Learning areas: are the way the essential knowledge, understanding and skills that students should learn are structured in the Australian Curriculum. The learning areas of English, Mathematics, Science, and Health and Physical Education comprise a single subject. The learning areas of Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS), The Arts, Technologies and Languages each comprise multiple subjects.
General capabilities: are taught through the content of the learning areas; they are not separate subjects or isolated skills. There are 7 general capabilities: Literacy, Numeracy, Critical and Creative Thinking, Digital Literacy, Personal and Social capability, Ethical Understanding and Intercultural Understanding.
Cross-curriculum priorities: are included through learning area content; they are not separate learning areas or subjects. They enrich the content of the learning areas. The 3 cross-curriculum priorities are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, and Sustainability.
Achievement standards: describe what students are typically able to understand and do. They describe the learning (understanding and skills) expected of students at each year level from F–10.
Content descriptions: specify the knowledge, understanding and skills that young people are expected to learn and that teachers are expected to teach across the years of schooling.
Content elaborations: provide teachers with suggestions of ways to teach the content descriptions. They are optional, so they may not be used with your child.
For more information on the structure of the Australian Curriculum: F-10 Curriculum overview | V9 Australian Curriculum