BOS 20/09

The reviewed Stage 6 Creative Arts Life Skills Syllabus (2009) is now available on the Board’s website.

A review of the Stage 6 Creative Arts Life Skills Syllabus (1999, amended 2007) was undertaken by the Board to provide:

• additional curriculum options in the Creative Arts Learning Area
• a continuum of learning from the Life Skills outcomes and content in the Years 7–10 syllabuses.

The reviewed syllabus will replace the Stage 6 Creative Arts Life Skills Syllabus (1999, amended 2007) and will be implemented in 2010 for students undertaking a preliminary course or courses from the syllabus. Teachers will continue to use the existing syllabus for students studying the HSC Stage 6 Creative Arts Life Skills course in 2010.

The following table summarises key changes resulting from the review of the Stage 6 Creative Arts Life Skills Syllabus.

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Minister for Education and Training today welcomed the findings of the two independent reports into the 2008 Higher School Certificate Special Examination provisions. The reports were by Walter Turnbull chartered accountants and Dr Jan Keightley, former Chief Executive of the Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia

"Walter Turnbull, looked at the policies and procedures in place and their implementation by the Board of Studies," said Ms Firth.

"The audit found appropriate procedures were in place, there were clear guidelines and the Board of Studies complied with its established procedures.

"Dr Jan Keightley assessed a random sample of applications to test whether the Board of Studies' special provision benchmarks were being consistently applied.

"She found there was no evidence of any one schooling system or school being treated differently from others.

Dr Keightley found the measures set for determining special provision applications were appropriate and objective. These included medical reports providing diagnoses and evidence of student special needs and teacher comments observing the impact of the student's condition on their examination performance.

The Board of Studies may approve HSC special examination provisions for students with a special need that would prevent them from reading or answering the exam.

There are 18 categories of special needs:

• Asperger's syndrome • ADHD • Back disability • Cerebral palsy • Chronic fatigue/M.E. • Colour blindness • Diabetes • Epilepsy • Hand or arm disability • Head injury • Hearing impairment • Irlen syndrome • Illness or late injury • Learning difficulty • Medical miscellaneous • Pregnancy • Psychological • Vision impairment

Special provisions can include extra break or reading time, being allowed to eat during an examination, enlarged font size or colour paper and the use of a writer or scribe.

"Special provisions for the HSC are in place to provide students with a disability a fair go in their exams.

"We want to make sure every one of this state's students, regardless of which school they attend, has equal access to doing well in their HSC exams," said Ms Firth

Last year, 67,327 students sat Higher School Certificate examinations. There were a total of 4,613 applications for special provisions representing 7% of all students. Of these 71% of applications were granted in full.

Information about eligibility for special provisions is available on the Board of Studies website www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au

BOS 49/08 (Vol 17 No 4)

Principals, teachers and students are informed that all students undertaking Preliminary or HSC courses in 2009 must complete the HSC: All My Own Work program (or its equivalent) before the school submits the students’ 2009 Preliminary or HSC course entries.

From 2009, principals will be required to certify students’ completion of the HSC: All My Own Work program (or its equivalent) using the Data Collection function on Schools Online before schools can enter the students for Preliminary or HSC courses.

Students who are being entered for Stage 6 Life Skills courses or Board Endorsed courses or Board Developed VET courses must also meet this requirement.

Schools are encouraged to devise an appropriate equivalent of the HSC: All My Own Work program for students with special education needs as necessary.

Contact:

BOS 41/07 (Vol 16 No 3)

Years 7–10 syllabuses for Photographic and Digital Media, and for Visual Design: Addition of sample units of work to the support document Life Skills Years 7–10: Advice on Planning, Programming and Assessment

Additional sample units of work have been developed for the web version of the support document Life Skills Years 7–10: Advice on Planning, Programming and Assessment (2003) for both the Photographic and Digital Media Years 7–10 Syllabus and the Visual Design Years 7–10 Syllabus.

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BOS 33/07 (Vol 16 No 3)

The study of one or more Life Skills courses in Stage 6 is no longer considered by the Board of Studies to be a ‘special program of study’. The Board wishes to advise teachers of minor amendments to the web versions of the Stage 6 Life Skills Syllabuses and support materials. The effect of the amendments is to remove reference to a ‘special program of study’.

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BOS 06/07 (Vol 16 No 1)

The Board of Studies wishes to advise teachers of minor amendments to syllabuses which include reference to first aid, in particular basic life support. These amendments are in response to the Australian Resuscitation Council's revised cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) guidelines.

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BOS 33/06 (Vol 15 No 3)

Schools must record Life Skills outcomes achieved by all School Certificate candidates who are entered for courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content. These are due to be lodged at the same time as School Certificate grades.

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BOS 26/03

In response to requests from schools and systems, a change has been made to the collection of Stage 5 Life Skills outcomes in 2003. Previously an upper limit had been placed on the number of outcomes that could be achieved in Stage 5 Life Skills courses. This limit has now been removed. Teachers can now select between a minimum of one and a maximum of the total number of outcomes available. This means that the Board generated student profile may now be up to several pages in length.

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BOS 51/00 (Vol 9 No 7)

The Board has determined that the Skills for Living Content Endorsed Course undergo a period of further consideration and revision. Schools are advised of the following interim arrangement. The Skills for Living CEC (1994) will continue to be available in 2001 for Preliminary and HSC candidates.

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BOS 52/00 (Vol 9 No 7)

The Life Skills Stage 6 CD-ROM (titled Stage 6 Special Program of Study: Life Skills Courses and Support Materials) has now been distributed to all secondary schools. The CD-ROM contains the Stage 6 Life Skills syllabuses the Profile of Student Achievement and Case Studies.

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