Overview
The Australian Curriculum sets the learning goals for all students as they progress through their school life – wherever they live in Australia and whichever school they attend, and when parents/carers are actively involved in their children’s education, children achieve better results.
The goal for the Australian Curriculum is to develop successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed young people who are ready to take their place in society. To achieve this goal, the Australian Curriculum includes 3 parts:
- 8 learning areas which are sometimes referred to as subjects,
- 7 general capabilities which as sometimes known as the 21st century skills
- 3 cross-curriculum priorities
Here is a short video/animation to show how these three parts of the Australian Curriculum work together.
The Australian Curriculum is used flexibly by schools and teachers who plan the learning for all their students while taking into account each student’s needs.
For more information about your child and their educational progress, talk to your school.
Learn about:
- how the Australian Curriculum is organised, including information about the learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities: Curriculum website tour | V9 Australian Curriculum
- what students learn in each band of schooling (Foundation, Years 1–2, Years 3–4, Years 5–6, Years 7–8 and Years 9–10). See below.
- how schools can use the Australian Curriculum to support diverse students' needs: Student diversity | V9 Australian Curriculum
- when states and territories are implementing the Australian Curriculum Version 9.0: Implementation of the Australian Curriculum | V9 Australian Curriculum
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Parent/carer FAQs
All Australian states and territories have joined with the Australian Government to endorse the Australian Curriculum. States, territories and schools may include additional learning opportunities beyond those provided by the Australian Curriculum. Decisions about the organisation and delivery of the curriculum are made by state and territory curriculum and school authorities.
State and territory curriculum and school authorities, and schools make decisions about how the Australian Curriculum is taught. The curriculum is designed to allow schools to develop teaching programs that meet the educational needs of their students. The best source of information about teaching practices your child will experience is your child’s own school.
In all classrooms, teachers adjust the learning program to meet the needs of a range of students in the group. In multi-age settings, teachers will choose content from the whole curriculum to design learning programs that address each student’s learning needs.
The Australian Curriculum has been designed to meet the learning needs of all students and to provide opportunities for all students to engage with the curriculum. Teachers adjust classroom activities to support students to feel successful in their learning. If you think your child is having difficulty with any aspect of the learning program, you should contact your child’s teacher and arrange to discuss your concerns.
Further information about how the Australian Curriculum supports students with different learning needs can be found at: https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/student-diversity/planning-for-diversity
The Australian Curriculum is designed to provide rigorous, relevant and engaging content for all learners. It includes advice to help teachers use the flexible design of the Australian Curriculum to provide challenging learning experiences for gifted and talented students.
Further information about how the Australian Curriculum supports gifted and talented students can be found at: https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/student-diversity/gifted-and-talented-students
For many students in Australian schools, English is not their first or only language. The Australian Curriculum includes resources and advice for teachers to identify the language needs of these students and ensure they can access the curriculum content while they are developing proficiency in Standard Australian English.
Decisions about homework are made by state and territory curriculum and school authorities and schools. Please contact your child’s school for more information.
The best place to get advice about supporting your child’s particular learning needs is your child’s school. Parents and carers can support their child’s education by familiarising themselves with the Australian Curriculum to gain a general understanding of what their child is learning at each stage of their schooling.
Exploring this website will provide information about the sequence of learning throughout the stages of schooling.
Requirements for homeschooling are set by states and territories. Parents or carers considering homeschooling should contact the education department in their state or territory.
Schools determine the subjects and courses they can offer. Any questions associated with subject choice for individual students should be discussed with the school, who will provide guidance about pathways of study and access to subjects.
State and territory curriculum and school authorities make decisions about the choice of language(s) taught in schools. Contact your child’s school to find out more.
Further information about the Australian Curriculum: Languages can be found at: https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/teacher-resources/understand-this-learning-area/languages
All schools are required to provide parents/carers with a formal progress report twice a year and many invite parents/carers to interviews to discuss student progress.
Students in Years, 3, 5, 7 and 9 will complete NAPLAN assessments. NAPLAN reports compare a student’s progress to the average Australian student in the same year level.
The best source of information about a student’s progress is the child’s teacher. Parents/carers should speak to the teacher about any aspect of their child’s progress.
Teachers use the Australian Curriculum to determine the content that students will learn. State and territory curriculum and school authorities and sometimes individual schools make decisions about how teachers give A–E grades. Contact your child’s school to find out more.
Students in all states and territories across Australia undertake NAPLAN, an assessment of literacy and numeracy, in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.
More information about NAPLAN can be found at: http://www.nap.edu.au/
Each learning area has a glossary that defines the terms relevant to that area. Glossaries for learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities can be accessed via the Downloads page. The Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 website also has an inline glossary where terms with glossary definitions are displayed in blue text. If you hover over the blue text, the definition is displayed in a pop up.
A multimodal text is a text that has a combination of 2 or more communication modes (e.g. print, image and spoken text, as in film or computer presentations).