations/examination-timetables.

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

In 2017, the Breach of Examination Rules Committee found that 51 candidates had breached examination rules.There were 29 breaches for the practical examinations and 22 breaches for the written examinations. Seven candidates appealed the committee’s decision.The appeals committee ruled that all of these candidates had breached the examination rules. One of the candidates had their penalty reduced.

The breaches indicated that teachers and students did not follow the practical examination requirements and that students were not informed of these requirements, nor had they followed the instructions written in the Year 12 Information Handbook.

The table below summarises the penalties for these breaches of examination rules.

Procedures and guidelines for 2018

The rules for conduct of the Authority examinations will be published in the Year 12 Information Handbook. It is the responsibility of all candidates to ensure that they understand all instructions relating to the examinations. The examination centre supervisor (written examinations) and the chief marker (practical examinations) will report alleged breaches of examination rules to the Manager, Examinations (Logistics) at the School Curriculum and Standards Authority.

Breaches of examination rules and maximum penalties that might apply include but are not limited to:

• Impersonation of a candidate: cancellation of all the candidate’s practical and/or written raw examination marks, exclusion from remaining examinations in that year. The matter will be reported to the police.
• Collusion between candidates: cancellation of that practical and/or written raw examination marks of each of those candidates involved, together with an inspection of prior papers/recordings in any common examination for evidence of collusion.
• Possession or knowledge of examination questions before an examination: cancellation of all the candidate’s practical and/or written raw examination marks. The matter will be reported to the police.
• Possession of unauthorised materials during the examination: cancellation of part or all of the practical and/or written raw examination marks where unauthorised materials are considered to be relevant to the course being examined (whether or not actual use is established).
• Possession of mobile technologies (e.g. smart watch, mobile phone, personal music player) and/or calculator in an examination for which it is not approved: cancellation of all or part of the candidate’s marks for that practical and/or written examination.
• Notes and other markings on authorised materials in the examination room: cancellation of part or all of the practical and/or written raw examination mark where markings in tables, data books or dictionaries etc. are considered to be relevant to the course being examined (whether or not actual use is established).
• Unauthorised removal of examination materials: cancellation of the part(s) of the candidate’s practical and/or written raw examination mark being removed. The matter will be reported to the police.
• Blatant disregard of examination room regulations: removal of the candidate from the examination room.
• Failure to follow examination instructions: cancellation of part or all of the candidate’s practical and/or written raw examination mark where the candidate’s failure to follow the instructions is considered to have given the candidate an advantage over other candidates.
• False declarations: cancellation of part or all of the practical and/or written examination mark where the candidate falsely declares that the work presented for external assessment is their own and/or that it conforms to the specifications of the course.

Candidates will have the right of appeal against a penalty being imposed on the following grounds:

• a breach of examination rules did not occur, or
• the School Curriculum and Standards Authority procedures used to determine if a breach occurred were not proper.

Such an appeal must be lodged at the School Curriculum and Standards Authority within eight (8) calendar days of the dispatch date of the penalty notification.

Advice for schools
Schools should work with their students to ensure that they understand the instructions relating to the examinations. In particular, schools are asked to:

• ensure that where materials are permitted in the examination room, they are approved according to the relevant syllabus and/or the 11to12 Circulars and the Year 12 Information Handbook
• ensure that all students understand the instructions relating to the ATAR course examinations and that, if they breach these rules, penalties will apply as the onus is on the candidate to ensure that they understand and abide by the published examination rules
• ensure that teachers and students follow the practical examination guidelines published in March
• inform their students that mobile technologies such as smart watches, mobile telephones and other communication devices must not be taken into the examination room
• inform students that they should not write on their hands or other parts of the body during exams as this may be perceived by supervisors as having been written before the exam and thus constitute unauthorised notes
• inform students that they must not use their fingernail to mark the multiple choice questions during reading time
• inform their students that, should they observe another candidate breaking the examination rules, they should report this action immediately to a supervisor
• ensure that teachers are aware they cannot authorise materials to be used in an examination if the material is not approved by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority
• check the Media Production and Analysis to ensure the work is within the submission Year 12 context. This means that it contains no images of people self-harming, using drugs or violence. The image should only be symbolic and not simulated.

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

Carolyn Hackett (08) 9273 6316
carolyn.hackett@scsa.wa.edu.au

The application form for special arrangements in the 2018 ATAR course examinations will arrive in schools in time for the start of Term 1. The form is to be used for candidates with a permanent or temporary disability that may disadvantage them in the ATAR course examinations. It is the responsibility of the school to complete the form and submit it to the Authority on behalf of each candidate. The form is not to be sent home with students for completion. Completed forms should be submitted to the Authority by 5 April 2018. Advance notice of this deadline for applications was provided to schools in the October 2017 edition of the 11to12 Circular.

Any student seeking any type of variation to the standard examination conditions must have an application form submitted for them. Please ensure this requirement is brought to the attention of all students immediately to allow them sufficient time to provide the medical evidence to support an application. Illnesses, such as diabetes, are classed as permanent disabilities and candidates will need special arrangements approved to take medication, food and extra drink and blood testing equipment into any examination.

