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Parent/carer information

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:

Support information

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

Want more information about learning areas?

 

Want to know more about the Australian Curriculum?

 

Want to know about the Australian Curriculum in your state or territory?

 

Australian Capital Territory

 

New South Wales

 

Northern Territory

 

Queensland

 

South Australia

 

Tasmania

 

Victoria

 

Western Australia

 

Australian Government - Resources for students with disability

 

Getting started: Getting started - Department of Education, Australian Government

 

Advocating for your child: Advocating for your child: the early years - Department of Education, Australian Government

 

Workbook – advocating for your child: Advocating with and for your child: A workbook for parents and carers - Department of Education, Australian Government

 

Milestones and transitions: Milestones and transitions - Department of Education, Australian Government

 

Explaining the disability standards for education: Explaining the Disability Standards for Education - Department of Education, Australian Government

Australian Curriculum V 9.0 website FAQs: Help | V9 Australian Curriculum

 

Parent FAQs

 

Australian Curriculum

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.

Student diversity

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.

At home

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.

Subject advice

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

Student progress

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.

Assessment

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/

Terminology

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).