Introducing the new Australian Curriculum

Throughout Australia, students in the compulsory years of school (Reception to Year 10) will be following a new national curriculum developed by the Federal Government in association with teachers.

Endeavour College at Mawson Lakes has introduced the Australian Curriculum this year. Principal Heather Vogt said it offers advantages to both families and schools.

“A national standard for education will give families greater freedom to move interstate without interruption to their child’s learning. It will also establish a standard set of knowledge and skills in students moving from primary to secondary school. This will make it much easier for teachers to fill any education gaps in a student’s learning at the beginning of Year 8.”

Ms Vogt explained that in its initial stage, the new secondary curriculum sets a structure for what is to be taught in 4 core subjects - English, Maths, Science and History, from Year 8 to Year 10.

She said this does not mean that every school must read the same novel, use the same texts or go on the same excursions. Rather, the document defines topics for study and the skills that students should have developed by a certain grade.

These skills are called ‘general capabilities’ and they include measurable achievements in literacy, numeracy, computer technology, cultural understanding and critical and creative thinking.

“Under the new guidelines, teachers retain flexibility to pursue their preferred methods of teaching, arrange local excursions and use favourite and relevant texts,” said Ms Vogt.

Some changes that will occur at Endeavour College, prompted by the new curriculum, are a greater engagement with the local community through association with local organisations such as Helping Hand,

Environment Watch and Technology Park.

“These associations provide scope for student service to the community, and at the same time, provide cross curriculum learning which is recommended in the national curriculum. For example, students who visit Helping Hand can learn from older residents about life in the past (History), the changing value of money (Maths) and the language of an older generation (English),” said Ms Vogt.

Another new focus of the national curriculum relates to cultural understanding with an emphasis on the way Asian and Aboriginal people see the world, so Ms Vogt said the school is considering introducing an Asian language, in addition to German.

In the second phase of development of the national curriculum, the government will prescribe a standard for languages, geography and the arts.

Future phases will consider learning areas of health and physical education, information and communication technology, design and technology, economics, business, and civics and citizenship. Ed.