4 September 2015
Letter 6/2015 to Principals from Chief Executive SACE Board
Dear Colleague
I am writing an additional Principals Letter for Term 3 to advise you about a number of
important developments to support end-of-year processes in schools for 2015, and in
preparation for 2016 and beyond.
This letter includes information for this year about Governor of South Australia
Commendations, and an additional opportunity to resubmit the Research Project. The letter
also draws attention to several curriculum matters pertinent to 2016 and beyond, including
the introduction of an additional Community Studies option – Community Studies B.
For 2015:
School preparation for end-of-year results
In the previous Letter to Principals, I advised of the SACE Board’s intention to provide
students with their end-of-year results earlier in 2015, by separating the electronic release
from the delivery of official documentation.
Consultation with schools has indicated strong support for this change. As a result, I am
pleased to advise that students will be able to access their results on Tuesday 15 December
at 8.30am – two days earlier than last year.
This change will provide students, parents, and schools with more time to gain any
necessary support and clarification prior to Christmas.
The attached Leader Update has been prepared to assist schools in undertaking early
preparations for end-of-year results, with consideration for this change, as well as the
ongoing introduction of Online Results Sheets.
Governor of South Australia Commendations
Schools are invited to nominate one outstanding student for consideration as part of this
year’s Governor of South Australia Commendations.
The commendations recognise students who have demonstrated excellence in Boardaccredited subjects and in the development of one or more SACE capabilities.
Ref: A473106
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A printed copy of the Governor of South Australia Commendations – Nomination Guidelines
2015 was posted to all South Australian schools in mid-August. Nominations are due at the
SACE Board by Friday 13 November 2015.
The Merit policy and procedures, nomination forms, and guidelines can also be found on the
SACE website.
The Governor of South Australia Commendations, including the Aboriginal Student SACE
Award and the Excellence in Modified SACE Award, will be presented at the SACE Merit
Ceremony at Government House in February 2016.
Additional opportunity to resubmit the Research Project
The SACE Board has approved an additional opportunity for the resubmission of the
Research Project – following the end-of-year results release.
This opportunity is exclusively for students who have met all of the requirements of the SACE
except satisfactory completion of the Research Project, and therefore have not been
awarded their SACE.
This change ensures that resubmission is now possible after each assessment cycle (midyear and end-of-year).
The additional resubmission process will occur from the date of results release in December
until the end of the clerical check period in February of the following year.
Schools with students who did not complete their SACE by not reaching the Cstandard in Research Project only will be contacted by the SACE Board on the day of
results release.
School leaders will be invited to contact identified students to ascertain their willingness
to complete extra work and resubmit the Folio, the Research Outcome, and/or the
Evaluation.
The principal or the principal’s delegate will be requested to submit an Exceptional
Circumstances form to the SACE Board prior to Christmas indicating the student(s),
the corresponding assessment type(s) to be resubmitted, and the anticipated
submission date. All resubmissions will need to be received by the SACE Board by the
end of January.
Recognition of Community-developed Program –
Australian Teachers of Dancing Ltd
Certifications from Australian Teachers of Dancing Ltd successfully completed on or after 1
January 2015 will be retrospectively recognised towards the SACE.
The following table summarises the number of SACE credits to be awarded to students who
satisfactorily complete the program requirements, based on the nature, scope, and
complexity of each of the programs:
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Community organisation: Australian Teachers of Dancing Ltd
Award / Program
Classical Ballet – Elementary (Gold Bar)
Classical Ballet – Intermediate
Classical Ballet – Advanced
Jazz B – Gold Bar
Jazz – Elementary
Jazz – Intermediate
Jazz – Advanced
Jazz Moves – Elementary
Jazz Moves – Intermediate
Jazz Moves – Advanced
Tap – Gold Bar
Tap – Elementary Seal
Tap – Intermediate Seal
Tap - Advanced Seal
Hip Hop – Level 9
Hip Hop – Level 10
Hip Hop – Level 11
Hip Hop – Level 12
Level
SACE Credits
Category
Stage 1
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 1
Stage 1
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 1
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 1
Stage 1
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 1
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 2
20
20
20
10
10
20
20
10
20
20
10
10
20
20
10
10
10
10
Performance
For 2016 and beyond:
Introduction of Additional Community Studies Option –
Community Studies B
The Board has approved the introduction of an additional option for Community Studies at
Stage 2 to be offered for the first time in 2016.
