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
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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.
