It is parents, families and carers who have the most influence on their children. When families are actively involved in their children’s education, children usually enjoy school and achieve better results.
This section of the website provides information for families and carers about their children and the Australian Curriculum.
The Australian Curriculum sets the goal for what all students should learn as they progress through their school life – wherever they live in Australia and whichever school they attend.
Download The Australian Curriculum: an overview for parents to learn about how the Australian Curriculum is organised, including information about the learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities. There is also information about how schools can use the Australian Curriculum to support students' needs and interests, and links to further information.
Students bring to school a wide range of experiences, abilities, needs and interests. They have a natural curiosity about their world. Their desire to make sense of the world provides a platform to plan and review their learning through interactions with others, experimentation, scaffolding, explicit teaching, practice and play in the classroom and beyond.
The Australian Curriculum builds on the key learning outcomes of the national Early Years Learning Framework.
In Foundation – Year 2, priority in the Australian Curriculum is given to literacy and numeracy development because these are the foundations on which further learning is built. The foundation for the Literacy general capability is built primarily in English; and the foundation for the Numeracy general capability is built primarily in Mathematics. However, both Literacy and Numeracy capabilities are reinforced and strengthened through learning in all areas of the curriculum.
The Foundation – Year 2 English curriculum engages students with listening, reading, viewing, speaking and writing activities for various purposes and contexts. It supports students to create and enjoy a range of literature. It presents explicit strategies for beginning reading and writing, spelling and expanding students’ vocabulary. The English curriculum expands students’ understanding of the conventions of spoken and written language use at home, at school, socially and in other contexts to promote skills and interest in language and its use and importance.
The Foundation – Year 2 Mathematics curriculum develops a sense of number, order, sequence, pattern and position, using the students’ environment. It introduces mathematical symbols and language to communicate and explain mathematical ideas; it presents simple strategies to pose basic mathematical questions and to investigate and solve simple, concrete problems.
The development of movement skills, and social and emotional skills through physical play, and the development of knowledge and skills to help keep students safe, healthy and active are provided for in the Health and Physical Education curriculum. Purposeful exploration in personal and familiar contexts provides an opportunity for students to harness their curiosity about people, places and how their world works, as they develop skills in inquiry and investigation in Science, and Humanities and Social Sciences.
In these early years, the development of sensory, cognitive and affective appreciation of the world is provided through exploratory, analytical and creative practices in The Arts and Technologies curricula, and through the opportunity to learn a language using the Languages curricula.
Resources and support materials for the Australian Curriculum across Foundation – Year 2 are available as PDF documents.
Content for Foundation - Learning area content descriptions
Achievement Standards: Foundation
Content for Year 1 - Learning area content descriptions
The Australian Curriculum across Years 3–6 assists students to develop their ability to take positive action for well-being; relate and communicate well with others; pose questions and solve problems; make informed decisions and act responsibly. It engages students more purposefully with the discipline knowledge, understanding and skills of the eight learning areas of the Australian Curriculum.
Literacy and numeracy are again prioritised across these years of schooling. The curriculum further builds the essential knowledge and skills in literacy, consolidating ‘learning to read and write’ through English, as well as increasingly using literacy skills for ‘reading and writing to learn’ in other learning areas. Similarly, the curriculum continues to progress the development of specific mathematical skills and knowledge, and uses these skills in learning across the curriculum to both enrich the study of other learning areas and contribute to the development of broader and deeper numeracy skills. The development of Information and Communication Technology Capability is more apparent across the curriculum at this level.
The English curriculum provides opportunities to develop further understanding of grammar and language, and the skills to articulate this knowledge. More complex punctuation, clause and sentence structures, textual purposes and patterns are introduced, as are skills for classifying word, sentence and text structure and the metalanguage to communicate these ideas. Students engage with different forms (narrative, prose, plays and film) and purposes of written and spoken language to develop their skills for text creation.
The Mathematics curriculum extends key understandings of number, patterns and relationships, measurement and geometry, and statistics. The introduction of fractions and decimals is important; it represents a key challenge for students at this stage. While relevant mathematics and active and concrete experiences remain important, there is an increasing use of models, pictures and symbols to represent and communicate mathematical ideas.
The Science curriculum focuses on recognising questions of interest that can be investigated scientifically and investigating them in an increasingly systematic way. Skills and techniques to conduct a fair test using variables, accurate measurement and the idea of cause and effect, and evidence and explanation are highlighted.
The Humanities and Social Sciences curriculum continues to draw on students’ growing experience of community and the wider world to develop their understanding of the world, its systems, and students’ relationship to other people, places and systems, past and present. Methodical investigation using observations and concrete information sources offers opportunities to develop skills of inferring, prediction, reflection and generalisation, which enhance conceptual development.
An increasing range of movement activities, including more specialised movement skills, structured games, fitness and challenge and adventure activities, is introduced in the Health and Physical Education curriculum. Critical and creative thinking is encouraged in both movement and health by questioning contextual factors. The focus of social and emotional skill development broadens to working effectively with others, understanding and valuing diversity, challenging stereotypes, managing change and negotiating roles and responsibilities.
