Curriculum

The Western Australian Curriculum encompasses the Australian Curriculum, setting out the knowledge, understandings, skills, values and attitudes that students are expected to acquire. The curriculum has a twenty-first century focus which includes three cross-curriculum priorities and seven general capabilities.

The Western Australian Curriculum comprises:

• The Early Years Learning Framework
• Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines
• Pre-primary to Year 10 Curriculum
• Alternative Curriculum Recognition.

Given the phased development of the Australian Curriculum, schools will be teaching some learning areas from the Australian Curriculum supplemented by learning areas described in the former Western Australian Curriculum Framework. As the Australian Curriculum is developed, it will gradually replace the Curriculum Framework in Western Australia.

In Western Australia the Pre-primary to Year 10 Phase 2 and Phase 3 Australian Curriculum which includes Geography, Civics and Citizenship, Business and Economics, the Arts, Health and Physical Education, Technologies and Languages will only be implemented once the curriculum is in a form that is suitable for Western Australian schools and the achievement standards, work samples and judging standards support materials are fully developed. These resources are required to support teachers to effectively implement this curriculum in all schools in Western Australia.

Australian Curriculum

The Australian Curriculum sets out the core knowledge, understandings, skills and general capabilities important for all Australian students.

Teachers across Australia are implementing the Australian Curriculum. Western Australia is currently implementing the first phase of the Australian Curriculum which includes English, mathematics, science and history.

There are three key design features of the Australian Curriculum:

• Learning area content descriptions and achievement standards.
• General capabilities.
• Cross-curriculum priorities.

General Capabilities

• Literacy
• Numeracy
• ICT
• Critical and creative thinking
• Personal and social competence
• Intercultural understanding
• Ethical behaviour

Cross-curriculum priorities

• Literacy
• Numeracy
• ICT
• Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
• Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia
• Sustainability

The Australian Curriculum is from Foundation (Pre-primary) to Year 12 and will be developed in three phases

• Phase One – English, mathematics, the sciences and history
• Phase Two – languages, geography and the Arts
• Phase Three – health and physical education, technologies and the ‘remainder of the humanities’ (economics, business education, civics and citizenship www.australiancurriculum.edu.au

Reporting Achievement Standards

All teachers from Pre Primary (Foundation) to Year 6 follow the Australian Curriculum in the four areas of English, Mathematics, Science and History. Year 1-6 teachers report against the Australian Curriculum Achievement Standards. Achievement standards are comprised of a written description and student work samples. The achievement standard describes the expected achievement for students who have been taught the curriculum content for the full year of schooling.

In semester reports, teachers make a professional judgment regarding the level of achievement that the student is demonstrating relative to the achievement standard, taking into account the curriculum that has been taught and assessed to that point in time. Achievement is judged using an A-E scale with students who demonstrate excellent achievement allocated an A grade and students demonstrating very low achievement allocated an E Grade.

If you have any questions in relation to the Achievement Standards please see your child’s classroom teacher.