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The Standard | Term 1 2025
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Message from the Chief Executive
Dear colleague,
I hope that term 1 has been a positive one for you, your teachers and your students. It’s nearly the end of term and, like you, we have been busy.
Before we jump into the exciting progress we have made across a number of key projects and initiatives, a huge congratulations must first go to the Class of 2024 and everyone who supported them. With the highest number of SACE completers since the current qualification was introduced, more than 15,900 students achieved their SACE in 2024, many of whom have also been recognised with subject merits and Governor’s Commendation awards for their academic and civic achievements. Best wishes also to the Class of 2025 who, I hope, have a fulfilling and enriching year as they prepare for life after school.
We have used the last few months to evaluate our learnings and findings from 2024 in the key pillars of our Passport to Thrive strategic plan and are using these insights to help inform our focus areas for 2025.
Whilst you will learn about the current and planned future states of our strategic and operational priorities in greater detail as you read through the rest of The Standard, I would like to highlight a few updates which serve as testaments to our commitment that every student has a greater opportunity to thrive in their SACE journey:
- Our newest subject, Stage 2 Activating Identities and Futures (AIF) has been introduced to all schools as of term 1, 2025. AIF supports students to develop capabilities in taking initiative, thinking independently, managing their time, interpersonal communication, and being responsible for their own learning – all of which are integral for success in whatever post-school pathway they choose.
- Our Recognition of Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge and Learning initiative is preparing for implementation this year following a successful 3-year pilot. We are profoundly proud of this initiative which formally recognises Aboriginal students’ connection to community, land, and culture. This initiative would not have been possible without the support and commitment of the staff and leadership of pilot schools. Most importantly, I would like to express my gratitude to the Aboriginal cultural custodians for their trust in us, and the stewardship provided by the SACE Board Aboriginal Allyship.
- The Capabilities and Learner Profile pilot continues in 2025 with focus areas including the development of resources for school communities to support understanding of capabilities assessment, systematising and maximising student agency, and understanding the value and utility that external stakeholders see in the Learner Profile.
- Following the launch in 2024, each SACE subject has been progressing through the phases of our Subject Renewal program. We have commenced our 2025 engagements with Subject Renewal Groups (SRGs) who will lead the re-design of the content and assessment of subjects so they enable deeper, real-world learning, develop disciplinary knowledge, and embed capabilities.
On 24 March, we held our inaugural SACE Teaching and Learning Leaders event at Adelaide Oval, bringing together over 170 school leaders from across South Australia. We were able to use this opportunity to share our progress towards ensuring that the SACE evolves so that it remains an innovative and robust qualification. Very importantly, we heard directly from a number of educators about their involvement in the implementation of Activating Identities and Futures (AIF), and the Capabilities and Learner Profile, and Recognition of Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge and Learning pilots.
Feedback from the event has reinforced the value of hearing, and learning from, the experiences of teachers, and attendees generously shared with us their insights and perspectives on our current projects. We look forward to providing a more comprehensive recap of the event and our learnings in the coming weeks.
I hope you enjoy the upcoming school holidays, and wish you all the best for next term.
Warm regards,
Michaela Bensley
Chief Executive
SACE Board of South Australia
SACE Merit Ceremony
The outstanding SACE Class of 2024 included 1,182 subject merit recipients, 33 Governor’s Commendation awardees, and the Tennyson Medal winner, many of whom celebrated their achievements at the SACE Merit Ceremony held at Government House on 13 February.
Kevin Hua, a 2024 Governor’s Commendation awardee from St Columba College, delivering a rousing speech on behalf of his peers. “These past few years have broadened our perspectives and allowed us to delve further into finding what we’re passionate about. In these moments, we cultivated the resilience and critical thinking skills needed to face the challenges ahead.”
While the sessions scheduled for the first day of the Merit Ceremony on 12 February had to be postponed due to a heatwave warning, we are pleased to recognise the accomplishments of students who had been invited on that day at the rescheduled sessions on Tuesday 8 April.
Further information about the SACE Merit Ceremony, including videos of the event on 13 February can be found on the SACE website.