The Arts curriculum in these years introduces description and interpretation of art works across dance, drama, media arts, music and visual arts. It introduces and develops knowledge and use of subject-specific skills and techniques, and uses these in the production of artworks, including performance. The Arts in the primary years encourages engagement with local artworks and those from around Australia and from further afield.
The Technologies curriculum, in Years 3–6 Design and Technologies, introduces a systematic approach for students to design, produce and evaluate a range of designed solutions in at least three technologies contexts, considering sustainability and future use. In Digital Technologies, there is a focus on knowledge and understanding of data, digital systems and their interactions; and computational thinking skills and their application to design and implementation of digital solutions.
The Languages curricula enable the continued study of additional languages throughout primary school. In Years 3–6, the curricula build on earlier stages of oracy and literacy development. Students begin to translate and interpret familiar and unfamiliar texts, to analyse how a language works and to understand the dynamic relationship that exists between communication, culture and context.
Resources and support materials for the Australian Curriculum across Years 3–6 are available as PDF documents.
Content for Year 3 - Learning area content descriptions
Content for Year 4 - Learning area content descriptions
Content for Year 5 - Learning area content descriptions
In Years 7–10 the Australian Curriculum supports the deepening of knowledge, understanding and skills in all eight learning areas. The curriculum continues to prepare students for civic, social and economic participation and personal health and well-being whilst providing increased opportunities for students to make choices and specialise in learning of particular interest. The curriculum is designed to equip students for senior secondary schooling, including vocational pathways.
In English the curriculum continues to provide opportunities to practise, consolidate and extend the knowledge, skills and understanding of previous years. It provides for further development of knowledge of how language works and increasingly sophisticated analysis and construction of different text types, including multimodal texts, in various genres and modes. Students learn how literature can be discussed in relation to themes, ideas, and historical and cultural contexts. Students critically analyse and evaluate texts to develop understanding of purpose and audience and how language techniques are used to position the audience.
The Mathematics curriculum draws on previously established mathematical ideas to solve non-routine problems and develop more complex and abstract ideas. It makes connections between mathematical concepts and their application in the world. It lays the foundations for future studies, including introducing all students to the benefits of algebra and applications of geometry. The curriculum allows for more mathematically able Year 10 students to be extended with more content to enrich their mathematical study.
The Science curriculum continues to develop understanding of important science concepts across the major science disciplines. It focuses on explaining phenomena involving science and its applications using evidence and explanation to move to more abstract models and theories of science including the nature and conservation of energy. It uses the ideas of patterns and systems to move to the complex ideas of form and function, equilibrium and interdependence in the physical and natural world.
The subjects of History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship and Economics and Business in the Humanities and Social Sciences learning area also provide for deeper engagement with abstract thought; students are encouraged to question established conventions, practices and values and consider possible outcomes and consequences of actions using logic. Exploration of social and environmental issues widens to local, national, regional and global contexts and a focus on investigative methods promotes the making and systematic testing of simple hypotheses about phenomena, issues and challenges. As they reflect on their own and others’ actions, values and attitudes, students develop and apply ethical thinking skills to real and proposed decisions and actions.
In Health and Physical Education practical learning experiences broaden to encourage life-long involvement in physical activity. Skills are developed for critical and creative appraisal, analysis and refinement of students’ own and others’ movement performance. Social, cultural and political factors that influence health, safety, wellbeing and physical activity participation are questioned and critically analysed to make informed judgements and ethical decisions. Strategies to positively manage change and respectful relationships, leadership and collaboration skills are developed and critically evaluated.
In Technologies the Design and Technologies curriculum develops the knowledge, skills and understanding to design, produce and evaluate a range of designed solutions in four technologies contexts using innovative ideas and project management skills, and considering how these solutions contribute to preferred futures. In Digital Technologies, digital systems and data are considered in terms of networking, human interaction, security and data integrity. It provides opportunities to analyse complex problems and design, implement and evaluate a range of digital solutions taking into consideration ethics, legal issues and sustainability factors.
Through The Arts curriculum students pursue questions regarding intended meaning, audience understanding, cultural context and the beliefs and values reflected in artworks. There is opportunity to engage with artists’ influence on society, the effect of technology on presentation and audience engagement with artwork.
The Languages curricula in Years 7–10 provide opportunities for ongoing additional language study for those students who commenced in primary school as well as the opportunity to commence the study of an additional language.
The optional Years 9–10 Work Studies curriculum, develops knowledge of the world of work and the importance of lifelong learning, capacities to manage careers, change and transitions in an uncertain and changing future. Literacy, Numeracy, ICT and interpersonal and communication skills are developed and applied to work and other diverse contexts, using appropriate behaviours and protocols.
Resources and support materials for the Australian Curriculum across Years 7–10 are available as PDF documents.
Content for Year 7 - Learning area content descriptions
Content for Year 8 - Learning area content descriptions
Content for Year 9 - Learning area content descriptions