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HSC Retreat Mythbusting the HSC Kester Lee Director of Studies Monday 9 October, 2017
HSC Retreat
Mythbusting the HSC
Kester Lee
Director of Studies
Monday 9 October, 2017
HSC Retreat
Summary
• 1 The HSC Record of Achievement
• 2 The ATAR and scaling
• 3 The Barker Assessment Program• Procedures
• Penalties and N-determinations
• Appeals
• 4 General Advice• Numbers of units
• The Pie and the Tree
• Work Habits
• Effort and “Grit”
• 5 The Next 12 Months
29/10/2017
HSC Retreat – 1a
The HSC Record of Achievement
• A mark out of 100 for each 2 unit subject (out of 50 for 1 unit subjects)
consisting of :
39/10/2017
50% Moderated Assessment Mark
i.e. school assessment tasks
+
50% HSC Examination Mark
i.e. external exams, final performances and major works
HSC Retreat – 1b
49/10/2017
HSC Retreat – 2a
The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)
• The ATAR is calculated on the best 10 units, and English must count
for 2 of these units
• The ATAR is a rank, not a mark. The median ATAR is ~68.
• Barker supplies ATAR estimates in a 5-point range to students:
•1st ATAR estimates after Semester 1 Examinations
•2nd ATAR estimates after Trial Examinations
59/10/2017
HSC Retreat – 2b
Scaling for the ATAR
69/10/2017
100
50
0
75
100
50
0
HSC Marks UAC Scaled Marks
essentially
not used for
Barker
students
students
meeting
minimum
expectations
score > 50
Scaling does not affect marks
equally; high marks don’t get
scaled down as much
average
result in HSC
for most
subjects
subjects attracting more able
students
subjects attracting
less able students
Note that UAC uses
the full range of
marks, 100 to 0
subjects attracting
broad range of
abilities (i.e. most
subjects at Barker)
Scaling ensures a fair comparison between subjects
The HSC
HSC Retreat – 2c
The HSC and ATAR in a snapshot…
79/10/2017
50% Moderated Assessment Mark
i.e. school assessment tasks
Subject
Scaling
The ATAR
50% HSC Examination Mark
i.e. external exams, final
performances and major works
HSC Retreat – 3a
The Barker Assessment Program – Procedures for Illness
• From FAQ of Assessment Manual
• From Appendix 4.7 of Assessment Manual
89/10/2017
HSC Retreat – 3b
The Barker Assessment Program – Procedures
• Illness/misadventure and reviewing marks after the assessment:• The idea: do the assessment, then review the mark later
• Doesn’t this happen in the HSC?
• Other schools do it!
• Barker does not follow this policy
• Barker’s I/M policy is that if you are ill, get a medical certificate
and request an extension from the Dean to do it later when you
are better. We do not review marks once you’ve done a task.
• Once you sit an assessment task, the mark will stand:“The teacher must assess the student’s actual performance, not potential
performance. Assessment marks must not be modified to take into account the
possible effects of illness or domestic situations.” (ACE Manual https://ace.nesa.nsw.edu.au/ace-8072)
99/10/2017
HSC Retreat – 3c
The Barker Assessment Program – Penalties
• From FAQ of Assessment Manual
109/10/2017
HSC Retreat – 3d
The Barker Assessment Program – N-determinations
• From Appendix 1 of the Manual:
119/10/2017
HSC Retreat – 3e
The Barker Assessment Program – Appeals
•From Appendix 6 of the Assessment Manual
129/10/2017
HSC Retreat – 3f
OR ?
• The penalty for plagiarism is death
• You can get an HSC without getting an ATAR
• If I need disability provisions I see Mr Lee (Deans, LS)
• Hand-in assessments are always due at 8:30am (8:20)
• If I hand in a task 3:00pm on the day after it is due, I get zero.
• As long as I do >50% of the assessment tasks, I will get an HSC.
(still need sustained and diligent effort)
139/10/2017
HSC Retreat – 3g
OR ?
• I can get an HSC on 10 units including 4U Maths and 4U English.
(need 4 subjects)
• If I cheat or plagiarise, Mr Lee has to log an official report with NESA
• The Senior School Office number is 9847 8263
• There are 36 different courses in Year 12 at Barker (40)
• Page 32, Line 3 of the Assessment Manual begins with the word
“completed”
• The reason we have so many rules is so that Mr Lee has a job.
(the rules are for fairness…)
149/10/2017
HSC Retreat – 4a
General Advice – Number of Units
159/10/2017
• Hold more than 10 units at this point – don’t drop straight away
• Experience the HSC courses: marks reset, content is different
• Best time to re-consider subject packages is after the Semester 1
Examinations and ATAR estimates are released
• New Extensions cannot count within your 10 units to begin with
• By the end of Year 12, ~50% students on 10 units.
HSC Retreat – 4b
General Advice – The Pie and The Tree
169/10/2017
HSC Retreat – 4c
General Advice – Work Habits
179/10/2017
• Separate work and play
• Be task-oriented, not time-oriented
• Ask for help!
HSC Retreat – 4d
General Advice – Effort and “Grit”
189/10/2017
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
4.50
5.00
0 20 40 60 80 100
Eff
ort
Gra
de
ATAR
ATAR vs Effort*
* Using the old system where Effort 1 = best
HSC Retreat – 5a
The Next 12 Months…
199/10/2017
• 2017 Term 4: Year 11 Semester 2 Reports
HSC assessments commence
• 2018 Term 1: Parent/Teacher Evening
Semester 1 Examinations (at end of term)
• 2018 Term 2: ATAR estimates and consultations
Year 12 Semester 1 Reports
• 2018 Term 3: Trial Examinations (Weeks 3-4)
External HSC Performances/Major works etc
Year 12 Semester 2 Reports
• 2018 Oct/Nov: External HSC Examinations
HSC Retreat – 5b
The Next 12 Months…
209/10/2017
• Focus Days in 2018 (pp3-4 in Assessment Manual)
•Assessment tasks
•Excursions and fieldwork
•Guest speakers and seminars
•Practical facilities are open (e.g. VA, D&T)
• Timetables in Term 4, 2017
•Core PE has been removed
•New Extensions have been added to Period 1
•The rest stays the same as Terms 1-3
• Timetables in 2018
•Maths and 2U English teachers retained
•Other subjects may change
