ACARA Curriculum

Curriculum for excellence

Let's Know about Curriculum in brief

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)

ACARA has developed the Australian Curriculum that provides teachers, parents, students, and the community with a clear understanding of what students should learn, regardless of where in Australia they live or which school they attend.
ACARA widely consulted with the best national talent and expertise and the national curriculum was introduced to improve the quality, equity, and transparency of Australia’s education system.

The three dimensions Structure of the Australian Curriculum

Disciplinary knowledge is found in the eight learning areas of the Australian Curriculum: English, Mathematics, Science, Health and Physical Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, The Arts, Technologies and Languages. The latter four learning areas have been written to include multiple subjects, reflecting custom and practice in the discipline. In each learning area or subject, content descriptions specify what young people will learn; and achievement standards describe the depth of understanding and the sophistication of knowledge and skill expected of students at the end of each year level or band of years in their schooling.

Alongside disciplinary knowledge, the Australian Curriculum provides seven general capabilities: Literacy; Numeracy; Information and Communication Technology Capability; Critical and Creative Thinking; Personal and Social Capability; Ethical Understanding; and Intercultural Understanding. The general capabilities comprise an integrated and interconnected set of knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that apply across subject-based content and equip students to be lifelong learners and be able to operate with confidence in a complex, information-rich, globalised world. In the Australian Curriculum, the general capabilities are developed and applied, where relevant, through the learning areas. An icon-tagging system is used to show where this can be done. General capabilities are also identified where they offer opportunities to add depth and richness to student learning via optional content elaborations. Learning continua have been developed for each capability to describe the relevant knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions at particular points of schooling.

The Australian Curriculum also includes three current cross-curriculum priorities that are to be developed, where relevant, through the learning areas. These are: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures; Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia; and Sustainability. The priorities are not separate subjects in themselves; they are addressed through learning area content, where appropriate, and identified by icons. A set of organising ideas that reflect the essential knowledge, understanding and skills has been developed for each cross-curriculum priority.

The key elements of the Curriculum learning areas

Achievement Standards

Achievement standards for each learning area or subject describe the learning expected of students at each year level or band of years. Each achievement standard is described in two paragraphs. Typically, the first paragraph describes what students are expected to understand, and the second paragraph describes what students are expected to be able to do having been taught the curriculum content. The set of achievement standards for each learning area or subject describe a broad sequence of expected learning.

The achievement standard for each year level or band should be read as a whole (that is, the ‘understanding’ and ‘skills’ paragraphs are read together) and in the context of what is to be taught (content descriptions) for that year or band. The achievement standards provide a clear description of student learning and are, therefore, a useful starting point or driver for the development of teaching and learning programs. The achievement standard also allows teachers to monitor student learning and to make judgements about student progress and achievement. For each learning area or subject, the achievement standards are accompanied by portfolios of annotated work samples that illustrate the expected learning for each year level or band.

In addition to the subject-specific achievement standards, new learning area achievement standards have been provided for Humanities and Social Sciences, The Arts and Technologies. The default view for Technologies and The Arts is the subject-specific achievement standard; to view the learning area achievement standard select the link at the end of the achievement standard. The default view for Humanities and Social Sciences is the learning area achievement standard; to view the subject-specific achievement standard select the link at the end of the achievement standard. State and territory school and curriculum authorities determine the reporting requirements for their schools and should be consulted about whether learning area or subject-specific achievement standards are to be used for reporting.

A sense of direction

In Year 6 the ACARA supports the Deepening of Knowledge

Lifelong Learning

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 specialize in the learning of particular interest. The curriculum is designed to equip students for senior secondary schooling, including vocational pathways. As well as 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 behaviors and protocols.
For more information about ACARA
please visit https://www.acara.edu.au/home