1. Victorian Curriculum F–10 Familiarisation
Sharon Foster
Victorian Curriculum F–10, Manager

2. Curriculum
is the statement of the purpose of schooling defines what it is that all students have the opportunity to learn
is represented as a continuum or set of progressions defining increasingly complex knowledge, skills and concepts
the school develops the teaching and learning program - how the curriculum is delivered

3. Curriculum matters
A guaranteed and viable curriculum is the school level factor that has the most impact on student achievement (Marzano, 2003)
Enabling and monitoring every student’s progress along the continua is the fundamental role of teachers and schools and the purpose and endpoint of all reform efforts

4. Victorian Curriculum – Design and Structure
Design and structure reaffirms:
the importance of discipline-based learning approach, where the disciplines are regarded as both enduring and dynamic
capabilities are a set of discrete knowledge and skills, not a statement of pedagogies and students benefit from explicit instruction
that knowledge and skills are transferrable across the curriculum and therefore are not duplicated.

5. Victorian Curriculum F–10 by 2017
Learning Areas
Capabilities
The Arts
Dance
Drama
Media Arts
Music
Visual Communication Design (7-10)
Visual Arts
English
Humanities
Civics and Citizenship
Economics and Business
Geography
History
Languages
Health and Physical Education
Mathematics
Science
Technologies
Design and Technologies
Digital Technologies
Critical and creative thinking
Intercultural
Ethical
Personal and social

6. Components Introduction Curriculum Rationale and aims
Level / band description
Structure
- strands / sub-strands
- placement of standards
Content descriptions
(+ elaborations – suggestions only)
Learning in ..
Achievement standards
Scope and sequence
Glossary

7. Terminology AusVELS - VELS component Victorian Curriculum Domains
Curriculum areas
Dimensions
Strands and sub-strands
Content descriptions
Learning focus
Standards
Achievement standards
Pathways - Languages only
1: F – 10
2: 7 – 10
Sequence: Languages only
Pathways: 3 pathways for Chinese language

8. Key features
Structured as a learning continuum that enable teachers to identify the current levels of achievement and then plan for progression
Includes 11 levels for English and Mathematics and bands (5 or 6) for all other Learning Areas and Capabilities
Levels A-D supporting students with disabilities
Cross-curriculum priorities including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and culture, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, and Sustainability are embedded in the Learning Areas and Capabilities, not represented as additional or separate curriculum
4 rather than 7 capabilities included in the curriculum.
Additional 3 general capabilities in the Australian Curriculum are Literacy, Numeracy and ICT. Teachers will develop students’ learning of literacy, numeracy and ICT across the curriculum. These capabilities are incorporated in the learning areas and do not require separate treatment.

9. Placement of standards

10. The Arts – Introduction
Six disciplines with content descriptions and achievement
standards
Four common strands
Visual Communication Design 7-10 – developed by VCAA
Each Arts discipline is based on two overarching principles:
students learn as artist and as audience
students learn through making and responding
The addition of achievement standard in Foundation for The Arts reflects the advice in Victorian Curriculum F–10: Revised curriculum planning and reporting guidelines about the importance of the Arts in the early years of schooling

11. English - Introduction
English in the Victorian Curriculum is substantially similar to AusVELS English, with the majority of the curriculum unchanged.
However, there have been some changes to strengthen particular areas and clarify others:
Phonics and word knowledge strengthened
Handwriting revised to make connection between phonics and handwriting more explicit
Content descriptions added to improve developmental continuum
Removal of duplicate content
Consolidation of similar content
Reporting progress in English
These changes do not cause a break in reporting data and student progress can be shown from AusVELS English to the Victorian Curriculum F–10 English

12. English - continued EAL
Work is being undertaken to update the EAL Companion to the Victorian Curriculum F-10
Schools should continue to use the current version during 2016
Literacy across the curriculum
Is foundational to all learning areas and capabilities in the Victorian Curriculum.
It is not one of the four capabilities which have separately articulated content descriptions and achievement standards.
Students develop knowledge and skills across the Language and Literacy strands of the English curriculum.
Much of the explicit teaching of literacy occurs in the English learning area, however, it is strengthened, made specific and extended in other learning areas as students engage in a range of learning and assessment with significant literacy demands.
Resources will be prepared to support teachers to understand the language demands of different learning areas, and demonstrate how English content descriptions apply to particular texts.

