Copies of 2021 examination papers available at the examination centre

Contact
Barclay Jones (08) 9273 6309

Schools with candidates presenting for an ATAR course examination are permitted only one copy of an ATAR course examination paper. Multiple copies of examination papers will not be given to a school.

Approximately one hour after the examination has commenced, a school representative can collect their school’s copy of the examination paper from the reception of the examination centre at which their students are sitting the examination. Teachers must not enter the examination room to request a copy of an examination paper.

If a school does not have students sitting an examination at their school examination centre and a school representative is unable to collect the examination paper from another examination centre, a copy can be obtained by sending an email request to Tim.Chiew@scsa.wa.edu.au by Friday, 26 November 2021. Phone requests cannot be accepted.

For schools that do not have students sitting an ATAR course examination in 2021, a copy of examination papers can be downloaded from the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website early in 2022. For examinations with an aural component, no copies of the audio recording are distributed.

2022 Dance practical (performance) examination set solo material in schools

Contact
Terry Pirlo (08) 9273 6722
Terry.Pirlo@scsa.wa.edu.au

Max Leech (08) 9273 6740
Max.Leech@scsa.wa.edu.au

The set solo material for the 2022 ATAR Dance course practical (performance) examination has been sent to all schools for students enrolled in the Year 11 ATAR Dance course in 2021. The package, comprising of a USB, was addressed to the teacher-in-charge of Dance.

The USB contains the set solo video footage (full performance, breakdown of phrases with music and breakdown of phrases with notes), music track for the set solo, detailed breakdown notes of each phrase and technical notes, which includes the choreographer’s intent. Candidates will be required to learn the set solo for Performance two of the 2022 practical (performance) examination.

ATAR Year 11 Drama New Syllabus Workshop

Contact
Max Leech (08) 9273 6740
Max.Leech@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of ATAR Year 11 Drama for 2022, are advised that the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) will be conducting professional learning to support the delivery requirements of the new syllabus.

Each session will include:

• unpacking sample support material provided by the Authority
• development of Course and Assessment Outlines for the new syllabus.

The choice for the professional learning sessions are scheduled as follows:

• Webex Meeting (online):  Thursday 11 November, 9.00 – 11.30 am or
• Face-to-face Meeting: Friday 12 November, 8.30 – 11.30 am

The professional learning will be an invaluable opportunity to assist teachers in the delivery of the new syllabus.

Teachers are asked to bring their current ATAR Year 11 Drama Course and Assessment Outline as well as a copy of the new 2022 ATAR Year 11 Drama syllabus to the session. Either electronic or hard copies are fine.

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

Registrations are now open at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/events.

ATAR Year 11 Media Production and Analysis New Syllabus Workshop

Contact
Gemma Wright (08) 9273 6783
Gemma.Wright@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of ATAR Year 11 Media Production and Analysis are advised that the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) will be conducting a New Syllabus workshop in Term 4.

The workshop will focus on:

• exploring the new ATAR Year 11 sample support material
• developing a shared understanding of the assessment requirements
• explaining production expectations
• suggested steps to modify teachers' existing course outlines and assessment outlines in order to meet compliance requirements of the new course.

There are two opportunities to engage in the workshop:

• Webex Meeting (online): Thursday, 11 November, 9:00 – 11:30am or
• Face-to-face Meeting: Friday, 12 November, 12:30 – 3:30pm.

The workshop will be an invaluable opportunity to assist teachers in the planning for, and delivery of, the new syllabus.

Teachers are asked to bring the following digital or hard-copy documents:

• their current ATAR Year 11 Media Production and Analysis Course Outline
• their current ATAR Year 11 Media Production and Analysis Assessment Outline
• their current ATAR Year 11 Media Production and Analysis Assessment Tasks and Marking Keys
• a copy of the 2022 ATAR Year 11 Media Production and Analysis Syllabus
• a copy of the 2021 WACE Manual.

The workshop is free to attend, however, schools are responsible for teacher relief and any travel and accommodation expenses.

Registrations are now open at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/events.

Assessment workshops for new 2022 ATAR Year 11 Geography syllabus

Contact
Carolyn Fleischer (08) 9273 6735
Carolyn.Fleischer@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of ATAR Year 11 Geography are advised that the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) will be conducting Assessment workshops in Term 4. The purpose of these workshops is to provide teachers with information on the Authority’s assessment requirements for the new ATAR Year 11 Geography Syllabus in 2022. The workshops will focus on developing an assessment outline, interpreting the cognitive verbs in the syllabus, and constructing sample assessment questions and analytic marking keys.

