DECD AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM NEWS – ISSUE 7
JANUARY 2013
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Welcome to the first edition of the Australian Curriculum News for 2013. I hope you enjoyed the
festive season and were able to spend some time relaxing and perhaps doing those things that we
often don’t have time for in our busy work lives.
As I noted in the last newsletter, ACARA expects to have completed the remainder of the F(R)-10
Australian Curriculum by the end of this year. Between now and then there will be numerous
opportunities to participate in consultation about draft curriculum materials. I urge you to provide
your feedback so that the views of South Australian educators are heard at the national level.
This year the DECD Australian Curriculum Advisory Groups will continue to have an important role
in the curriculum development and implementation consultative processes. Now that the Australian
Curriculum for English, Mathematics, Science and History is being implemented in our schools, the
focus of the groups will be more on implementation matters. As such we want to increase the
‘voice’ and participation of practicing teachers in the groups. I encourage you to take up this
opportunity and submit an expression of interest to be involved – details about how to do this are
on the next page.
I wish you well in the year ahead as we continue to focus on improving the quality of teaching and
learning in our schools.
Helen Wildash
Executive Director
Teaching and Learning Services
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ACARA UPDATE
ACARA is working to complete development of the Foundation (Reception) - Year 10 Australian
Curriculum by the end of this year so there will be ongoing opportunities to be involved in
consultation about draft curriculum materials.
Languages
The draft curriculum for Foundation (Reception) - Year 10 Italian and Foundation (Reception) Year 10 Chinese (second language learner, background language learner and first language
learner pathways) was released for public consultation from late December to 12 April 2013.
A draft framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages is likely to
available for public consultation from late March to June 2013.
The draft curricula for the remaining languages (Arabic, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese,
Korean, Modern Greek, Spanish and Vietnamese) are expected to be available for public
consultation mid-2013.
There’s also an Australian Curriculum: Languages information sheet on the ACARA website.
Health and Physical Education
The draft Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education Foundation (Reception) - Year 10
is also available for consultation to 12 April 2013. It is based on the assumption that all young
Australians are entitled to study Health and Physical Education as part of the Australian Curriculum
each year from Foundation to Year 10.
You can watch a video introduction to the draft Health and Physical Education curriculum by the
Lead Writer and access an information sheet.
National Trade Cadetships Initiative – Work Studies
ACARA has released the Australian Curriculum: Work Studies Years 9-10 Draft Shape Paper for
consultation until 24 March 2013. The Work Studies curriculum provides an opportunity for
students to undertake an in-depth vocational learning program. The curriculum will apply the
general capabilities in work related contexts to develop essential work-readiness skills. The Work
Studies Years 9-10 Curriculum will be an optional subject in the Humanities and Social Sciences
learning area and will form part of the National Trade Cadetships curriculum.
Economics and Business
ACARA has released the Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Economics and Business (Years 510) which sets the broad direction for the writing of the Economics and Business curriculum. A
team of writers is working to have a draft of the curriculum available for public consultation midyear.
Students with Disability
The draft Australian Curriculum materials for students with disability were available for consultation
from July to September last year. A detailed summary of stakeholder feedback and actions is now
available in a consultation report. ACARA is in the process of revising the materials in response to
feedback. Publication of the extended Literacy and Numeracy continua and the Student Diversity
advice materials is expected in the next few weeks. Illustrations are being developed to
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demonstrate the process of using the three-dimensional design of the Australian Curriculum to
meet the learning needs of all students with disability. Illustrations will be developed for both
primary and secondary school contexts and will reflect regular, support and specialist school
settings.
Foundation (Reception) - Year 10 Work Samples
Work sample portfolios for English, Mathematics, Science and History, with each portfolio
comprising a collection of student work illustrating evidence of student learning in relation to an
achievement standard, are progressively being made available on the Australian Curriculum
website. At every year level it is planned to have three portfolios to illustrate satisfactory, above
satisfactory and below satisfactory achievement in relation to each achievement standard.
