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.