Each workshop will include:

• unpacking sample support material provided by the Authority
• developing an assessment outline.

The dates for the workshops are as follows:

• Online Meeting (Webex): Monday, 15 November 9:00 – 11:30 am
• Online Meeting (Webex): Wednesday, 17 November 9:00 – 11:30 am
• Face to Face meeting: Friday, 19 November 12:30 – 3:00 pm.

The workshops are not compulsory and are free to attend. Schools are responsible for any costs incurred, (for example, teacher relief) as a result of attendance at the workshops.

Participants are advised to have available a hard copy or electronic copy of the 2022 ATAR Year 11 Geography Syllabus available on the Geography course page.

Register online at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/events.

2022 Drama ATAR course Practical (performance) examination marking key

Contact
Max Leech (08) 9273 6740
Max.Leech@scsa.wa.edu.au

Gabby Raggio (08) 9273 6787
Gabby.Raggio@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers are advised that the Drama ATAR course Practical (performance) examination marking key has been revised for 2022. The revised marking key has no impact for teachers and students in their preparation for the practical examination. An explanation and sample marking key is located under Examination Materials in ATAR Drama course page on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website.

Changes to the 2022 ATAR Year 12 Visual Arts Practical (production) examination marking key

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

Gabby Raggio (08) 9273 6787
Gabby.Raggio@scsa.wa.edu.au

Teachers of ATAR Visual Art should note the following change to the 2022 ATAR Year 12 Visual Arts Practical (production) examination marking key:

Criterion 4: Application of techniques (skills and/or processes) when handling media, materials and/or technology is an amalgamation of Criterion 4: Selection and handling of media and/or materials and Criterion 5: Application of skills and/or processes.

The revision of the Visual Arts ATAR Practical (production) marking key will help improve clarity of the marking criteria and better support ATAR Visual Arts teachers and examination markers in the assessment of the practical (production). The new criterion points directly to the importance of the Application of techniques (skills and/or processes) which inherently subsumes the selection process, when handling media, materials and/or technology. The revision embodies the content and language from sub-strands Art forms, media and techniques and Art practice in the ATAR Year 12 Visual Arts syllabus.

The draft 2022 Visual Arts Practical (production) examination marking key is now available on the Examination section of the Visual Arts course page on the Authority website and can be accessed via https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/syllabus-and-support-materials/arts/visual-arts.

Changes to the selected content for the 2022 Externally Set Task for General Year 12 Health Studies Course

Contact
Jen Overend (08) 9273 6368
Jen.Overend@scsa.wa.edu.au

Dino Manalis (08) 9273 6356
Dino.Manalis@scsa.wa.edu.au

For clarification purposes, the unit content for the 2022 Year 12 General Health Studies course has been updated. Teachers should ensure they have the latest version by checking the reference number on the cover page, which is 2021/18595v2.

Small group moderation partnerships for 2022

Contact
Rita Colliander (08) 9273 6378 (partnership registration)

Adriana Douglas (08) 9273 6784 (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 2022. Note: Year 12 ATAR courses with one student enrolled are still required to form a small group moderation partnership. All schools with one or more small group moderation partnerships must register their partnerships with the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) on the required form by Thursday, 10 February 2022.

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:

• 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 2022 are available in Section 3.6 of the 2021 WACE Manual, available on the Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/wace-manual.

A copy of the 2022 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 2022 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 will be available under ‘Events’ on the Authority website at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/events in December.

WACE results online Monday, 20 December 2021

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

Schools are advised that 2021 Year 12 students will be able to access their results online via the student portal at https://studentportal.scsa.wa.edu.au on Monday, 20 December 2021. This also applies to any Year 10 and Year 11 students who sit one or more ATAR course examinations.

To log on, students will need their student number and other personal identification information. It is advisable that students provide an alternate email address via the student portal. This is to avoid issues where school email accounts close prior to the release of results.

Students who need their passwords reset need to do so via the forgot your password link on the student portal. The new password will be sent to the email address students have used to register in the student portal.

Students who experience technical difficulties in accessing their information need to contact the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) at wacehelp@scsa.wa.edu.au (monitored from Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) between 8:00 am to 4:00 pm).

Schools are reminded that the Authority may need to speak with the specified contact person early in January should students question the results reported by schools to the Authority.

Year 12 students will be able to download digital copies of their folios of achievement (that is, Western Australian Certificate of Education, the Western Australian Statement of Student Achievement and ATAR course report) in mid-January 2022 from the student portal.

Students who are seeking details relating to university admission (including their ATAR) are advised to contact Tertiary Institutions Service Centre (TISC) via info@tisc.edu.au opens in new window or 9318 8000.