13. Civics and Citizenship - Introduction
Students will build on their experience, knowledge and skills as they commence Civics and Citizenship in Year 3 and/or Year 4
Making connections between what is learned in class and events and issues that are occurring in the local area, Australia and the world is vital
There are strong connections to the History and Intercultural Capability curriculums

14. Economics and Business - Introduction
A six strand structure – no sub-strands
Students will build on their experience, knowledge and skills as they commence Economics and Business in Year 5 and/or Year 6
Terminology such as money, banking, choice, buying, selling, goods, services and work will have meaning for students in Prep to Year 4
Students will also have used some Economics and Business vocabulary in their everyday life and in school situations
Making connections between what is learned in class and events and issues that are occurring in the local area, Australia and the world is vital

15. Geography - Introduction
No longer general Humanities from F–4
Specific Geography curriculum from F–10
Revised structure
Development of conceptual thinking strengthened
Significant revisions to knowledge and skills
Revisions to achievement standards

16. Geography (continued)
Geographical concepts and skills
Strengthens the progression of geographical skills essential to working with data and information
Seven concepts underpin the whole curriculum:
Place
Space
Interconnection
Environment
Sustainability
Scale
Change

17. History - Introduction
The curriculum is designed in two level bands of learning, not single levels as in AusVELS. This provides more flexibility when designing the teaching and learning programs.
The historical concepts and skills have been refined and been made more specific.
The first achievement standard is at Level 2.
New content description display for Levels 7–10
In the Historical Knowledge strand levels 7-8 and 9-10, teachers will find a set of common content descriptions that apply to a range of context choices.
Displaying elaborations for Levels 7–10
In the Historical Knowledge strand in levels 7-8 and 9-10, teachers will elect to show or hide elaborations related to their context choice.
An annotated example is available here:
Reporting progress in History
These changes do cause a break in reporting data and student progress as the teaching program moves from AusVELS History to the Victorian Curriculum F–10 History

18. Languages - Introduction
The languages are grouped into six categories
The VCAA has developed a curriculum for Roman and Non-Roman Alphabet languages which will allow any world language to be offered by a Victorian school
Some language specific curriculums are still being finalised and will be progressively incorporated into the Victorian Curriculum F-10.
Language categories
Roman Alphabet Languages
Non-Roman Alphabet Languages
Character Languages
Classical Languages
Sign Languages
Aboriginal Languages

19. Health and Physical Education - Introduction
Shaped by five interrelated propositions:
focuses on educative outcomes
takes a strengths-based approach
values movement
develops health literacy skills
includes a critical inquiry approach
12 focus areas
provide the contexts but are discrete topics

20. Health and Physical Education (continued)
There are strong connections between HPE and other curriculum areas:
Design and Technologies - Food specialisation
The Arts - Dance
Geography, Science and the Personal and Social Capability enable students to experience outdoor activities and to connect with the natural environment
HPE and Personal and Social Capability together develop knowledge and skills to promote safe and respectful relationships

21. Mathematics - Introduction
Mathematics in the Victorian Curriculum F-10 is substantially similar to AusVELS Mathematics with the majority of the curriculum unchanged.
The level descriptions in the Victorian Curriculum Mathematics have all been revised to more fully articulate the proficiencies of understanding, fluency, reasoning and problem solving in relation to the content descriptions and achievement standards
The Mathematics curriculum has been strengthened with the addition of content relating to algorithms and coding in the Patterns and algebra sub-strand of the Number and Algebra strand at each level.
A small number of new content descriptions and elaborations have been developed, and a small number of existing content descriptions and elaborations revised, at various levels to enhance the coherence, consistency and completeness of the curriculum.
Reporting progress in Mathematics
These changes do not cause a break in reporting data and student progress can be shown from AusVELS Mathematics to the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Mathematics.

