Release of the draft senior secondary Australian Curriculum
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) released the draft senior secondary Australian Curriculum for English, mathematics, science and history (at www.australiancurriculum.edu.au) for public consultation from 14 May through to 30 July 2010.
Specific curriculum content has been developed for 14 courses for these first phase learning areas, which have been designed to provide all young Australians with options that will help prepare them for any post school pathway they choose. The fourteen courses are outlined in the table below:
| Course | |
| English | Essential English English as an Additional Language English Literature |
| Mathematics | Essential Mathematics General Mathematics Mathematical Methods Specialist Mathematics |
| Science | Physics Chemistry Biology Earth Environmental Science |
| History | Ancient History Modern History |
The focus for consultation through to the end of July is on the draft curriculum content, with the opportunity for people to provide feedback on the course structure, draft content and alignment with the proposed K-10 curriculum content.
Once achievement standards have been developed, in early 2011, the curriculum content and achievement standards will be subject to further national consultation. This will provide an opportunity for fine-tuning the curriculum content in the light of the proposed achievement standards. The achievement standards will be available to accompany the curriculum content for implementation.
ACARA will work with an independent research company to collect and analyse the senior secondary consultation data. The analysed data will be used to refine the draft senior secondary curriculum before a final version is published digitally in late 2010.
Maxine McKew, Julia Gillard and Barry Mc Gaw with students from Holy Cross College at the launch of draft senior secondary Australian Curriculum
Further information about the draft senior secondary Australian Curriculum (including notes on development process and implementation) along with a summary of the fourteen courses for each of the learning areas, can be accessed here.
ACARA welcomes and encourages the involvement of all stakeholders in the consultation process. Whether you are a teacher, parent or student, there are opportunities to provide feedback on the draft senior secondary Australian Curriculum. You can rate and comment on each draft course online, complete an online survey for each course and provide more detailed written feedback via email.
Please take the opportunity to review the draft curriculum and provide feedback on Australia’s first national curriculum.
Australian Curriculum Phase 2
The development of the Australian Curriculum for phase 2 learning areas of geography, languages and the arts are currently in progress. Draft timelines for the development of the geography and arts national curriculum can be viewed on the ACARA website.