South Australia is the only state who does not have a curriculum authority for Reception to Year 10. The Department For Education & Childhood Development (DECD), the Catholic Education South Australia (CESA) & The Association of Independent Schools South Australia (AISSA) make decisions on the implementation of the national curriculum in R-10 settings. The South Australian Certification of Education (SACE) Board Office is the recognised body for Years 11 & 12.
Phase 1
In Phase 1, all South Australian school sectors implemented an unchanged version of the Australian Curriculum for English, Mathematics, Science and History (R-10) in 2013. 1
The South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework (SACSA) remains the required curriculum for a learning area until the equivalent Australian Curriculum subject has been implemented. These learning areas include:
Phases 2 & 3
Each school sector has different time frames for Phases 2 & 3. See below for more details.
Government Schools: DECD
Catholic Schools: CESA
Independent Schools: AIS
The Australian Curriculum (F-10) is expected to be implemented by December 2016. The AIS have recommended that independent schools follow the DECD's Guidelines for the implementation of the Australian Curriculum in DECD schools: Reception–Year 10 (see Attachment 4). Therefore:
Phase 1
In Phase 1, all South Australian school sectors implemented an unchanged version of the Australian Curriculum for English, Mathematics, Science and History (R-10) in 2013. 1
The South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework (SACSA) remains the required curriculum for a learning area until the equivalent Australian Curriculum subject has been implemented. These learning areas include:
- Arts
- Design and Technology
- Health and Physical Education
- Language - Other than English
- Language - Australian Indigenous
- Society and Environment.
Phases 2 & 3
Each school sector has different time frames for Phases 2 & 3. See below for more details.
Government Schools: DECD
- 'It is expected that by the beginning of 2017 all Australian Curriculum learning areas/subjects will be fully implemented (i.e. used to plan, teach, assess and report) in all DECD schools.' 2
Catholic Schools: CESA
- F-7 Australian Curriculum: Primary schools are expected to have all learning areas fully implemented (design, delivery, assessment and reporting) by the end of 2016. Note: There is no requirement for schools to assign A–E grades when reporting on students in the Reception year 3
- 8-10 Australian Curriculum:- Due to the nature of implementing curriculum in a secondary setting and the need to be ready for the SACE Australian Curriculum subjects, secondary schools are expected to have all learning areas fully implemented (design, delivery, assessment and reporting) by the end of 2015.
- Years 11-12: The SACE board has yet to confirm timelines for the integration of the Australian Curriculum subjects into SACE.' 4
Independent Schools: AIS
The Australian Curriculum (F-10) is expected to be implemented by December 2016. The AIS have recommended that independent schools follow the DECD's Guidelines for the implementation of the Australian Curriculum in DECD schools: Reception–Year 10 (see Attachment 4). Therefore:
- English, Mathematics, History & Science should have been implemented along with the General Capabilities and the relevant Cross-curriculum Priorities at the end of 2013
- It is up to the schools as to when they implement the Phase 2 and 3 subjects during the period 2014-2016. Most will be implementing Geography, Health & Physical Education, Civics and Citizenship and The Arts in 2015, with Languages, Economics & Business and the Technologies implemented in 2016
- In regards to the new v7.1 updates to the Australian Curriculum, it is reasonable to expect that as the Learning areas are implemented, the relevant General Capabilities and Cross-Curriculum should be implemented too.
Downloading the Curriculum
The curriculum can be separated into two sections: (i) The Australian Curriculum for South Australia and (ii) The South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Curriculum.
(i) The Australian Curriculum for South Australia
The South Australian Government advises2 that schools download the Australian Curriculum directly from the Australian Curriculum (ACARA) website. The Progressive Curriculum Frameworks for the Australian Curriculum (developed by Anton Reiter of Effective Curriculum Ideas), which are a more user-friendly version of the Australian Curriculum (that clearly identifies progression between each year level and is presented in tabular form) can be downloaded from here.
Additional Resources
(ii) The South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework
The South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework (SACSA) can be downloaded in pdf via the following links:
An online version of the South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework (SACSA) and supporting document can be accessed from here.
(i) The Australian Curriculum for South Australia
The South Australian Government advises2 that schools download the Australian Curriculum directly from the Australian Curriculum (ACARA) website. The Progressive Curriculum Frameworks for the Australian Curriculum (developed by Anton Reiter of Effective Curriculum Ideas), which are a more user-friendly version of the Australian Curriculum (that clearly identifies progression between each year level and is presented in tabular form) can be downloaded from here.
Additional Resources
- CESA have created Performance Expectations and Indicators for the Australian Curriculum learning areas of English, Mathematics, Science and History, intended as tools to support planning, assessment and reporting in Catholic schools. They can be accessed from here
- AISSA have also created a myriad of excellent supporting documents for the implementation of the Australian Curriculum in Independent schools which can be accessed from the following links: Resources Site 1 | Resources Site 2 | Resources 3.
(ii) The South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework
The South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework (SACSA) can be downloaded in pdf via the following links:
- Arts
- Design and Technology
- Health and Physical Education
- Language - Other than English
- Language - Australian Indigenous
- Society and Environment.
An online version of the South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework (SACSA) and supporting document can be accessed from here.
South Australian Australian Curriculum Resources
The South Australian Department of Education and Childhood Development have developed Leading Learning: Making the Australian Curriculum work for us, a website to communicate the strategic intent and key ideas unlying the adoption of the Australian curriculum in South Australian schools.