SACE Art Show
The creative expressions of 136 SACE Visual Arts students from across South Australia who completed the subject in 2024, have been selected for display at the 2025 SACE Art Show.
Featuring a wide range of artistic expression including paintings, drawings, sculptures, costumes and multimedia designs, the SACE Art Show is one of the largest secondary school art and design exhibitions in the state.
Identity, disconnection, body image, natural beauty, gaming, mental health, music, and more have all featured as themes in the creative expressions of these young artists. They exemplify the importance of art in education in providing opportunities for engagement and meaningful learning, and offering outlets to highlight topics and issues that are important to young people and to society at large.
On the opening night, the following awards were presented by our generous sponsors:
Minister for Human Services Regional Encouragement Award
Midinidi Grow Together, Dre Vlassco (Port Lincoln High School)
Minister for Human Services Regional Encouragement Award
Origins, Liam Fuss (Port Lincoln High School)
Minister for Human Services SACE Art Show Poster Award
Deep Sea, Karina van Pelt (Cornerstone College)
Flinders University Visual Arts Award
One in the same, Sarah Mills (Southern Vales Christian College)
Visual Arts Educators South Australia Packing Room Prize
Autism, Ella Saunderson (Cedar College)
Independent Education Union SACE Art Show Award
Echoes of becoming, Charlotte McCarthy (University Senior College)
Eckersley’s Art and Craft Encouragement Award
Further to fly, Sophia Guth (Mary MacKillop College)
Adelaide Central School of Art Award
Strangers in Nature, Laura Seach (Mercedes College)
Australian Education Union SACE Art Show Award
Shield, Sadie Gillespie (Henley High School)
Exhibition details
Tuesday 18 March - Thursday 10 April 2025
9 am - 4 pm Monday to Friday
10 am - 3 pm Saturdays (excludes public holidays)
Light Square Gallery, Adelaide College of the Arts
39 Light Square, Adelaide 5000 SA
School groups and members of the public are invited to visit the exhibition at Light Square Gallery, Adelaide College of the Arts. Learn more, explore our online gallery and book your visit to the 2025 SACE Art Show on our website.
Recognition of Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge and Learning
The SACE Board’s Recognition of Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge and Learning program is preparing for implementation in 2025.
The program, understood to be the only one of its kind, empowers Aboriginal students to deepen their connection to community, land and culture, fostering a sense of belonging within the SACE. Between 2022 and 2024, 15 schools participated in the pilot, with 71 students having received SACE credits in recognition of their cultural learning.
The SACE Board has worked with schools and communities across South Australia and the Northern Territory to develop a framework and quality assurance process which ensures a respectful and consistent standard of recognising Aboriginal cultural knowledge and learning. This is guided by community cultural authorities who verify the depth of students’ skills and understanding.
Earlier this year, we held a Learning Event for the program which brought together students, educators, and Aboriginal cultural authorities to evaluate key findings from the pilot. The learnings included:
- Students were often motivated to participate in the program by the opportunity to connect with and share their culture, and deepen their cultural identity.
- Both metropolitan and regional schools benefited from the new connections with students and community members.
- Training played a key role in building the confidence of educators who were involved in the program.
The Recognition of Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge and Learning program sets a benchmark to value and recognise Aboriginal cultural knowledge within senior secondary education. It champions the transfer of traditional cultural knowledge to future generations, contributing to the preservation of the world’s oldest living culture.
Learn more about the Recognition of Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge and Learning initiative on our website, or contact askSACE with any inquiries on 1300 322 920 or askSACE@sa.gov.au.
Capabilities and Learner Profile
The SACE Board’s Capabilities and Learner Profile initiative is designed to ensure that the SACE is an innovative qualification which equips students with the knowledge, skills, and capabilities to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
By recognising a broader set of capabilities, students can better understand their aptitudes. This equips them with the confidence to move forward with a clear sense of who they are and what they can achieve and provides the language to promote their strengths with confidence, articulate their goals and aspirations, and chart a clear path toward success. The recognition of capabilities helps students realise and embrace their full potential.
