VCE/VCAL Information Evening 14/2/2019 - Damascus College

VCE/VCAL Information
      Evening

     14/2/2019

Prayer
                   Father in Heaven,
Look over us this evening as we seek to understand our
                  children’s education.
Guide us in ways that will enhance their study and their
                       self-worth.
Help us to calm our anxieties and fears so that those for
                     whom we care
can learn from us the wisdom and patience required to
                         succeed
             as members of our community.

                         Amen

Acronyms Galore
VCAA    Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
ATAR    Australian Tertiary Admission Rank
VCE     Victorian Certificate of Education
VCAL    Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning
VET     Vocational Education and Training
VATE    Victorian Association for the Teaching of English
PAM     Parent Access Module
PTI     Parent Teacher Interview
VTAC    Victorian Tertiary Admission Centre
DC      Damascus College
SAC     School Assessed Coursework
SAT     School Assessed Task

VCAA Important Dates for 2019
SEAs application due
Friday 15th March 2019

General Achievement Test (GAT) (Any student completing a 3-4 subject is required to sit the GAT)
Wednesday 12th of June 2019, 10.00 am – 1.15 pm

Trial Exams (Compulsory for all students completing a 3-4 subject)
Wednesday 26th – Thursday 27th of September 2019 and Tuesday 2nd – Thursday 4th of October
2019 (Week 1 and 2 of holidays)

Performance and Languages oral examinations and Extended Investigation: Oral presentation
Monday 7th of October 2019 – Sunday 3rd of November 2019

October/November Year 12 written examinations
Wednesday 30th of October 2019 – Wednesday 20th of November 2018

What is some of the common
        terminology?
• A VCE subject is called a study.
• Most studies have four units
• Each unit lasts one semester or half-year.
• Units 1 and 2 are usually taken in Year 11.
• Units 3 and 4 are usually taken in year 12.
• Traditionally unit 1 is taken in semester 1
  of the year and unit 2 in the second
  semester of the year.

School Processes
Attendance:
• It is expected that a VCE/VCAL student will attend all classes
• VCAA states that all VCE/VCAL units require 50 hours of class time
• Is essential for authentication of work
• If absent due to illness please obtain a medical certificate return it
    to the office
• Learning outcomes can be failed due to unexplained absences

Assessment:
• School Assessed Coursework
• School Assessment Tasks
• Exams (Internal Year 11, External year 12)

Missed School Based Assessment
              Procedure
If a school assessment task is missed special provision will be given for;
     • Approved School related activities
     • Illness (Copy of doctors certificate required with submission of form,
        original to Office)
     • Personal/family issues eg. Funeral (Newspaper notice, Statutory
        Declaration or Professional report)

Special provision will not be granted for things like;
   • Sitting a Learner’s permit, driver’s licence, taking driving lessons
   • Family holidays
   • music concerts or formal dances.

In those instances a student will receive a zero for the task

Missed School Based Assessment
             Procedure
Students are required to complete the form below; (Can be
collected from VCE coordinator)

Missed School Based Assessment
          Procedure
• Submit the completed form with all relevant documentation
  to the VCE coordinator

Missed SACs are rescheduled to the nearest Monday or
Wednesday at 3:30pm in the Library

Underperforming Students

3 Letters that may be sent to parents.
• Unsatisfactory completion of work
• Failure to submit work
• Progress concern for SAT

Special Provision – Throughout the Year
 If a student is disadvantaged by an illness or situation that impedes the
 learning process, then Special Provision is available.
 Situations that could affect a student’s performance:
     • An acute or chronic illness (physical or psychological)
     • Any factors relating to personal environment
     • An impairment or disability
     • Personal circumstances
     • Hearing, vision or learning disabilities.

 Provision could include:
     • Additional time for completion of work
     • Use of a laptop
     • Rest breaks
 Application forms available from the VCE Co-ordinator

Special Provision – End of Year
               Exams
Students who are disadvantaged may apply for Special Exam Arrangements (SEA).

Examples of these include:
    • Rest breaks
    • Permission to take medication
    • Use of a laptop

Applications can be collected from the VCE coordinator and are due back by Friday
the 15th of March

Students who are affected by unforeseen circumstances up to 2 weeks before the
exams (eg illness, car accident or death in the family) may apply for a Derived
Examination Score (DES). There is no guarantee of this being
successful.

