information for parents. the australian curriculum – … for parents the australian curriculum –...

Years 3–4 Years 5–6 Years 7–8 Years 9–10Foundation Years 1–2

Foundation Years 3–4 Years 5–6 Years 7–8 Years 9–10Years 1–2

Information for parentsTHE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM – YEARS 1 AND 2

THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUMThe Australian Curriculum is designed to develop:

• successfullearners• confidentandcreativeindividuals• activeandinformedyoungpeoplewho

arereadytotaketheirplaceinsociety.

Itsetsthegoalforwhatallstudentsshouldlearnastheyprogressthroughtheirschoollife–wherevertheyliveinAustraliaandwhateverschooltheyattend.

TheAustralianCurriculumwithitseightlearning areas provides a modern curriculum foreverystudentinAustralia.Includedinthecontent of learning areas are seven general capabilitiesintendedtohelpprepareyoungAustralianstolearn,liveandworkinthe21stcentury.Therearethreecross-curriculumpriorities that are also a focus across the learningareas.

TheAustralianCurriculumisflexiblesothatteachers can plan the learning for all their students,alsotakingintoaccounttheirlocalschoolcommunity.

For more information, see our fact sheet: TheAustralianCurriculum–anoverviewforparents.

YEARS 1 AND 2

Priorityisgiventotheimportantareasofliteracyandnumeracydevelopment.

English and Mathematics are the core subjects forthis,however,literacyandnumeracyarefoundinallsubjects.

BytheendofYear2,studentshaveamuchstronger understanding of themselves and have beguntoconnectwiththewidercommunity.

Years 1-2 Learning Areas

1

English

Maths

ScienceHealth & PE

The Arts

Humanities

Languages

Technologies

School choice

Years 3–4 Years 5–6 Years 7–8 Years 9–10Foundation Years 1–2

EnglishTheEnglishcurriculumforYears1and2placesastrongfocusonthedevelopmentofliteracy.

Studentslistentoandenjoytextsthatentertain,informandpersuade,suchaspicturebooks,

non-fictionandfilm.Studentsgrowintomoreindependentreaders,learntocreatearange

ofdifferenttextsandbecomemoreconfidentwhentheycommunicate.

Typically, students will:

listento,read,viewandtalkaboutsimpleinformationbooks,stories,filmsandsomeonlinetexts

independentlyreadbooksanddiscusswhattheyhavereadorviewedwithotherstudents,

teachersorfamilymembers

soundoutorrecognisewords

use simple punctuation, such as capital letters and full stops

writeabouttheirexperiences,tellastoryortalkabouttopicstheyhavecoveredintheclass

spellanumberofcommonwordscorrectly andwriteinsentences

addpicturestowhattheywrite

producetheirtextsusingcomputersorotherdevices

listenandgivetalkstotheclassaboutatopicthey are interested in

developreadablehandwriting.

Mathematics

Mathematics in Years 1 and 2 places a strong focus on the development ofnumeracy.Studentsareintroducedtomathematicalsymbolsandlanguagetocommunicateandexplainmathematicalideas;theyposebasicmathematical questions and develop simple strategies to investigate and solvesimpleproblems.

Typically, students will:

describe number sequences and locate numbers on a number line represent simple fractions using pictures learnaboutAustralianmoney describeanddrawshapesandobjects,anduseunitstomeasurelength learntotellthetimefromananalogueclock,anduseacalendarto

determine the date describe the outcome of a chance event collectandinvestigatedatacollectedfromsimpleproblems.

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Demonstrates

counting

patterns

Creates a short informative

text for a specific purpose.

Years 3–4 Years 5–6 Years 7–8 Years 9–10Foundation Years 1–2

HealthandPhysicalEducationStudentsstarttolearnmoreaboutthemselvesandexploretheirabilities.Throughphysicalplaywithandwithoutequipment,theylearnskillslikeproblem-solvingandpersistence,andbecomemoreconfidentandcooperative.

Typically, students will:

practisewhattodoandhowtogethelpwhentheyfeeluncomfortableorunsafe talkaboutsimilaritiesanddifferencesinfamilies talkaboutactionsthatmaketheclassroomahealthy,safeandactiveplace recognise and practise various emotional responses learnsimplemovementskillsandunderstand

howtheirbodyreactstophysicalactivity learntotaketurns,shareequipmentand

includeothersingamesandactivities.

Humanities and Social SciencesInYears1and2,experimentation,practiceandplayinpersonalandfamiliarsituationsaimtoharnessstudents’curiosityaboutpeople,placesandhowthingswork,tomakesenseoftheirworldanddevelophistoryandgeographyknowledgeandskills.

Typically, students will:

investigatefamilylifenowandinpastgenerations,andhowfamiliesarediverse

investigatenaturalandhuman-madefeaturesofplaces,howtheworldisrepresentedonmaps,andstudents’connectionstootherpartsoftheworld

explorechangesintheirlivesandtheir environment, such as change of seasonsandhowpeoplecelebrate

explorehowtechnologyaffectspeople’slivesathome,work,playandinotherways,nowandinthepast.

ScienceIn Years 1 and 2, students learn to

investigatebyobservingandexploring

theworldaroundthemandbyposingand

answeringquestions.Theylearntoorganise

theirobservations,lookforpatternsand

makepredictionsabouttheirworld.

Typically, students will:

learn about living things and the

environment;lookforpatternsthat

occurinlifecyclesoflivingthings

explorehowtheycanchangeor

combineeverydaymaterials

examinehowlightandsoundare

produced

investigatesimplesystems,including

watersystems,inourenvironmentand

howtheseaffectthewayweusewater.

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Years 3–4 Years 5–6 Years 7–8 Years 9–10Foundation Years 1–2

The Arts

Through various art forms, students,

independentlyoringroups,participate

toexpressandreflecttheirgrowing

understandingoftheworld.Theybeginto

learnartstechnicalskills.

Typically, students will:

inDance,dancealoneandwithothers,

beingawareofthespaceandpeople

around them

inDrama,engageinroleplayandactout

playsbasedonstoriesfromthecommunity

in Music, listen to and create music and

discusshowitmakesthemfeel

in Media Arts, discuss media images of

charactersandsettingsincommunitystories

inVisualArts,exploreavarietyof

materialstocreateanddisplaytheirart

worksforotherstoview.

TechnologiesThroughexploration,designandproblem-solving,studentslearnhowdigitalandothertechnologiesworkandhowtocreatesolutionswithtechnologies.Typically, students will:

in Design and Technologies designandsafelymakeaproduct,for

example,createamusicalinstrumentusingrecycledmaterials

explorehowfoodandclothingareproducedandhowfoodcanbepreparedforhealthyeating

in Digital Technologies representdataaspictures,symbols

and diagrams breakdownaproblemintoparts

andsequencethestepsinfindingasolution,forexample,controllinga toywithdigitaltechnologies.

LanguagesStudentsmayhaveanopportunitytolearnalanguageotherthanEnglish.Typically, when learning the language, students will:

usesimplewordsandphrasestorespondtoinstructionsandparticipateinsharedlearningexperiences

withvisualsupport,readsimplephrasesandsentencesthathavefamiliarvocabulary,andwritesomewordsandsimplesentences.

gaininsightsintootherculturesandwaysofrelatingtotheworld.

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To learn more about the Australian Curriculum, visit the ‘Parents’sectionoftheAustralianCurriculumwebsite.Formoreinformationaboutyourchild,talktoyourschool.