As students transition into further education or employment, the intent of a Learner Profile is to formally recognise the capabilities developed through diverse experiences and give education providers and employers a fuller picture of what students know and can do.
Speaking about how the Learner Profile empowers students, Chair of the South Australian Skills Commission, Cameron Baker, has said, “Success isn’t just about acing exams or academic achievements — it’s about the value students bring to a job and to society. It’s about how well they communicate, solve problems, and collaborate. Whether they’re competing in sports, volunteering, studying at university or working a part-time job, these experiences are shaping essential capabilities. The key is knowing how to highlight them when applying to university or to potential employers.”
The innovative Capabilities and Learner Profile pilot reaches beyond senior secondary education in SA and the NT and also contributes to the University of Melbourne’s national research into how learning can be measured without relying wholly on ranks and tests, and in turn explores a model to better match senior secondary students with post-school pathways.
In 2024, 26 schools and 1,045 students participated in pilot 3, and we continued to collaborate with industry and tertiary education contributors. The pilot will continue in 2025, with focus areas including:
- Resources for school communities to support understanding of capabilities assessment.
- Systematising and maximising student agency.
- Understanding the value and utility that external stakeholders see in the Learner Profile.
Learn more about the Capabilities and Learner Profile pilot on our website, or contact askSACE with any inquiries on 1300 322 920 or askSACE@sa.gov.au.
Activating Identities and Futures
Our brand new Stage 2 subject, Activating Identities and Futures (AIF), is being offered to all South Australian schools this year. Building on the skills and capabilities that students develop in Stage 1 Exploring Identities and Futures (EIF), AIF empowers students to take greater ownership and agency over their learning as they select, test, and explore relevant strategies and perspectives in the pursuit of a Learning Goal of their choice.
Over 140 South Australian schools are currently delivering AIF in semester 1, with more schools set to offer it in semester 2.
Our new feature in PLATO – PLATO Connect – for AIF teachers has seen more than 1,100 teachers engaging in a Community of Practice to connect with each other, seek advice, share tips resources and engage in discussion.
To continue supporting teachers to deliver AIF, our front loaded moderation workshops will resume in week 1, term 2, with representation from each school with AIF enrolments in semester 1.
Front loaded moderation takes place at a mid-semester face-to-face event where teachers each share a sample of in-progress student work which aligns with their school’s interpretation and application of performance standards.
It provides teachers with the opportunity to provide, receive, and action constructive feedback to improve confidence in their decision-making, and to share their learnings to build capability within their schools. It also builds teacher confidence and capability while ensuring that the existing high level of integrity of assessment is maintained.
Learn more about front loaded moderation on our website. Contact askSACE for further information on 1300 322 920 or email askSACE@sa.gov.au.
Subject Renewal
Subject Renewal is a key pillar in our Passport to Thrive strategy, designed to enable deeper, real-world learning, develop disciplinary knowledge and capabilities, to ensure that the SACE continues to be a modern and responsive qualification for a changing world.
Through our work with pilot schools over the last four years, the key drivers below have emerged as the most impactful. We have used the following characterisations of these drivers to support teachers’ awareness and early understanding of their intent.
As we work more closely with Subject Renewal Groups, these key drivers will continue to to be better understood and defined as they emerge in the renewed subjects.
The key drivers for this work are:
- Student agency – students are proactive in the co-creation of their learning pathway and influence how they undertake, demonstrate and action their learning
- Deep authentic learning – students discuss and apply learning from familiar and unfamiliar situations across a range of meaningful and relevant real-world situations
- Natural evidence of learning – NEoL captures the diverse authentic forms of students' demonstration of learning and achievement, better reflecting what students know and can do
- Metacognition – students understand and evaluate their thinking to regulate the way they learn
- Capabilities – SACE Capabilities are complex competencies: a mixture of elements including attitudes, skills, values, knowledge, and beliefs that are developed directly and indirectly through learning and assessment design. The capabilities valued by the SACE Board include: Collective engagement, Personal enterprise, Principled action, Quality thinking and Self-motivated learning
We are committed to engaging with teachers and students to co-design the subjects, and to keeping the broader sector updated as we move through the renewal phases.