Assisting schools to monitor the effect of not providing a VET USI for Year 12 students in 2021

Contacts
Jenny Offer (08) 9273 6313
Jenny.Offer@scsa.wa.edu.au

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

For units of competency and qualifications to contribute towards meeting the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) requirements, a Vocational Education and Training (VET) Unique Student Identifier (USI) is required.

Consequences of not having a USI
Students who achieve VET units of competency or VET qualifications without a VET USI will:

• not have the results reported on the Western Australian Statement of Student Achievement
• not have the achievements allocated unit equivalence and may not meet the requirements to receive a WACE
• not have the achievements recognised in the completion requirement for VET Industry Specific courses.

Monitoring the effect of not having a USI
Schools are able to identify whether or not a Year 12 student enrolled in VET in 2021, without a USI, would achieve the WACE if he/she had a USI, by running the report CSE201 in the Student Information Records System (SIRS).

This report lists, for Year 12 students enrolled in at least one VET unit of competency, whether or not they would achieve the WACE if a USI was provided to the Authority. It is suggested that once a school has uploaded all of its Year 12 students’ achievements (course units, VET and endorsed programs) into SIRS, schools run the report via the following pathway:

Reports > Other reports > Report type: Certification, Report: CSE201 – Year 12 Students With VET Enrolments.

The report would alert schools to those Year 12 students who could possibly achieve the WACE if they had a USI.

Caution when using the report
Data contained in the report accurately reflects the status of students at the time of the last upload of information to SIRS from schools. Caution needs to be used when interpreting the data for the following reasons:

• the WACE cannot be calculated for a student until all achievement data has been uploaded into SIRS
• the data has not taken into account those students who have not sat an ATAR course examination and do not have an approved sickness/misadventure application for that course
• the achievement of the WACE could change if a school uploads changes to students’ achievements.

Assistance relating to USI
If assistance is required regarding the USI, it is suggested that schools contact the USI Office on 1300 857 536, or via email at admin@usi.gov.au opens in new window.

2022 Activities Schedule availability

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

The 2022 Activities Schedule is available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) website at three locations:

• https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/activities-schedule
• https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/resources/activities-schedule
• https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/further-resources/activities-schedule.

The 2022 Term Calendar will be available on Monday, 15 November 2021.

The Outlook calendar will be available to download on a term-by-term basis. Any updates to the Activities Schedule will be noted in the Circular and replicated in new versions of the calendar.

The dates in this schedule are colour coded:

• Pink  activity relates to or includes primary schools
• Orange  updates are for items to be received by the Authority
• Blue  updates are for items to be available to or received by schools/providers
• Green  updates are significant to schools and the Authority.

Please see the PDF, on the Activities Schedule page, with an explanation of changes to the Activities Schedule for 2022.

Collection of other than Year 12 students’ achievement data – 2021

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

This is an early reminder that the other than Year 12 achievement data is due to the School Curriculum and Standards Authority by Thursday, 9 December 2021 as per the 2021 Activities Schedule.

Information about collecting achievement data will be received by schools by Wednesday, 27 October 2021.

Schools will need to provide the achievement data for:

• Year 11 students enrolled in ATAR, General, Foundation, Preliminary and VET Industry specific courses
• Year 10 and Year 11 students studying VET qualifications, VET units of competency and endorsed programs.

The importance of uploading the RSQUAL file for WACE certification

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

Schools are reminded of the importance of ensuring the VET Qualification Results (RSQUAL) file is uploaded to the Student Information Records System (SIRS) database at the end of each calendar year. The information in the RSQUAL file is used to allocate unit credit towards the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) and to determine that a student has met the Certificate II or higher requirement.

Please note: The RSQUAL file must only be uploaded once the school has received written verification from the Registered Training Organisation (RTO) that the student has achieved the qualification.

Failure to upload this file may result in students not achieving their WACE and may therefore be considered not eligible for first round offers for entry into university and TAFE courses.

If there are errors in student achievement data after the deadlines that are a result of the school providing incorrect or incomplete data, the school will be charged a fee for updating the data.

Schools are also reminded that if the RSQUAL is not uploaded at the end of that year for Year 11 students who have completed a qualification this may also prevent students from achieving their WACE in the following year.

It is also important for schools to ensure that the RSQUAL file processes successfully to SIRS and any error messages are resolved before due dates. If a student does not have the correct number of units of competency linked to a qualification in SIRS the RSQUAL will not upload successfully.

The RSQUAL file should be uploaded at the conclusion of the year that the student completes the full qualification (whether that be Year 10, 11 or 12).