22. Science - Introduction
Moving the Science as a Human Endeavour content
included as a sub-strand of Science Understanding - makes explicit the strong links between the nature, development and applications of science and specific knowledge of the disciplines within science
aspects that relate to how existing knowledge is challenged and investigated and the nature of scientific evidence has been included in the Science Inquiry Skills strand
Key concepts
The key concepts of science are:
Patterns, order and organisation
Form and function
Stability and change
Scale and measurement
Matter and energy
Systems
Reporting progress in Science
These changes do cause a break in reporting data and student progress as the teaching program moves from AusVELS Science to the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Science

23. Design and Technologies - Introduction
Design thinking underpins the learning. Design processes require students to identify and investigate a need or an opportunity, to generate, plan, manage and create designed solutions, and evaluate products and processes. Consideration of economic, environmental and social impacts that result from designed solutions are core.
Teaching and learning programs will typically integrate content from each strand. By the end of each band level, students will have had the opportunity to create different types of designed solutions that addresses all four sub-strands from Technologies Contexts (see below).
Students spend a substantial amount of time engaged in developing processes and production skills.
The combination of contexts (see below) and types of designed solutions is a school decision
Technologies contexts
Engineering principles and systems
Food and fibre production
Food specialisations
Materials and technologies specialisations

24. Design and Technologies - continued
Curriculum connections
Design
Design thinking and design processes feature significantly in Design and Technologies, Digital Technologies, and The Arts. Design thinking and design processes are also examples of critical and creative thinking.
Food and nutrition
In the Victorian Curriculum, students are taught about food and nutrition in Health and Physical Education and in Design and Technologies.
Home Economics 
Where Home Economics is offered as a subject, the teaching and learning program is based on curriculum drawn from both Health and Physical Education and Design Technologies.
Multimedia
Explicit content descriptions detailing the knowledge, understanding and skills that students must acquire in relation to multimedia are found in Digital Technologies and Media Arts.

25. Digital Technologies – Introduction
Digital Technologies is a new curriculum
Computational thinking is the main focus of this curriculum. Students will develop problem solving skills when creating digital solutions
Students will learn various programming languages (coding) to purpose-design digital solutions to solve specific problems
Teachers and students need to learn the terminology in the curriculum. It provides students with the vocabulary to describe their learning and explain digital systems

26. Digital Technologies - continued
Around 50 per cent of the curriculum can be taught without the use of a computer. We refer to this as ‘unplugged’ learning
Aspects of the curriculum can be integrated with other curriculum areas, particularly Mathematics, Science, Geography and the Arts
As this is a new curriculum, older students may need to begin their learning at lower levels. This will provide the necessary scaffolding and ultimately support progression of learning
Whole-school planning is essential for schools to determine how and when the curriculum is taught

27. Digital Technologies - continued
Focus of different types of thinking
Design thinking
Use of strategies for understanding design needs and opportunities, for example generating ideas for further development, evaluating ideas based on criteria and conceiving opportunities for new solutions
Systems thinking
Seeing connections between solutions, systems and society, identifying components of systems and identifying intended and unintended outputs of a system
Computational thinking
Includes modelling aspects of solutions, sequencing steps and decisions (algorithms) and deconstructing problems into their component parts

28. Critical and Creative Thinking – Introduction
Critical and creative thinking processes are fundamental to effective learning across the curriculum.
This Victorian Curriculum F-10 design assumes that knowledge and skills are transferrable across the curriculum and therefore are not duplicated. For example, where skills and knowledge such as asking questions, evaluating evidence and drawing conclusions are defined in Critical and Creative Thinking, these are not duplicated in other learning areas such as History or Health and Physical Education. 
Explicit attention to and application of thinking skills enables students to develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the processes they can employ whenever they encounter both the familiar and unfamiliar, to break ineffective habits and build on successful ones, building a capacity to manage their thinking.
Thinking that is productive, purposeful and intentional is at the centre of effective learning and the creation of new knowledge, with the progressive development of knowledge about thinking and the practice of using thinking strategies fostering students’ motivation for, and management of, their own learning.

29. Intercultural Capability - Introduction
This is a new curriculum
Intercultural capability fosters skills that assist students to negotiate across barriers that may arise from differences. Students will examine, reflect on and challenge assumptions, stereotypes and prejudices and explore how intercultural experiences can influence and change attitudes and beliefs.
The content needs to be explicitly taught and assessed to support a progression of learning
Intercultural capability is strongly connected to those areas of learning concerned with people and their societies, relationships and interactions.
Intercultural capability should be read together with the Personal and Social capability knowledge and skills related to empathy, openness, respect and conflict resolution.

