2012 has been a milestone year for the Board. The major projects that have borne fruit throughout the year will have an impact on every school, and every school student.

This year was the first since 1965 without a School Certificate. Starting with Year 10 students in 2012, the Record of School Achievement will become the credential available to those students who do not go on to receive their HSC.

More than that, the process of entering and making available grades throughout senior secondary school means that the RoSA has relevance for all students.

The development of the RoSA has been a challenging process, involving hundreds of Board officers, teachers, and community members. The result is a credential that represents the needs and expectations of students and employers in the 21^st century.

The RoSA and its associated processes will continue to develop throughout 2013 as more support is made available for teachers to grade Preliminary courses, and as evaluations of the literacy and numeracy pilot tests, and the Up2Now pilot for an online repository for evidence of extracurricular achievement are completed.

2012 also saw the finalisation of NSW K-10 syllabuses for English, Mathematics, Science and History incorporating Australian curriculum content.

The Board has continued its tradition of engaging with the teaching community in syllabus consultations, and that tried-and-tested approach has ensured that the quality of our syllabuses remains extremely high.

The Board was also very proud to release its first online presentation of syllabuses. This product is receiving fantastic feedback, and its value will continue to rise as we expand the contents to include a wide variety of teaching support resources.

In 2013 we will go a step further, releasing a programming tool to help teachers at a classroom level bring together syllabus content, teaching approaches and resources.

Other major achievements for the Board in 2012 include:

• The establishment of our Student Advisory Group, which has already contributed a student perspective to projects including the languages review, rural/regional learning experiences, student communication opportunities and the Up2Now website trial.
• The initiation of a Review of Languages Education in NSW schools by the Minister for Education, the Hon. Adrian Piccoli MP.
• The commencement of a project, in collaboration with universities, examining opportunities to expand entry criteria for tertiary education.
• The continuation of the Building Our Cultural Capital lecture program with Nobel Laureate Professor Brian Schmidt providing the primary address at an event hosted by the Board in September.

While these major projects consumed much of the year, of course the core business of the Board, in particular as it relates to the conduct of the Higher School Certificate, has continued apace. As we go to publication this week, over 70,000 students are looking forward to receiving advice from the Board in relation to their much-valued HSC results.

My thanks goes to Board Chief Executive, Carol Taylor, Board officers, teachers and staff of schools right across NSW, and parent groups, all of whom have all made a contribution to the development and delivery of this work in 2012.

I’m extremely proud of our collaborative achievements in 2012, and look forward to working with you in 2013.

I wish you a happy and safe festive period.