Schools should check that the qualification has been recorded correctly by running the report
CSE007 – VET qualifications achieved in full. The pathway to this report is: Reports > Other Reports > Report type: Achievements > Report: CSE007.

More detailed information about the RSQUAL file is provided in Section 8.6.5 of the Data Procedures Manual 2021. This publication is available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority website at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/data-procedures-manual.

Links are provided to database-specific software programs in Section 12 of the Data Procedures Manual 2021 using the above link.

Reminder: Applications for exemption from enrolment eligibility criteria for Foundation units for Semester 1, 2022

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

Principals are reminded that Applications for exemption from enrolment eligibility criteria for Foundation units for Semester 1, 2022 will be considered after the September Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) results were released on 18 October.

Online applications are available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) website at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/forms/forms/application-for-exemption-from-enrolment-eligibility-criteria-for-foundation-units and must be received by the Authority no later than Thursday, 18 November 2021.

In completing the application please refer to Section 1.8 of the WACE Manual 2021. https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/wace-manual.

Reminder: Application for recording of enrolment and achievement in ATAR Units 1 and 2 for students in Year 10 in 2023 (Year 8, 2021)

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

Principals are reminded that Applications for recording of enrolment and achievement in ATAR Units 1 and 2 for students in Year 10 in 2023 (Year 8, 2021) must be received by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) no later than Thursday, 18 November 2021. The completed application form is to be emailed to certification@scsa.wa.edu.au.

An application form can be downloaded from the Authority website at https://scsa.wa.edu.au/forms/forms under the Enrolments tab.

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

• either gifted and talented or
• accelerated language students.

For further information please refer to Section 7 in the 2021 WACE Manual. This publication is available on the Authority website via the following link: https://scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/wace-manual.

WASN requests for 2022

Contact
Data Services (08) 9273 6344
numbers@scsa.wa.edu.au

dataservices@scsa.wa.edu.au

All current students in Western Australia should have been allocated a Western Australian Student Number (WASN), and be registered with the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority). This number remains with the student throughout their school life. Schools need to recognise the importance of the WASN to avoid duplication of records and maintain continuity of student data.

From 18 October 2021, schools will only be able to request WASNs through the Student Information Record System (SIRS) for Kindergarten students commencing in 2022. If a student other than Kindergarten arrives at your school from another WA school, please check to see if they have a WASN first using the ‘Search for WASN’ process – explained in ‘How to Search for WA Student Numbers in SIRS’ in this circular.

Please note we do not issue numbers for Pre-Kindergarten students.

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. It is also useful to include your school code in any correspondence. If schools request a WASN for a student who already has a number, the correct WASN number will be sent back to schools. The Authority will forward to schools new WASNs for those students without a number.

All secondary schools with a Year 7 intake can send a complete list (spreadsheet) of Year 7 students entering their school, including the student’s legal surname, legal first name and date of birth and the Authority will look up the numbers on their behalf.

A reminder that details of how to register students can be found in the Student Registration Procedures Manual 2021 – Primary Students found at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/data-procedures-manual with links to assist schools using Integris (RTP), Civica Maze, and Excel.

How to Search for a WASN in SIRS

Contact
Data Services (08) 9273 6344
numbers@scsa.wa.edu.au

dataservices@scsa.wa.edu.au

Please refer to the September 2021 circular item regarding registration and enrolment of P – 10 students transferring between schools in Western Australia.  By checking a student number, the system will also give you a student’s current academic year.

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 family name, given name and date of birth.

All student registrations are recorded in SIRS by the end of Term 1. After this time, you will be able to search for students including the 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), 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 (e.g. 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 K-10).

Registration of students on SIRS in 2022

Contact
Data Services (08) 9273 6344
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 the Student Information Records System (SIRS) in 2022.

Thursday, 10 February 2022

• Initial 2022 registration and demographic information for Years 10–12 students (required for Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) student lists and password generation (via SRGDG file).
• Initial 2022 registration and demographic information for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 (required for National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) (via SRGDG file).
• Initial 2022 registration and demographic information for all Kindergarten – Year 6 students where these students attend schools using Brightpath (via SRGDG file).
• Initial 2022 registration information for all teachers where students attend schools using Brightpath (via THREG file).

Thursday, 31 March 2022

• Registration and demographic information for all remaining Kindergarten – Year 8 students other than those listed above is due to be uploaded by Thursday, 31 March 2022.

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 2021 with links to assist schools using Reporting to Parents, MAZE, and Excel. There is also a separate Student Registration Procedures Manual found at 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 are requested to include their school code in any correspondence.