April 2020
Learning from home: resources for parents and carers
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a large number of Australian students learning from home, with many parents/carers keen for resources to support them in this.
ACARA has compiled a range of resources and links to help parents/carers at this unique time, with information on various resources available, including an overview of how Australian Curriculum is organised, explaining how the learning areas (subjects), general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities work together to form the Australian Curriculum, and quick guides on what your child will learn at each stage of their schooling.
Visit the 'Resources for parents and carers' page of our website.
Parents teaching from home amid COVID-19 face steep learning curve
Opinion piece by ACARA CEO, David de Carvalho
Across the world, as COVID-19 takes hold, authorities face difficult choices where they have to weigh which options are the least bad. Probably the most high-profile issue of this kind in Australia is school closures.
Whether schools close, or stay open, or are ‘pupil-free’, many parents of school-age children are now dealing with a new reality, trying to keep their children engaged in learning while not having the professional skills that trained teachers bring to that complex and vitally important task.
Read the full article
National Report on Schooling data portal updated
Information updated on ACARA’s National Report on Schooling data portal includes the latest available data for:
- key performance measures for schooling
- school numbers, student numbers and staff numbers
- student–teacher ratios
- student enrolment and retention rates
- school funding school
- students with disability
- NAP Sample – Science Literacy
- teacher education.
The charts and tables enable the user to filter the data by state, school sector, school level, type, and indigeneity and other measures where appropriate. See the National Report on Schooling data portal on the ACARA website.
The 'Data access' page of the ACARA website has also been updated with 2019 school profile data.
The National Report on Schooling in Australia data portal, updated today, is a data repository. The annual National Report on Schooling in Australia document provides an overview, summary and relevant commentary, and will be released at a later date.
New resources on the AC website
ACARA continues to publish resources on the Australian Curriculum website. Recently, we published work sample portfolios for Arabic and Science, and the first illustration of practice for the Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages.
The work sample portfolios for Arabic provide teachers with a range of samples that are at satisfactory level and support teachers to make on-balance judgement about student learning over time, in relation to the achievement standard.
‘I’m learning my language, on my land, and it makes me feel happy.’ The illustration of practice for the Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages demonstrates the whole school and community approach to the Adnyamathanha language, and culture teaching and learning, with students from the Leigh Creek Area School learning and engaging with the Adnyamathanha language and culture in the classroom and on Country. The illustration includes a range of resources and demonstrates different contexts for, and flexible ways of, using the framework.
New examples of student work in Science are now available for Years 7–10. The sample portfolios cover a wide range of science topics and task types, showcasing student achievement both at satisfactory and above satisfactory level. The portfolios support teachers to make on-balance judgements about student learning over time, in relation to the achievement standard.
Recognising and remembering: Anzac Day in the Australian Curriculum
by ACARA CEO, David de Carvalho
On 25 April we reflected on the bravery and sacrifice of the many Australians who have served in wartime.
Over the past century, the events and memories of Gallipoli and of all battlefields on which Australians have fought and served have become a defining part of our identity. They have shaped our values and helped us to reflect upon what it means to be Australian.
A key role of education is to support young people to become active and informed members of the community. The Australian Curriculum supports this goal by enabling understanding among Australian students of our shared history, our culture and our national values of democracy, community and justice.
The significance of Anzac Day is included in the Australian Curriculum and forms a part of learning for all young Australians.
Through the Australian Curriculum, students learn to understand our system of government, our culture and our history, including our country’s experiences in wartime, and the causes and impacts of war (on the battlefield and on the home front) across a number of subjects, including Civics and Citizenship, and Humanities and Social Sciences.
In Civics and Citizenship, students can investigate representations of Australian identity and how our commitment to democracy, community and justice is evident in national day events such as Anzac Day. In Humanities and Social Sciences in the primary school years, students explore Australia’s past and its links to contemporary society, including the role and importance of commemorations such as Anzac Day.
In Years 7–10, students studying history can investigate a range of topics from ancient and early modern Europe and Asia, with a particular focus on Australia’s place in the world, including in-depth studies examining the significance of World War I and World War II.
Anzac Day this year gives Australians of all ages a particular reason to pause, remember and honour all of those members of our community who have enlisted in wars in order to protect our shared values and freedoms.
School league tabling by media: a misuse of NAPLAN data
ACARA is very disappointed at the publication by a major news organisation today of crude league tables that rank schools using average NAPLAN scores.
The publication of these tables is in contravention to the terms of use of the My School website.
Read ACARA media release (PDF 63 kb).
