BOS 50/09

Minor amendments have been made revising 'tasks' to include a reference to 'audience' in the following syllabuses:

Stage 6 Continuers Syllabuses

Armenian, Croatian, Dutch, Filipino, Hindi, Hungarian, Khmer, Macedonian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian, Swedish, Tamil, Turkish and Ukrainian

Stage 6 Background Speakers Syllabuses

Malay, Persian and Russian

The description of tasks has changed from four elements to five elements. A description of the task element 'audience' has been included.

The description of the tasks should now read:

Tasks can be described as having five elements:

• a purpose (a reason for undertaking the task that goes beyond the practice of the language for its own sake)
• a context (this may be real, simulated or imagined, and may include aspects such as where, when, who is involved)
• an audience (the person/persons at whom the task is directed)
• a process (thinking, problem-solving, creating)
• a product (a result that can be described in terms of achievement of the purpose of the task and in the student's overall cognitive development).

The amended syllabuses will be available during December 2009.

Effective: 2010 Preliminary and HSC courses

Contact:

BOS 47/09

An amended Economics Stage 6 Syllabus (approved September 2009) replaces the existing Economics Stage 6 Syllabus (approved June 1999). The amended syllabus commences for Year 11 students in 2010.

The amended 2009 Economics Stage 6 Syllabus will be first examined in 2011. The final Economics HSC examination based on the existing 1999 Economics Stage 6 Syllabus will be in 2010.

The amended 2009 Economics Stage 6 Syllabus is available on the Board of Studies website.

A guide to the changes to the syllabus is also located on the website. Available for a limited time is a 'tracked change' version of the amended Economics Stage 6 Syllabus which shows the deletions and additions made to the syllabus.

Effective: Year 11, 2010.

Contact:

This week all HSC students will receive a postcard with their PIN in their letterbox reminding them to login to Students Online to access their Assessment Rank Order Notice.

Assessment Rank Order Notices will be available on the Students Online website from 5.00 pm on Friday 13 November 2009, five days earlier than previously advised.

Students will see the order in which they have been ranked in their school for each course and must tell the school immediately if they think a ranking is incorrect. Any appeals must be lodged with School Principals by Friday 20 November.

It is very important that students check that their assessment ranks are correct in each course as these will affect their final HSC results. For an explanation of how this works, read about our HSC Aligning and Moderating Procedures.

Students will need their Student ID and their PIN to login to Students Online. The Student ID is the number students used during their HSC examinations. The PIN can be found on the front of the postcard students are receiving this week. It is important that the PIN be kept confidential.

Students should keep the postcard handy as they will require their PIN on Wednesday 16 December to obtain their HSC results via the internet, telephone or SMS.

Please note that PIN letters were sent to all schools for distribution to HSC students in May this year. This is the same PIN that will appear on the postcard - students already using Students Online should keep using their existing PIN!

Students who have not received their postcard by Monday 16 November should contact Student Records on (02) 9367 8001.

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Key dates, including submission of School Certificate grades and HSC assessment marks, plus the starting dates for the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate are available on the Board's website.

Premier Nathan Rees said today this week's HSC exams will provide students with world class qualifications from courses recognised internationally.

Read the full media release

BOS 45/09

The Board of Studies wishes to advise that the following unit of competency has been added to the elective pool for the Automotive School-based Apprenticeship (240 indicative hours) course.

Part A of the Syllabus for the Automotive Curriculum Framework has been updated to include this additional unit of competency. Further details are outlined in the Automotive Modification History. The updated Automotive syllabus documents are available on the Board of Studies website.

Effective: Immediately

Contact
Caraline Cloke
Senior Project Officer, Vocational Education
(02) 9367 8170
caraline.cloke@bos.nsw.edu.au

Updates to the FAQs 11-12 for teachers of students with special education needs have been published on the Board's website.

The updates include FAQs related to:

• the reviewed Stage 6 Creative Arts Life Skills Syllabus
• School Developed Board Endorsed Courses for a Language or Religion for students with special education needs
• HSC: All My Own Work - Exemption for students undertaking only Life Skills courses

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

BOS 44/09

The University of New England will be delivering the HSC Distinction course in Philosophy in 2010. Students' applications should be lodged through their school principal. Application forms and information are available on the Board of Studies website.

The Cosmology Distinction course will not be offered in 2010.

Contact
Christine Jackson
Senior Policy Officer
(02) 9367 8092
christine.jackson@bos.nsw.edu.au

The 2009 HSC Advice Line telephone service opens Saturday, 17 October, on 13 11 12.

The Advice Line is a telephone service that provides support from experienced teachers in 20 of the most popular HSC courses. The service will be open from Saturday, 17 October to Thursday, 5 November.

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BOS 42/09

The amended Food Technology Stage 6 Syllabus is now available on the Board of Studies website www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au

Implementation of the amended syllabus will commence with the Preliminary course in 2010.

The website contains:

• the original syllabus approved in 1999 (which remains current for the HSC course and examination in 2010)
• the amended syllabus (for the Preliminary course from 2010 and the HSC course from 2011)
• the amended syllabus with tracked changes
• a summary of changes.

Contact
Howard Kennedy
Inspector, Technology Education
(02) 9367 8246
howard.kennedy@bos.nsw.edu.au