In keeping with this commitment, 487 educators across 57 Subject Renewal Groups (SRG), each focusing on a specific subject area, are helping to review and enhance the subjects, with SRG engagements for 2025 already having kicked off. The SRGs are working through the phases of renewal for each subject, which have been separated into three groups to progress at different paces based on complexity, appetite for change, and the impact on the system. Learn more in the Subject Renewal roadmap.
During term 1, Group 1 SRGs have been refining their vision statements for the renewed subjects, forming insights for initial learning and assessment designs, and engaging with students to understand how their experiences can be incorporated into the co-design of the subjects.
SRGs for Groups 2 and 3 subjects have also met to progress their vision statements to ensure they align with our key drivers.
As the SACE Board, in partnership with educators and students, moves through the subject renewal process, we will ensure that all teachers, irrespective of their involvement in SRGs are kept informed of the progress through regular communications, and forums such as the recent Teaching and Learning Leader conference. Further information about Subject Renewal progress is available on our website.
We have also shared a 2025 SRG meeting schedule, including estimated time commitments, to enable advance planning.
Learn more about Subject Renewal on our website, or contact askSACE with any inquiries on 1300 322 920 or askSACE@sa.gov.au.
Engine Room
In term 1, our SACE Coordinator Information Sessions have taken place face-to-face in Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Port Lincoln, as well as online for schools in the Northern Territory, and SACE International schools. The sessions have allowed us to strengthen our partnership with SACE Coordinators, and use their feedback and insights to contribute to the co-design of system and process improvements.
Key agenda items at the information sessions included updates on what is new in 2025, improvements that have been made based on feedback from SACE Coordinators last year, and a new segment to collectively discuss and identify priorities to help inform future system and process efficiencies.
Bringing together over 160 SACE Coordinators, these information sessions were also a wonderful opportunity for SACE Coordinators to come together, network, share knowledge, and build their own communities of practice.
Feedback from the sessions reflect a consistently positive experience for participants who found the content relevant, appreciated that their suggestions are being actioned, and benefited from the opportunity to hear from experienced colleagues about their experience of coordinating the SACE at their school site.
The SACE Coordinator Information Sessions will occur again in term 3.
We are also currently processing results for our SACE International schools in the Northern Hemisphere, and final results will be available to those students on Monday 19 May.
As always, our askSACE team is here to provide support and respond to any enquiries you may have. You can contact us at askSACE@sa.gov.au or 1300 322 920.
SACE International
SACE International LinkedIn page launches
SACE International has launched its LinkedIn page, marking an exciting step forward in expanding our reach in the digital space and strengthening connections with key stakeholders in international education.
This new platform adds to SACE International’s existing Facebook channel, providing a new avenue to engage with stakeholders and partners, share program updates, celebrate SACE International student and school achievements, and promote the SACE International program to a broader audience.
Follow SACE International on LinkedIn to stay connected:
Sri Lanka regional workshop
Gateway College (Sri Lanka) hosted the SACE International regional workshop from 13 to 15 March 2025. This in-person professional learning event, themed Designing for Future Directions, brought together over 60 educators from SACE International schools in Sri Lanka, China, and Malaysia. Facilitated by education experts from the SACE Board, the workshops provided an opportunity for collaboration, innovation, and the advancement of teaching methodologies.
The event commenced with an inspiring keynote address by His Excellency Paul Stephens, Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, followed by a traditional Sri Lankan dance performance.
Over three days, educators engaged in intensive subject-specific sessions covering Sciences, Mathematics, English, and Humanities. These sessions focused on key educational themes, including:
- Metacognition and student-centered learning
- Natural evidence of learning
- Student agency in the classroom
- The integration of AI in education
Participants benefited from hands-on training, networking opportunities, and collaborative discussions aimed at refining instructional strategies and enhancing student learning experiences.
A highlight of the program was a special session on the future of education, exploring strategies to address the evolving demands of global education, and we look forward to our ongoing engagement with SACE International teachers.
Learn more about SACE International training and events: Professional Learning - SACEi - South Australian Certificate of Education.