Special arrangements are available for practical and written examinations.

Application process
The 2018 application form places considerable emphasis on the school’s case management of a student’s disability. In the first instance, there should be a demonstrated history of targeted remediation to assist the student to develop skills needed in examinations. Schools should consider the needs of their students during Years 10 and 11 so that they trial arrangements for timed assessment tasks. Until a decision has been made by the Authority, all special arrangements must be considered temporary and subject to change. As in previous years, specific information will be required relating to the student’s essay writing ability if requesting extra working time, a computer or scribe. Essay topics must be requested for these students. Students with a reading disability must also provide recent results of the PAT-R reading comprehension test.

Schools must ensure any special examination arrangements offered at school level are in line with arrangements granted by the Authority for the ATAR course examination and appropriate for the demonstrated impediment to accessing the examination caused by the diagnosed disability. Possible adjustments are described in the special provisions documents on the Authority website and Section G of the application form. Arrangements offered by schools that are outside the published guidelines will not be approved for the ATAR course examination. Requests for arrangements that cannot be approved will delay the assessment process and response.

The Authority does not automatically adopt a medical/psychological provider’s advice or replicate the special examination arrangements that the school may have put in place for school assessment. Applications are considered on an individual basis and are based on the demonstrated functional impact of that disability in timed assessments. It is essential that no candidate will be advantaged over another candidate in the examinations, except through having more knowledge, understanding and skill relating to the course being examined.

Schools are urged to ensure that applications for special examination arrangements, along with all supporting information, are submitted to the Authority by 5 April 2018. Schools are encouraged to submit completed applications before the due date as applications will be processed in order of receipt. Decisions regarding approved applications that are received by the deadline will be communicated to schools in time for implementation in Semester 2. It will be the responsibility of the school to convey the decision to the candidate.

All case coordinators will need access to SIRS to access the decisions and supporting documentation.

Incomplete applications will not be assessed.

Practical examinations
Please also refer to the current 11to12 Circular item ‘Alternative format practical examinations for ATAR course examination candidates with long-term injury or illness 2018’ for further details. Failure to apply for special format practical examinations for these candidates will jeopardise their completion of course requirements if they are not able to undertake the standard practical examination. This may impact on the student’s achievement of the WACE.

There will be no sickness/misadventure consideration for candidates on the basis of an injury or illness existing at the start of Term 3.

Late applications for special format practical examinations will be accepted until 27 July 2018.

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

Carolyn Hackett (08) 9273 6316
carolyn.hackett@scsa.wa.edu.au

Candidates with an injury or illness existing at the start of Term 3 should apply to be examined in an alternative format, if the injury or illness will affect their participation in the standard practical examination of any course. There will be no sickness/misadventure consideration for candidates on the basis of an injury or illness existing at the start of Term 3.

The alternative format examination will be designed to assess the same aspects as the standard practical examination. An alternative, but equitable, marking key will be developed for these candidates.

Application is to be made by the school on the standard special examination arrangements application form, received by all schools in February. The application is to be supported by appropriate medical information. The school will be advised of the outcome of the application. It will be the responsibility of the school to convey the decision to the candidate.

Candidates will be expected to report at the designated time and location for completion of this alternative format practical examination. The scheduling of these examinations will coincide with the standard practical examinations for that course.

Candidates studying Physical Education Studies or Dance are the most likely to need special arrangements; however candidates in any course with a performance or interview component may be eligible.

Where the nature and duration of the candidate’s condition is definite and known early (e.g. an elective knee reconstruction), the application should be made by the deadline of 5 April 2018. Where the injury or illness occurs after that date, application should be made as soon as it is known that the candidate will be unlikely to participate in the standard format of the practical examination. Unless a candidate with an injury or illness existing as of the start of Term 3 can be guaranteed to recover sufficiently to sit the standard practical examination, the school should apply for the student to sit an alternative format practical examination. The last date for application is 27 July 2018.

Failure to submit an application will jeopardise the candidate’s completion of the examination requirements for that course. It may also impact on their achievement of the WACE and affect their ATAR. Completion of the alternative format practical examination by a candidate with a long-term injury or illness is not discretionary. Failure to complete the practical examination due to long-term injury or illness will mean that the candidate will not have their school grade for that ATAR Year 12 course count towards meeting any of the WACE requirements.

As this is the eighth year of operation for this requirement, no leniency will be provided for candidates or schools not following the required process. In recent years a number of candidates did not achieve a WACE as a direct result of ignoring this requirement.

Relevant staff should note this information and plan a reminder for the end of Term 2 to allow applications to be prepared in time for submission to the Authority by the deadlines.

It is advisable that this information be included in the school newsletter for parents and students at the start of Term 3.

Contact
Carolyn Hackett (08) 9273 6316
carolyn.hackett@scsa.wa.edu.au

The Authority is seeking expressions of interest by Thursday, 1 March 2018 from suitably qualified and experienced persons to assist with the assessment of special examination arrangement applications for the 2018 ATAR course examinations. Applications to be assessed will relate to candidates within the specific learning disability, psychological or ADD/ADHD categories.