Technologies
The draft Australian Curriculum for Technologies is currently being refined prior to release for
public consultation.
The Arts
The draft Australian Curriculum for The Arts is also being refined in response to the feedback
received from the public consultation held last year.
Reminder
Don’t forget to subscribe to ACARA Update to find out about consultation opportunities as they
become available.
AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM WEBSITE UPDATE
Have you seen the changes to the Australian Curriculum website? Version 4.0 of the Australian
Curriculum was released on 10 December last year. Changes are:
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the inclusion of senior secondary Australian Curriculum (content and achievement
standards) for 14 subjects in English, Mathematics, Science and History
a revised home page to access Foundation (Reception) – Year 10 curriculum and senior
secondary curriculum.
ACARA is working with Education Services Australia (developers of the Australian Curriculum
website) to update the Australian Curriculum App.
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YOU CAN BE INVOLVED IN THE CONSULTATION PROCESS
The DECD Australian Curriculum Advisory Groups have an important role in advising about the
implementation of the Australian Curriculum in government schools as well as providing input to
consultation with ACARA about draft curriculum materials.
The DECD Advisory Groups cover the following:
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learning areas
o English
o Mathematics
o Science
o Humanities and Social Sciences – History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship, Economics and
Business
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o The Arts
o Health and Physical Education
o Technologies – Digital Technologies, Design and Technologies
o National Trade Cadetships – Work Studies
across the curriculum matters
o standards, assessment and reporting
o equity and inclusion
o General capabilities/Cross-curriculum priorities
phases of schooling
o primary years (R-7)
o secondary years (8-12).
Members of the DECD Australian Curriculum Advisory Groups contribute to the provision of
comprehensive advice to the DECD Australian Curriculum Steering Committee. The advice informs
the ongoing development and implementation of the Australian Curriculum, with specific reference
to:
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opportunities and challenges for teachers as the Australian Curriculum is developed and
implemented
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strategies that best support teachers to plan, teach, assess and report using the Australian
Curriculum and the Teaching for Effective Learning (TfEL) Framework using the process of
learning design
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consultation about draft Australian Curriculum materials
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strengthening connections and collaboration across DECD and with key stakeholders.
If you are interested in contributing to this advisory process please complete the expression of
interest proforma or go to the one that is available online on the Teaching and Learning Services’
website.
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IMPLEMENTATION
An overview of expectations for implementation of the R-10 Australian Curriculum is below.
2013
Years R-8
2014
Years R-9
2015
Years R-10
This means planning, teaching, assessing and reporting using
the Australian Curriculum for English, Mathematics, Science
and History.
Circulars from the DECD Chief Executive about these expectations can be found at
www.decd.sa.gov.au/teachingandlearning select circulars and newsletters.
By the end of 2013 ACARA expects to have completed developing the F(R) – Year 10 Australian
Curriculum. As learning areas are endorsed by the Education Ministers, further information will be
provided about additional familiarisation and implementation plans.
RESOURCES
Are you looking for digital resources aligned to the Australian Curriculum? Scootle gives you
access to thousands of resources including teaching ideas and units of work. There are interactive
assessment resources as well as museum artefacts, artworks, archival documents, photographs,
maps, posters, songs, speeches and archival and contemporary images. If you’re not a member of
Scootle already, contact your school’s or education unit’s Scootle manager and request the
registration URL and access key, to self-register.
Tips for searching Scootle
Searching in Scootle can be done in a number of ways.
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Find by Australian Curriculum
Find on Map
Find on timeline
A-Z (Choose a letter to browse alphabetically)
Learning Paths - allows you to integrate selected items of digital curriculum content with
learning tasks for students.
The search box and advanced search link is available at the top of every page in Scootle. With it,
you can search the full repository of digital curriculum resources. Searched fields include the title,
description, topic, keyword and catalogue entry ID fields.
You can search using:
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a single keyword
multiple keywords separated by spaces
Boolean operators OR, AND, NOT
an exact phrase inside double quotation marks.
The full Scootle user guide is available on the Scootle website.
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