The new enrolment option – ‘Community Studies B’ – provides an additional programming
option for schools, and enables students to be taught simultaneously with students studying
another Board-accredited Stage 2 subject. For example, a school may plan that in some of
their classes (e.g. Physical Education or Biology) that students will be able to study a
Community Studies B version of the subject from the beginning of the year.
Community Studies B also offers students who have enrolled in a particular Board-accredited
subject but are finding the subject challenging, the opportunity to remain in the original
subject class, while approaching their learning in that subject area in a different way.
Students will be able to enrol in a 10-credit or a 20-credit subject, in up to three areas of
study:
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Humanities and the Community
STEM and the Community
Interdisciplinary Learning and the Community.
Implementation workshops will be planned for Term 4, 2015.
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Stage 2 Visual Arts on-site moderation
The SACE Board currently uses a combination of on-site moderation and central moderation
to quality-assure students’ school-assessed results for Stage 2 Visual Arts – Art and Visual
Arts – Design.
From 2016, schools will be asked to package and submit to the SACE Board for moderation
the student materials for both the Assessment Type 1: Folio and Assessment Type 2:
Practical. This change in moderation procedures will allow the SACE Board to moderate
student materials concurrently.
Further information about packaging and submission of electronic images for Assessment
Type 2: Practical will be provided to Visual Arts teachers on the SACE website, in subject
operational information in early Term 1 2016, and through the Stage 2 Clarifying Forums held
early in the year.
Addition of Stage 1 and Stage 2 Korean (beginners)
The SACE Board currently offers Korean at background speakers through an interstate
borrowing arrangement with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. In addition
to Korean (background speakers) the SACE Board has now approved the introduction of:
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Stage 1 Korean (beginners) to be offered from 2016
Stage 2 Korean (beginners) to be offered from 2017.
Eligibility criteria for Korean (beginners) will apply.
Changes to SACE subjects for 2016
As part of the SACE Board’s monitoring process, feedback on subject outlines is received
from members of curriculum leaders groups, participants at clarifying workshops, and from
markers and moderators during the previous year’s external assessment and moderation
processes. This leads to some changes to the subject outlines.
The updated subject outlines for teaching in 2016 will be published on the SACE website at
the beginning of Term 4, 2015. A document, Summary of Subject Changes – 2016, outlining
the specific editorial amendments to each subject outline, will also be available online.
Changes will be made to the following subject outlines for 2016:
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Australian and International Politics (Stage 2)
Child Studies (Stage 2)
Creative Arts (Stage 2)
Dance (Stage 2)
English Pathways: Modified
Ensemble Performance
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Food and Hospitality (Stage 2)
Geology (Stage 2)
Mathematics Pathways: Modified
Musical Styles
Visual Arts – Art and Visual Arts – Design
(Stage 1 and Stage 2)
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Change of language level for the study of Persian (2016)
In response to feedback received over the past three years from schools offering Persian at
background speakers level, the SACE Board undertook a review of the current Persian
(background speakers) subject.
This review was undertaken in collaboration with subject experts, as part of the national
Collaborative Curriculum and Assessment Framework for Languages.
The review noted changes in the cohort of students enrolling in Persian language study, and
found that Persian at continuers level would best meet the needs of students. As a result of
the findings of the review, the SACE Board has approved:
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Stage 1 Persian (background speakers) to be offered for the last time in 2016
Stage 1 Persian (continuers) to be offered from 2017
Stage 2 Persian (background speakers) to be offered for the last time in 2017
Stage 2 Persian (continuers) to be offered from 2018.
Yours sincerely
Dr Neil McGoran
Chief Executive
cc SACE Coordinators
Attachment: Leader Update 3/15 - End of Year Results Release (separation of paper and
electronic results)
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