30. Ethical Capability - Introduction
This is a new curriculum
The content descriptions covering ethical concepts and decision making need to be explicitly taught and assessed to progress student learning
Learn the terminology in the curriculum. It provides teachers and students with the vocabulary to ask questions and describe learning
There is strong connection between the Ethical Capability and Critical and Creative Thinking curriculum
As this is a new curriculum, older students may need to begin their learning at lower levels. This will provide the necessary scaffolding and ultimately support progression of learning
Whole-school planning is essential for schools to determine how and when the curriculum is taught

31. Ethical Capability - continued
Learning about world views, religions and philosophical thought
Students are introduced to different religions and world views and a range of relevant philosophers and/or schools of thought in Ethical Capability.
A companion document has been provided with outlines the key premises of the world’s major religions and a secular world view.
Learning about world views and religions can also occur in other curriculum areas, including The Humanities: History and Civics and Citizenship.

32. Personal and Social Capability - Introduction
Self / Social awareness and management
Explicit teaching and assessment is required
Curriculum connections
Learning in Personal and Social capability is strongly connected to many other areas of the curriculum. Health and Physical Education, in particular, enables students to develop knowledge of recognition of personal qualities, awareness of identity and establishment and maintenance of respectful relationships
Respectful relationships
A teaching and learning program for respectful relationships may include:
the importance of a range of social relationships, including within families, peer groups and the community
identifying and managing emotional responses in a range of contexts
developing knowledge and skills to promote safe and respectful relationships.

33. Locating information
Curriculum
Resources and Support

34. Location / Contact details
VCAA websites /
Curriculum Planning Resources:
Contact details
Phone: Sharon Foster (03)
Victorian Curriculum F-10
AusVELS
AusVELS Curriculum
Resources and Support
Resources and Support:

37. Content matters
There is important content that every young Victorian should learn:
Australia’s system of government, history and cultures, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
values of democracy, equity and justice, including reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
high levels of enabling skills in English literacy and numeracy
broad knowledge of and appreciation of the importance of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), Humanities and Arts
knowledge and skills necessary for participation in a digital world
how wellbeing and safety can be protected and nurtured
attributes central to participation in the contemporary economy and for civic participation such as creativity and innovation, critical thinking, problem-solving, and learning to learn.

38. Strengthened and new content
References to phonics and phonemic awareness strengthened in the English curriculum.
The Digital Technologies F–10 curriculum includes new learning including computational thinking, developing and evaluating digital solutions and data collection, representation and interpretation.
Learning about coding is included in both the Digital Technologies and Mathematics curriculum.
References to respectful relationships and safety in the home have been strengthened and made more explicit.
For the first time includes Learning about World Views and Religions. AusVELS and Australian Curriculum make numerous references to religion (e.g. Australia as a secular and multi-faith society, the role religion played in colonial expansion, the role of religion in global conflicts), but what students should learn about world views and religions has not been specified. Such content has now been developed, in consultation with key religious and secular stakeholders.

39. A distinction Curriculum is “the what”
described as content descriptions and achievement standards
uncluttered by making clear what is most important for all
students to learn
without the “what” students should learn, pedagogy is a
process without purpose
Teaching and learning program is “the how”
school based plan for delivering the curriculum
reflects local resources, expertise and contexts, and allows for specialisation and innovation
The curriculum is not the whole-school
teaching and learning program

40. Presentation - website
Website that provides easy navigation
Different views
Levels
Filtering

41. Presentation A3 charts
Support effective curriculum planning

42. Curriculum planning
Is not the responsibility of the
individual teacher – it is a team effort
Recognises that we are educating the whole child across many years of schooling - curriculum is designed as a continuum of learning
Without the “what” students should learn, pedagogy is a process without purpose
Deep familiarity with the curriculum is essential

43. Curriculum Development
AusVELS: the current F–10 curriculum based on the Australian Curriculum (English, Mathematics, Science, History) and the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS).
Released in 2011 for implementation in This curriculum will be archived in Dec 2016
Victorian Curriculum F–10: incorporates the Australian Curriculum and reflects Victorian priorities and standards. The English, Mathematics, Science, and History curriculums from AusVELS have been revised.
Released in 2015 for implementation by Can be implemented in 2016 – a school decision.