Assessors will work in pairs with a psychologist and a person with whole-of-school management experience. Work will be outside of business hours on a contract basis, with payment per application. As highly sensitive information will be accessed during the assessment process, all assessors will be expected to sign a confidentiality declaration. Before commencing work, assessors must already have a current Department of Education Screening Clearance Number (SCN) or apply through the Department of Education to complete a National Police History Check to be issued with a SCN.

Assessing applications will present an excellent opportunity for valuable professional development related to the assessment of candidates with disabilities. The role is also ideally suited to recently retired senior school administrators or those on leave.

Interested school counsellors or educational psychologists should have experience assessing and diagnosing senior students with learning disabilities using current, relevant diagnostic tools.

Interested school representatives should have experience working with senior students with learning disabilities in the school environment. Ideally, applicants would have whole-of-school management experience.

Training, to be provided before the start of the assessment period, is expected to occur at the end of the second week of the school holidays. Training will be conducted during business hours.

Most assessments of special examination arrangement applications will be completed within a tight timeframe in May and June 2018. Assessors should be available through Term 2, with the possibility of some work continuing into July.

An expression of interest does not guarantee appointment. Applicants will be advised in Term 1 if their services will be required. Assessors from previous years are encouraged to reapply for 2018.

The Expression of interest form is available on the Authority website at 
https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/examinations/special-provisions.

Contact
Buddhini Daluwatta (08) 9273 6761
buddhini.daluwatta@scsa.wa.edu.au

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

Teachers of Physics ATAR Year 12 are invited to a meeting on Thursday, 15 February to provide feedback and ask questions of the 2017 Physics chief examiner and chief marker in relation to the 
2017 ATAR Physics examination.

The meeting will take place from 4–6pm at the School Curriculum and Standards Authority, Ground Floor, Conference Room 1, 303 Sevenoaks Street, Cannington.

To register for this event please click on the link below. Please bring a copy of the 2017 ATAR Physics examination materials.

http://scsawebapps.scsa.wa.edu.au/apps/Bookings/Events.aspx?EventId=2350

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

The following booklets are available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at the links indicated under ‘ATAR’ and ‘Examination Materials’. Each booklet is for teaching and examining in 2018.

Contact
Rachael Davidson (08) 9273 6750
Rachael.Davidson@scsa.wa.edu.au

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) recommends that School Leaders and individuals delivering VET in Schools read the Awards Selection Report now available on the Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/certification/exhibitions-and-awards under Awards for outstanding achievement in VET.

The report provides valuable information for teachers who supported the nomination of students in 2017 and for those who plan to do so in 2018.

It presents statistics on the number of students involved in the awards selection process and detailed information on how students were selected for awards, including feedback and recommendations for teachers.

The names of award winners, published in the media on 22 December 2017, are listed on the Authority website.

The 2018 VET Awards for Outstanding Achievement Brochure and 2018 VET Awards Nomination Kit will be available on the site in March under Awards for outstanding achievement in VET.

Access to the online nomination process will be available to schools in Term 3. The last date for schools to submit VET award nominations via SIRS is Monday, 3 September 2018 at 4.30 pm.

Contact
Rachael Davidson (08) 9273 6750
rachael.davidson@scsa.wa.edu.au

Permission must be obtained from the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) for Year 8 and/or Year 9 students to enrol and have achievements in VET units of competency (achieved through VET credit transfer)/VET qualifications contribute towards the WACE.

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

• students are in remote community schools where learning programs relate directly to the local industry, or
• students are accessing VET as part of an individual education program (IEP), and
• a valid opportunity has been presented which supports an ongoing and coherent training pathway.

An application form for permission for the recording of enrolment and achievement of VET units of competency (delivered through VET credit transfer)/VET qualifications – Year 8 and Year 9 students, 2018 is available on the Authority website via the following link: https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/forms/forms under Achievements.

The completed application form is to be returned to the Authority by Thursday, 22 March 2018.

Contact
Leanne Meldrum (08) 9273 6746
leanne.meldrum@scsa.wa.edu.au

2018 Endorsed programs list 
The revised list of endorsed programs available to students in Years 10, 11 and 12 in 2018 is available now on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website. The web link for endorsed programs is:
http://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/endorsed-programs.

(Scroll to the bottom of the web page and select the xls document titled ‘2018 Endorsed program codes and achievement descriptors’.)

Workplace Learning endorsed program seminar Monday 19 February 2018: 12.40 – 3.30 pm
Registrations for a seminar for new/inexperienced teachers of the Workplace Learning endorsed program, ADWPL, are now open.
Register here: https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/new-and-experienced-teachers

Authority-developed endorsed programs seminar Tuesday 27 February 2018: 9 – 11.50 am
Registrations for a seminar for new/inexperienced teachers of the Authority-developed endorsed programs are now open.
Register here: https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events/new-and-experienced-teachers

Applications for endorsement of School-developed programs
Schools are advised that applications for endorsement of School-developed programs must be emailed to leanne.meldrum@scsa.wa.edu.au by Monday 26 February 2018. The application form can be downloaded from the endorsed programs page of the Authority website at:
http://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/endorsed-programs.