Year 6 and Year 7 Moderation 2021

Contact
Mandy Hudson (08) 9273 6755
Mandy.Hudson@scsa.wa.edu.au

The Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) has approved the continuation of Year 6 and Year 7 Moderation and the expansion of the Learning Areas involved in 2021. Please see the table below for a list of the Learning Areas/subjects involved.

To facilitate teacher planning for next year, the content for the 2021 common task to be used in moderation will be published on the Authority website on Monday 14 December 2020. The link will be provided through the Authority home page.

Participating schools in 2021 will have the responsibility to consider the curriculum content that will be covered in the moderation task to plan and sequence their teaching and learning accordingly. This will ensure that the relevant prior learning has taken place before the moderation tasks have been administered. Online registration for participation in the moderation will be open to schools in February 2021 with further details in the first circular of the year.

The link below provides access to the common tasks used in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and an explanation of the purpose of Year 6 and Year 7 Moderation for your reference:

https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/assessment/moderation

Gifted and Talented Education: Guidelines for the acceleration of students Pre-primary to Year 10

Contact
Vanessa Peters (08) 9273 6779
Vanessa.Peters@scsa.wa.edu.au

After broad consultation with stakeholders, the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) has published guidelines and a checklist for schools when considering the acceleration of students from Pre-primary to Year 10.

The Authority requires all schools to implement the Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline (the Outline) to meet the learning needs of all students.

The Pre-primary to Year 10: Teaching, Assessing and Reporting Policy and Policy Standards communicates the mandatory requirements for teaching the Western Australian (WA) curriculum and for assessing and reporting student achievement. Student achievement is required to be reported for all learning areas for all years from Pre-primary to Year 10 in line with the policy.

Generally, it is considered that differentiation of the curriculum caters for the individual learning needs of students.

In the case of identified gifted and talented students, if there is a legitimate reason for a student to be following a modified curriculum, such as acceleration in one or more learning areas or whole-year acceleration, this needs to be negotiated between the school, the student and their parents/carers. Decisions made should be fully documented including an individual education plan.

A set of guidelines of good practice, and an accompanying checklist have been developed and approved by the Board for schools to use when considering the acceleration of students in Pre-primary to Year 10: https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/principles/guiding-principles/gifted-and-talented-education-guidelines-for-the-acceleration-of-students-pre-primary-to-year-10

Students should be registered with the Authority according to the year level of curriculum in which they are mostly enrolled.

Where students have been accelerated, the Authority must be informed of the change and the reason for the change. Schools can submit the online form entitled Application to request to change academic year Pre-primary to Year 10 via the website: https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/forms/forms/request-to-change-academic-year-pre-primary-to-year-10.

Schools must consider that the Board of the Authority does not permit students to apply to undertake ATAR course units until Year 10.  Information regarding the application process can be found in the WACE Manual 2021 (Section 7, page 108).

Application for recording of enrolment and achievement in ATAR Units 1 and 2 for Year 10 students, 2021

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

Principals are advised that the Application for recording of enrolment and achievement in ATAR Units 1 and 2 for Year 10 students, 2021 is now available on the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) website.

Permission must be obtained from the School Curriculum and Standards Authority for Year 10 students in 2021 to enrol and have achievements in ATAR units 1 and 2 contribute towards the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE).

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

• either gifted and talented; or
• accelerated language students.

To apply for recognition and recording of student achievement in ATAR units for Year 10 students in 2021, the school needs to complete the Application for recording of enrolment and achievement in ATAR units 1 and 2 for students in Year 10 in 2021.

If the students have already been identified we would appreciate the early submission of applications.

The final date is Thursday, 4 March 2021.

2021 Term Calendar availability

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

The 2021 Term Calendar 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 Term Calendar is based on the Activities Schedule.

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.

Registration of students on SIRS in 2021

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 2021. Please do not leave it until the last date to upload your data.

Thursday, 11 February 2021

• Initial 2021 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 2021 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 2021 registration and demographic information for all Kindergarten – Year 6 students where these students attend schools using Brightpath (via SRGDG file).
• Initial 2021 registration information for all teachers where students attend schools using Brightpath (via THREG file).

Thursday, 1 April 2021

• Registration and demographic information for all remaining Kindergarten – Year 8 students other than those listed above is due to be uploaded by Thursday, 1 April 2021.

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.

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 2020 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 7, 8, 9 and 10).

WASN requests for 2021

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.

Schools can only request WASNs through the Student Information Record System (SIRS) for Kindergarten students commencing in 2021. 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-Kindy 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 2020 – 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. There is also a Guide to uploading Student Registration and Demographic (SRGDG) file found at PDFhttps://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/349636/GUIDE-TO-UPLOADING-STUDENT-REGISTRATION-AND-DEMOGRAPHIC-FILE.pdf opens in new window and some online training videos found at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/sirs-info/primary-schools.

Review of the Foundation to Year 10 Australian Curriculum

Contact
Graeme Quelch (08) 9273 6758

Late last year Education Council tasked the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA) with undertaking a review of the Foundation to Year 10 Australian Curriculum.

ACARA has commenced the review and the School Curriculum and Standards Authority has nominated curriculum and teacher representatives to each of the learning area reference groups to provide feedback.

It is important to note that Western Australian teachers must continue to implement the teaching, assessing and reporting on student achievement requirements as published in the Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline (https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/policy/teaching-assessing-and-reporting-policy).

The Authority will provide Western Australian teachers with the opportunity to contribute to the jurisdictional feedback to be provided to ACARA in 2021. Further information will be communicated in relation to this consultation process via the Authority’s ecirculars.