There is no proposal to allow students to use mobile phones, iPods, or the internet during Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations.

General Manager of the Office of the Board of Studies, Dr John Bennett, said strict rules govern the HSC exams which prevent students from taking such devices into the exam room.

‘This year’s HSC students must remember that if they take a mobile phone into an exam, they risk a zero mark in that course’, Dr Bennett said.

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BOS 40/08 (Vol 17 No 3)

The Board wishes to advise teachers and students that the Drama Stage 6 Course Prescriptions 2010–2012 are now available on the Board of Studies website.

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2007 HSC English (Advanced) standards package

These samples of student responses from the 2007 HSC English examination supplement the existing English (Advanced) standards packages. This material has been developed to assist teachers and students to have a fuller understanding of performance in English (Advanced). The selected student responses relate to the following three prescribed texts:

• Cloudstreet (Tim Winton)
• Prescribed poems from Gwen Harwood, Selected Poems: A New Edition
• Prescribed poems from W.B.Yeats: Poems selected by Seamus Heaney

The material has been selected from responses to the 2007 HSC English (Advanced) Paper 2, Module B: Critical Study of Texts, Questions 4(c), 7(a) and 7(b). For each question, nine responses have been chosen, three each representing performance at the borderlines between Bands 5 and 6, Bands 4 and 5, and Bands 3 and 4.

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2007 HSC English (Standard) standards package

These samples of student responses from the 2007 HSC English examination supplement the existing English (Standard) standards package. This material has been developed to assist teachers and students to have a fuller understanding of performance in English (Standard). The selected student responses relate to the following two prescribed texts:

• Billy Elliot (Stephen Daldry)
• Educating Rita (Willy Russell)

The material has been selected from responses to the 2007 HSC English (Standard) Paper 2, Module C: Texts and Society, Question 10(a) and (b). Nine responses have been chosen for each text, three each representing performance at the borderlines between Bands 5 and 6, Bands 4 and 5, and Bands 3 and 4.

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BOS 39/08 (Vol 17 No 3)

The Board wishes to advise teachers and students that the Dance Stage 6 Course Prescriptions 2010–2012 are now available on the Board of Studies website.

Contact

BOS 34/08 (Vol 17 No 3)

Writing booklets for the 2008 Information Processes and Technology, General Mathematics and Mathematics HSC examinations will have student numbers and centre numbers printed on the front page. Question numbers will also be printed on these booklets, except for Section III of the Information Processes and Technology examination, where students will be required to write the numbers of the two option questions that they answer in the spaces provided.

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BOS 38/08 (Vol 17 No 3)

The list of scientific calculators for use in the 2008 Higher School Certificate examinations have been updated. The final list can be found on the Board's website at www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/manuals/calculators_hsc.html.

The examinations in which scientific calculators are permitted are listed in the equipment checklist that can also be found on the Board's website at www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/manuals/equipment_list.html.

Effective: 2008 HSC Examinations

Contact:

Chris Thompson
Principal Assessment Officer
Assessment Projects
(02) 9367 8069
chris.thompson@bos.nsw.edu.au

BOS 37/08 (Vol 17 No 3)

The Board wishes to advise that the Mathematics K–6 Support Document for Students with Special Education Needs has been published on the K–6 website.

The online document supports teachers in the planning, programming, assessment, implementation and evaluation of learning experiences that enable all students to demonstrate achievement in relation to the outcomes and content of the Mathematics K–6 Syllabus.

A printed introduction to the online document will be sent to all primary schools.

Effective: Immediately

Contact:
Susan Jones
Senior Curriculum Officer, Special Education
(02) 9367 8148
susan.jones@bos.nsw.edu.au

BOS 36/08 (Vol 17 No 3)

The guidelines for access to VET courses in Stage 5 in 2009 are now available on the Board's website.

For schools that belong to school systems, the relevant school sector authority will provide separate additional advice on processes for approval to offer and deliver VET courses to students in Stage 5 in 2009.

Schools intending to offer VET courses to students in Stage 5 in 2009 are required to complete a Notification of intention to access VET courses in Stage 5 in 2009 form and submit it to the Office of the Board of Studies by Friday, 29 August 2008.

Notification forms received will be forwarded to the relevant school system authority for their information.

The guidelines, the notification form and further information and advice are available on the Board's website at www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/voc_ed/stage-5.html

Enquiries:
Ian Balcomb
Inspector, Vocational Education
(02) 9367 8038
ian.balcomb@bos.nsw.edu.au