ACT Curriculum Taskforce Newsletter for ACT Schools
Newsletter 14 – Term 1 2014
The Australian Curriculum is a high quality curriculum that describes what all young
Australians should learn as they progress through schooling. It is world class curriculum
based on the goals of the Melbourne Declaration 2008.
These are:
Goal 1:
Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence.
Goal 2:
All young Australians become successful learners, confident and
creative individuals and active and informed citizens.
The Melbourne Declaration emphasises the importance of knowledge, understanding and skills
from each learning area, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities as the basis for a
curriculum designed to support 21st-century learning. The Australian Curriculum is formed by
these three dimensions, and it is the relationship between these dimensions that provides
flexibility for schools and teachers to ‘promote personalised learning that aims to fulfil the
diverse capabilities of each young Australian’ (MCEETYA, 2008, p. 7).
Australian Curriculum: Student Diversity
The Australian Curriculum is designed to address the individual learning needs of every student.
Its three-dimensional design (learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curriculum
priorities) provides teachers with flexibility to cater for student diversity by making adjustments
to the learning program.
A Personalised Learning Flowchart is provided on the following page. The Flowchart outlines
the process for using the three-dimensional design of the Australian Curriculum to meet the
needs of all students.
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Personalised Learning Flowchart
Using the Australian Curriculum to Meet the Learning Needs of all Students
Teachers refer to the Australian Curriculum learning area content that aligns
with their students’ chronological age as the starting point in planning teaching
and learning programs.
Teachers take account of the range of their students’ current levels of learning,
strengths, goals and interests, and personalise learning where necessary
through adjustments to the teaching and learning program, according to
individual learning need, by:
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drawing from learning area content at different levels along the
Foundation to Year 10 sequence to personalise age-equivalent learning
area content
using the general capabilities and/or cross-curriculum priorities to adjust
the learning focus of the age-equivalent learning area content
aligning individual learning goals with age-equivalent learning area
content
Teachers assess students’ progress through the Australian Curriculum in
relation to Achievement Standards. Some students’ progress will be assessed
in relation to their individual learning goals. Approaches to assessment and
reporting will differ across the States and Territories.
Source: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/StudentDiversity/Meeting-diverse-learningneeds#flowchart
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The Australian Curriculum Website: Personalised Learning
The Personalised Learning Flowchart and other key resources to support the learning needs of
all students can be found under the Student Diversity tab on the Australian Curriculum website.
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/StudentDiversity/Student-diversity-advice
The advice and resources equip teachers with the necessary information to make curriculum
adjustments and personalise learning for students with disability, gifted and talented students
and students for whom English is an additional language or dialect. These adjustments support
every student’s entitlement to rigorous, relevant and engaging learning experiences across all
areas of the curriculum.
Students with Disability
Schools and teachers have a responsibility to ensure that students with disability are able to
participate in the Australian Curriculum on the same basis as their peers through the provision
of rigorous, meaningful and dignified learning programs.
Students with disability are entitled to:
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the same opportunities and choices in their education that are available to students
without disability
rigorous, relevant and engaging learning opportunities based on the Australian
Curriculum and set in age-equivalent learning contexts
equitable opportunities and choices to access age-equivalent content from all learning
areas of the Australian Curriculum
learning programs based on their individual learning needs, strengths, goals and
interests.
Principals and schools can meet their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992
and Disability Standards for Education 2005 by making adjustments to the learning program to
ensure that students with disability have the opportunity to participate in schooling on the
same basis as students without disability.
Gifted and Talented Students
‘Giftedness’ refers to a student’s outstanding natural abilities or aptitudes in one or more of the
following domains: intellectual, creative, social, perceptual or physical. ‘Talent’ is the
outstanding performance or competency in one or more fields of human activity.
Gifted and talented students are entitled to rigorous, relevant and engaging learning
opportunities drawn from the Australian Curriculum and aligned with their individual learning
needs, strengths, interests and goals.
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To meet gifted and talented students’ individual needs, adjustments to the learning program
may include some or all of the following elements:
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faster pace (acceleration)
greater breadth (enrichment)
more depth (extension).
Each of these three elements can be given different emphasis to make the necessary curriculum
adjustments. Decisions on the balance of these adjustments should reflect the particular needs
of each learner.
Students for whom English is an Additional Language or Dialect
Students for whom English is an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) are students whose first
language is a language other than English and who require additional support to assist them to
develop English language proficiency.
EAL/D students require specific support to build the English language skills required for
effective communication and access to the Australian Curriculum.
ACARA has developed the English as an Additional Language or Dialect Teacher Resource to
support teachers to develop personalised teaching and learning programs for EAL/D students.
This resource has been developed to assist classroom teachers to identify where their EAL/D
students are broadly positioned on a progression of English language learning and to provide
examples of supportive teaching strategies.
Did you know....
ACARA is seeking feedback on a new version of the Australian Curriculum website
until the end of June 2014? The new website includes Illustrations of Personalised
Learning under the Student Diversity tab.
Visit http://beta.australiancurriculum.edu.au/StudentDiversity/Illustrations-ofpersonalised-learning
The ACT Curriculum Taskforce was convened to support cross-sectoral implementation of the
Australian Curriculum in the ACT. The work of the ACT Curriculum Taskforce is supported by
the Australian Curriculum Implementation Committee.
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