Information for Year 10 Students and their Parents

WASSA

WACE Requirements

OLNA

WACE / VET Courses

ATAR pathway for 2020

VET pathways for 2020

Subject Counselling Process

Support Staff

All students receive a Western Australian Statement of Student Achievement (WASSA) when they complete Year 12.

The WASSA:

• formally records a student’s achievement in every course, qualification and program that the student has completed in senior secondary schooling

• provides evidence of achievement.

The Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) is awarded to students who have successfully completed senior secondary schooling in WACE studies and have met the WACE requirements.

The majority of students in Western Australia achieve the WACE.

Students are required to demonstrate breadth and depth of study and reach specified achievement standards

Study towards the WACE can be undertaken over a lifetime.

Students must: complete one of three course combination options complete at least four Year 12 ATAR courses* OR complete at least five Year 12 General courses and/or ATAR

courses or equivalent OR complete a Certificate II (or higher) VET qualification in

combination with ATAR, General or Foundation courses

demonstrate the literacy and numeracy standards meet the requirements for breadth and depth of

study meet the achievement standard.

Students must demonstrate minimum standards of literacy and numeracy by either:

demonstrating the standard through the Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA); or

pre-qualifying for a particular component by achieving Band 8 or higher in reading, writing and numeracy in their Year 9 NAPLAN and being exempted from that component in the OLNA.

Students must complete a minimum of 20 units or the equivalent, including:

a minimum of ten Year 12 units or the equivalent

four units from an English course, post-Year 10, including at least one pair of Year 12 units from an English learning area course

one pair of Year 12 units from List A

one pair of Year 12 units from List B.

Students must achieve 14 C grades or higher (or equivalents) in Year 11 and Year 12 units, including at least six C grades (or equivalents) in Year 12 units.

The WACE Checker is a tool that Year 12 students can use to check their progress towards meeting the requirements of the WACE.

It is designed to determine whether students have met (or are expected to meet) each of the requirements for the WACE.

The WACE Checker is easy to use An updated version for 2021 Year 12s will be

available in early 2020.

Students are offered three study options which they can mix and match:

WACE courses (course types – ATAR and General)

VET programs

endorsed programs.

These courses: are examined by the School Curriculum and

Standards Authority (the Authority) are used by the Tertiary Institutions Service Centre

(TISC) to calculate a student’s Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).

There are written examinations for all ATAR courses.There are practical examinations for some ATAR courses. Students must complete both examinations in these courses.

Students enrolled in a Year 12 ATAR course pair of units are required to sit the written and, if the course has one, practical examination. Students who do not sit the examination will not: have a course mark or grade recorded on their

WASSA receive an ATAR course report have the pair of units completed in that year

contribute towards any of the WACE requirements.

These courses: are not externally examined have an externally set task (EST) which is set

by the Authority are designed for students who are typically

aiming to enter further vocationally based training or the workforce directly from school.

• For all Year 12 General courses

• Marking key and content is set and provided by the Authority based on established curriculum

• Contributes to final mark for the pair of units –15%

• Students complete the EST in Term 2 Year 12

• For a selected group of General courses, the Authority reviews a sample of EST scripts from each school as part of system moderation

VET is nationally recognised and enables students to gain qualifications for all types of employment, and specific skills to help them in the workplace or in further training.

As part of the minimum WACE requirements, a student may complete a Certificate II or higher in combination with ATAR, General or Foundation courses.

Studying VET can provide up to eight units towards the number of course units students need to complete to achieve their WACE.

Students will typically enrol in four or five additional ATAR, General or Foundation courses to meet the WACE requirements.

Completed qualification

Equivalence total

Credit allocation (units)

Year 11 Year 12

Certificate I 2 units 2 —

Certificate II 4 units 2 2

Certificate III and higher

6 units 2 4

These programs:

provide access to areas of learning not covered by WACE courses or VET programs and contribute to the WACE as unit equivalents

are for students wishing to participate in programs that are delivered in a variety of settings by schools, workplaces, universities and community organisations.

Endorsed programs can be used to: contribute towards the breadth and depth

requirement and the achievement standard requirement of the WACE

count as a maximum of four unit equivalents towards the WACE – two unit equivalents in Year 11 and two unit equivalents in Year 12.

The list of endorsed programs is available on the Authority website.

There are three categories of endorsed programs, which differ in respect to the developer, the type of evidence required for determining student achievement and the quality assurance process.

These categories are:

Authority-developed endorsed programs

Provider-developed endorsed programs

School-developed endorsed programs.

The Authority publishes dates about changing enrolments in its Activities Schedule.

There are points in the semester after which students should not change courses because it would be unlikely they could complete the assessment program.

Changing means students replace one course enrolment with another.

Withdrawing means students are no longer studying a course.

If students withdraw from a course in Year 12, their enrolment course for the year is not recorded on their WASSA. This means no credit is given for the work done for the year’s units prior to dropping the course.

Meeting these standards:

is a benchmark of educational achievement

is valued by employers and post-school training providers

ensures all students leave school with the best chance of future success.

Adjustments will be made to the OLNA conditions, if a student’s access to the assessment is significantly affected by a disability, impairment, illness or impediment.

