Memorandum to Schools 118/2009
29 October 2009
2009 October/November Examination Centre Messages: Delivery Methods
The VCAA will send examination centre messages after the commencement of each of the October/November written examinations.
The message is sent after the commencement of the examination so that students have time to read the examination paper thoroughly. Should they have a concern about a possible error on the paper there is an opportunity for the VCAA to investigate this and then provide advice to all students should this be necessary.
The Examination Centre message should be given to the Chief Supervisor and ultimately filed in the VCE Examination Document Register.
Usually the examination centre message will be PROCEED NORMALLY. If an examination error has been identified, instructions will be provided for supervisors about the announcement to be made to students. In these circumstances the subject of the message will be SPECIAL MESSAGE RE: EXAMINATION.
MESSAGE DELIVERY
The VCAA will forward examination centre messages via:
- email to the school’s official mailbox
- email to the school’s VASS mailbox
- a fax delivery service.
COLLECTION OF EXAMINATION CENTRE MESSAGES
Emailed examination centre messages will be sent via the VCAA Examinations Unit and a backup copy via VCAA VASS Support.
Please arrange for the appropriate person/s to log on and collect the email messages and that the appropriate mailbox is not full.
The email sent via the VCAA Examinations Unit will be sent to all schools.
Another email sent by VASS Support will only be sent to schools with an interest in a particular examination. This will be all home schools, assessing schools and examination centres for each study. The message will be sent to the school email address recorded in VASS (see SCHOOL ADMIN → MODIFY SCHOOL DETAILS).
A copy will also be sent to the VCE Coordinator but only if an email address has been entered for that person in VASS.
Please ensure that the log on occurs at the times listed above as the VCAA may only send the message minutes before these nominated times.
Fax Service
Delivery by this method will occur without intervention by school staff provided the correct fax number has been stored on the fax service and the school’s fax machine is not engaged or offline.
If the fax machine is busy, one additional attempt will be made to deliver the message.
The agreement with the service provider requires the transmission of the fax to schools within a 15 minute time frame. Please note, on occasion, some faxes have arrived later than the specified time. School staff should continue to observe the fax beyond these times if the message has not arrived.
The time frame for fax delivery for the October/November examination period is as follows:
Friday 30 October
- 9:30am – 9:45am
- 3:30pm – 3:45pm
Monday 2 November to Thursday 19 November (Weekdays)
- 9:30am – 9:45am
- 12:15pm – 12:30pm
- 3:30pm – 3:45pm
PLEASE NOTE: that examination messages will be sent on MONDAY 2 NOVEMBER (the day prior to the Melbourne Cup holiday) and schools are required to have a staff member available to accept fax and/or email messages.
ENQUIRIES:
Susan Heale ph: 9225 2352 or email: examinations.vcaa@edumail.vic.gov.au
If these delivery methods fail, please contact VCAA Examinations Unit, on 9225 2349 for the current message.
