July 2019
Helping teachers prepare young people for the future
At Hillman Primary School in Western Australia, students as young as five are already thinking about who they might be when they leave school.
The primary school, located south of Perth, has taken a holistic approach to careers education: from involving local businesses in careers days, to setting up a play-based learning ‘street’ in the school featuring types of community businesses students could work in.
Principal Aaron Young said the school embraces career-related learning and connects students’ educational experiences to the community.
“[While] there’s no need for our students to pick a career right now… at least it gives [them] an idea of what’s available,” he said.
Hillman Primary School is one of nine schools featured in a series of resources that ACARA has released today.
ACARA worked with schools in metropolitan, rural, regional and remote areas around Australia to develop illustrations of practice for teachers (videos and supporting resources showcasing an authentic classroom experience).
Using evidence-based research, the illustrations of practice support teachers in delivering career education to Australian students and focus on the transferable skills that students need in order to develop and branch their career pathways.
“We know that the future of work for our young people will be markedly different from what we know today,” ACARA CEO David de Carvalho said. “The skills, attributes and knowledge that our students need in order to develop and forge their own career paths are skills such as critical and creative thinking, ethical and intercultural understanding, ICT skills and of course, literacy and numeracy skills.
“In the Australian Curriculum, we call these types of skills and attributes ‘general capabilities’.”
“The general capabilities are part of what we do,” Mr Young said. “Part of our career week was to give our students an idea of what it is to succeed, to bounce back and be resilient, to look at opportunities and make the most of them.”
The Australian Curriculum general capabilities form the basis of the illustrations of practice released today. These resources were developed in consultation with the business industry, professional associations and parent groups.
Mr Young said career education at Hillman Primary School has been a success.
“Hopefully we can ignite some passion in our students and raise their aspirations for the future.”
The new illustrations of practice can be viewed on the Australian Curriculum website.
NAPLAN reporting review
The Council of Australian Governments Education Council (comprising all education ministers in Australia) has released the NAPLAN Reporting Review (PDF 2.2 mb), prepared by Professor William Louden.
As noted in the Communique of 28 June 2019 (PDF 140 kb), the Education Council requested that ACARA and jurisdictions develop options to respond to a number of recommendations within the report, for subsequent decision by the Education Council in September 2019.
ACARA is in the process of developing information and options for the Education Council to consider, working with jurisdictions, sectors and stakeholder peak bodies.
ACARA adds to maths conference 
A number of ACARA staff recently attended the 2019 Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT) Biennial Conference in Brisbane.
Our CEO, David de Carvalho, was invited to speak at the opening of the conference. He spoke about the importance of mathematics teaching and learning, and shared his experience of his own mathematics teacher, whose passion for the subject impacted positively on students' engagement.
The AAMT Conference attracts more than 500 national and international participants including teachers, education researchers and representatives from government, industry and the community.The theme for the conference was ‘Why maths? Inspiration beyond the classroom’.
Read a new edition of Parent Update
Read the July edition of Parent Update, ACARA's e-newsletter that brings national education news about NAPLAN, My School and the Australian Curriculum to parents.
ACARA CEO's vlog: Fanning the flames of wonder
In his latest vlog post, David de Carvalho, our CEO, reflects on the second word in our organisation’s name – ‘curriculum’.