Evidence of a disability, diagnosed by a specialised medical professional, is required for adjustment.

The Guidelines for disability adjustments for timed assessments is available on the Authority website at https://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/disability-adjustment-guidelines.

Adjustments typically requested for approval by principals include: rest breaks and provision for a pause button extra time to work a reader scribe assistance for the writing component use of a support person for the reading and

numeracy components special formats.

Assistance is available through:

online programs to assist and practice OLNA assessment style questions

feedback to schools on individual student performance for each OLNA component.

after school practice sessions run by the English and Maths faculties

Australian Tertiary Admission Rank is a percentile rank

Students are ranked because there are more applicants than university

places available

Students’ ATAR are calculated from 99.95 down

An ATAR of 90= top10% (i.e. better than 90% of the Year 12 school

leaver age population)

90 ATAR = scaled average score of 70 (school mark + exam mark +

scaling)

Differences exist between course units and course weightings.

TISC website www.tisc.edu.au

English/English Literature

Maths Methods/Maths Applications/Maths Specialist

Chemistry/Earth and Environmental Science

Modern History/Drama

Physics/Geography

Human Biology

An ATAR high enough to get into a course of your

choice (University entry is competitive)

Competence in English

Meet any prerequisites associated with the

particular course. These may vary between the

Universities.

Entry requirements vary depending on course and University. Access their websites for more specific data

CURTIN – minimum ATAR of 70 + pass English as entry requirement

UWA – minimum ATAR of 80 + English language competence. Medicine, Engineering, Philosophy – ATAR 98+ and required prerequisites

Murdoch – minimum ATAR of 70. Also alternative entry options. ECU – minimum ATAR of 70 + English competence. Also have

some alternative admission options. Notre Dame – ATAR of 70 + English competence / Admission

by direct application and interview.

Specialised/VET Programs‘Package Pathways’ KIC – School Based Metals & Engineering Traineeship

Building & Construction

Hospitality

Plant Mechanic

Process Plant Operations

‘Stand Alone’ Information Technology

Creative Industries

Visual Arts

Sports Coaching

Business

TAFE – Automation, Visage, Community Services, Animal Studies etc.

Non-competitive courses – applicants need to meet Entrance Requirement

Competitive courses – applicants need to meet Entrance Requirements and Selection Criteria

Please See http://www.fulltimecourses.tafe.wa.edu.au/sites/default/files/uploads/TAFE-admissions-guide-V2-Final.pdf

Entrance Requirements are consistent across all TAFE colleges and are based on the literacy and numeracy levels required for entry into a course

Selection Criteria are academic (60 points) and work history (30 points) criteria which are used to rank applicants for entry to courses where there are more applicants than positions available

WACE ATAR

Stream

WACE Vet

Qualification Stream

WACE General

Stream

Entry to

Cert III

3 x A grades 60 points Cert II 30 points

Cert III 45 points

3 x A grades 48 points

3 x B grades 60 points 3 x B grades 45 points

3 x C grades 54 points 3 x C grades 42 points

Entry to

Cert IV

3 x A grades 60 points Cert II 25 points

Cert III 45 points

3 x A grades 48 points

3 x B grades 60 points 3 x B grades 45 points

3 x C grades 54 points 3 x C grades 42 points

Interviews scheduled - 8.30am – 2.45pm daily from Monday 17th June

to Friday 28th June 2019.

Counselling session will occur with each year 10 student and their

Parent/Caregiver

Gilmore College course unit information for 2020 can be accessed via the college website at www.gilmorecollege.wa.edu.au

Counselling Interviews booked through Schools Online Booking System at http://sobs.com.au/pt/parent.php

VET Coordinator◦ Ms Kilpatrick

Senior School Manager◦ Ms McCaig

Year Coordinator◦ Ms Daly

Associate Principals◦ Mr Gurr/Ms Lobb/Mr Chikwama

Student Services Staff

What does this look like1. Be self controlled2. Know where your support services are3. Know the difference between the importance of

homework and study4. Recognise your impact on the learning of others5. Practice good social skills6. Deal with conflicts in a socially mature way – See point

27. Be organised8. Be prepared

What does this look like

8. Be a good time manager9. Have a regular routine (i.e. Study Timetable – see point

3)10.Balance school and other activities11.Maintain regular sleep habits12.Be punctual13.Attend14.Attend15.Attend

Thank you all for beginning this journey with your child.

Please contact us for assistance, we are here to share this journey with you as well

www.scsa.wa.edu.au

info@scsa.wa.edu.au

https://facebook.com/SCSAWA

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Exploring career options - https://www.myfuture.edu.au

Apprenticeship information – www.australianapprenticeships.gov.au

Australian Apprenticeship Pathway – www.aapathway.com.au

Gilmore College – www.gilmorecollege.wa.edu.au

School Curriculum and Standards Authority – www.scsa.wa.edu.au

Tertiary Institutions Service Centre – https://www.tisc.edu.au

Curtin University- www.curtin.edu.au

Edith Cowan University – www.ecu.edu.au

Murdoch University – www.murdoch.edu.au

Notre Dame University – www.nd.edu.au

University of western Australia – www.uwa.edu.au