11to12 Circulars - May 2020 Extraordinary edition 3
Important information
Year 12 ATAR course examinations 2020
Contact
Kaylene Power (08) 9273 6309
Kaylene.Power@scsa.wa.edu.au
The 2020 Year 12 ATAR course written examinations are scheduled from:
Monday, 2 November to Friday, 20 November 2020.
The 2020 Year 12 ATAR course practical examinations are scheduled from:
Saturday, 26 September to Sunday, 18 October 2020. See the schedule below.
The 2020 Year 12 ATAR course examination timetables will be available on the Examination Timetables webpage of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) website on Wednesday, 10 June 2020. No information regarding the date of specific written examinations is available prior to this date.
From Thursday, 10 September 2020, students will be able to download their Personalised written examinations timetable and Personalised practical examination timetable from the student portal at https://student.scsa.wa.edu.au/student-portal.
The rules of conduct for the Year 12 ATAR course written examinations can be located on the Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/examinations/rules-of-conduct-for-atar-course-examinations . The rules will also be published in the Year 12 Information Handbook Part II: Examinations 2020, which will be uploaded to the website in July, 2020. It is the responsibility of all candidates to ensure that they understand all instructions relating to the examinations.
To ensure all students understand the rules relating to the examinations and avoid breach situations and the risk of a penalty being applied to their examination mark, the generic instructions read aloud by supervisors prior to examination reading time have been provided at
Please note that given the challenge of identifying and determining the use of mobile technologies in the examination room, a new rule will be implemented from 2020 for the Year 12 ATAR course examinations; no candidate will be permitted to wear or take a watch or wireless-enabled technology device e.g. Fitbit, into the examination room. These items will be considered unauthorised items. Please ensure that all students are made aware of this rule. If a student has a special examination need for a watch that relates to a specific learning disorder or disability, the school must submit a Special Examination Arrangements application on behalf of that student.
It is strongly recommended that schools conduct school-based examinations using these instructions to ensure students are familiar with the rules prior to sitting the external examinations conducted by the Authority.
Externally set tasks handbook 2020 has been updated
Contact
Kaylene Power (08) 9273 6309
Kaylene.Power@scsa.wa.edu.au
Kerry Cribb (08) 9273 6787
Kerry.Cribb@scsa.wa.edu.au
TheExternally set tasks handbook 2020has been updated and is available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/externally-set-tasks.
School leaders, teachers are advised that due to the disruption to teaching and learning in 2020, as a result of COVID-19, the Externally Set Tasks (EST) will be administered by schools during weeks 7, 8 and 9 of Term 2, 2020 (8-26 June 2020). The tests will be administered under standard test conditions. The EST will take 50 minutes.
Changes have been made to the Externally set tasks handbook 2020 to accommodate the modified EST process for 2020.
For 2020, the EST process will be modified as follows:
- schools will be required to upload into SIRS, for each student, in each course the EST raw mark
- independent marking of a sample of scripts from all classes in all schools for each course will not be conducted, therefore, schools are not required to submit Authority selected scripts
- feedback provided by the Authority to schools for each course will be limited to the school mark distribution compared to the state distribution
- grading reviews will not be initiated based on EST school results.
The Authority informed schools during Term 3, 2019 of the Unit 3 syllabus content on which the task will be based. To review the EST content for all Year 12 General and Foundation courses see the link below:
Human Biology Year 12 ATAR course written examination design brief 2020
Contact
Kerry Cribb (08) 9273 6787
Kerry.Cribb@scsa.wa.edu.au
Julie Weber (08) 9273 6381
Julie.Weber@scsa.wa.edu.au
Teachers are advised that the Year 12 ATAR course written examination design brief for 2020, on page 18 of the Human Biology ATAR Year 12 syllabus contains an edit in the Supporting Information Section Two.
Teachers must note that the word ‘two’ has been removed from the Section Two area of the examination design brief as shown below.
Original version:
Section Two Short answer 50% of the total examination 6–10 questions Suggested working time: 90 minutes | Each question is divided into two parts. Typically, the parts within a question are of increasing difficulty. Questions can require the candidate to refer to the stimulus material that can include: text, diagrams, second-hand data and/or recent research material. |
Updated version:
Section Two Short answer 50% of the total examination 6–10 questions Suggested working time: 90 minutes | Each question is divided into parts. Typically, the parts within a question are of increasing difficulty. Questions can require the candidate to refer to the stimulus material that can include: text, diagrams, second-hand data and/or recent research material. |
The updated syllabus is available on the course page using the link below.
https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/science/human-biology
Year 10 Information Handbook 2020 and information materials available online
Contact
Jo Merrey (08) 9273 6348
Jo.Merrey@scsa.wa.edu.au
The Year 10 Information Handbook 2020 and the Year 12 in 2022: Information for Year 10 Students and their Parents presentation are available on the Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/year-10-information and https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/the-wace/wace-requirements.
The Year 12 in 2022: Information for Year 10 Students and their Parents presentation has been developed to support schools for their Year 10 subject selection presentation.
The Year 10 Information Handbook 2020 is essential reading for Year 10s, their families and teachers. It contains information for students on a range of important topics including the Western Australian Statement of Student Achievement (WASSA) and the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE).
The handbook and presentation provide information about the new option for the course completion requirement to achieve the WACE from 2021.
The additional materials provided in 2019 have been updated for schools to use for reference when counselling Year 10s. These include:
- Study options – WACE 2021 and beyond (table graphic)
- WACE Requirements – WACE 2021 and beyond (infographic)
- Sample programs – WACE 2021 and beyond (infographic)
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – WACE Requirements.
The additional materials are also available on the Year 10 Information and WACE Requirements pages.