General Achievement Test (GAT)
VCAA requires that all students enrolled in one or more VCE Units
3−4 sequence or VCE VET scored Unit 3 and 4 sequence are
required to sit the General Achievement Test (GAT)

Date: Wednesday 12th June 2019, 10.00 am – 1.15 pm

Purpose:
   • The statistical moderation of School-based Assessments
   • Checking the accuracy of student scores in external
     assessment
   • The calculation of a Derived Exam Score.

Basic Structure
VCAA sets the requirements:
   • Classwork - school/home/research/assignments/etc
   • SACs - specific tasks which are given a number score
   • SATs – specific tasks designed to meet VCAA criteria and given a
     number score given

Classwork is important as it contributes to the SACs and SATs in a
direct way
All subjects are assessed as ‘S’ (Satisfactory) or ‘N’ (Not Satisfactory
Students pass a subject by receiving an ‘S’. (An ‘N’ means not a pass)

What’s Needed for the VCE
               Certificate
Minimum of 16 units successfully completed
   • Minimum of 8 units (4 Subjects) from year 12
   • At least 3 units from English including unit 3-4 English

How an ATAR is obtained

   •   English, and
   •   Next 3 best subjects study scores
Most students will have an additional 1 or 2 subjects
which contribute an additional 10% for each subject

What happens with the Subjects
For each subject (VCAA):

    SAC/SAT scores + Nov Exam score                          Study Score

VCAA sends the study scores to VTAC

    Study scores are combined                        ATAR

ATAR is a ranking between 0 and 99.95
   Example:
    A student with an ATAR of 70.00 means that the university ranking system
    places them is in the top 30% of candidates for university

Why Ranking?
Concerns:
  Students are ranked amongst 10s of thousands of
  students
     (Victorians and interstate)

  Subjects may be “scaled” up or down because they
  are perceived to be of varying difficulty

How study scores work
Students get ranked highest to lowest

Median score is 30 (50% of the state will receive a score above
30 and the others below)

What a study score would look like if broken down to 100
students
 Study
           45+    40      35      30       25      20      Less
 Score                                                   than 20
Number
           2       7      17      27       25      15      7
   of
students

Where are we headed?
Students must be asking the following questions:
   • What is my preferred career?
   • Which tertiary institution is best for me?
   • Am I doing the right subjects and for the right
     reasons?
   • What do I need to do to get there?

How can our students do the best they can?

   Education is a three way partnership:
        student – family – school

University/TAFE Courses
Students apply for courses directly through VTAC who then offers students
courses based on their ATAR score.

Apply for Special Entry Access Scheme (SEAS) - Selection officers may take
into account educational disadvantages for instance location

Example:
For a particular course at Melbourne University, of the students who apply
those with the highest ATAR scores are accepted until the quota is reached.

Melbourne University: Bachelor of Biomedicine ATAR 94.05 in 2019

One of the major goals is for students to maximise their ATAR score.

Optimising results
•   Complete holiday homework
•   Get a head start on English novels
•   Ask subject teacher for assistance
•   Attend revision sessions teachers offer
•   Stay up to date with work
•   Complete weekly homework books if prescribed
•   Complete practice exams
•   Create a study timetable
•   Attend external VCE lectures
•   Attend English practice exams
Keeping track of school-work
• Use office 365 (Work saved to cloud accessed
  anywhere)

2018 Year 12 Student

      Tom Carter

2018 Year 12 Student

     Marla Gibson

Year 12 – A parents perspective

        Keran Mewett

Student Counselling
    & Wellbeing

Supporting Your Year 12

The Mental Health Continuum

Accessing Counselling
Support

 Counsellors: Jessica Wong & Marcus Probert

 Email: counsellor@damascus.vic.edu.au

Teachers who can assist
Matthew Hallowell (VCE Co-ordinator)
m.hallowell@damascus.vic.edu.au
5337 2386

Tom Inverarity (Applied Learning Co-ordinator)
t.inverarity@damascus.vic.edu.au
5337 2315

Ashwin Pillai (Assistant Principal – Learning & Teaching)
a.pillai@damascus.vic.edu.au
5337 2374

Jo Lawrence (Careers Co-ordinator)
j.lawrence@damascus.vic.edu.au
5337 2340

The End