The Schools Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) are responsible for the decision to implement the Australian Curriculum, whilst reserving the right to retain their own state's priorities and approaches when it comes to curriculum provision and teaching and learning.
Phase 1
The Schools Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) requires most Western Australian schools to implement the Australian Curriculum P-10 for the learning areas of English, Mathematics, Science & History for the first time in 2014, with full implementation by 2015.
The content for the learning area of History whilst currently not modified from that which appears on ACARA's website, will be modified as the SCSA work towards developing the syllabuses for the Humanities and Social Sciences learning area.
Whilst schools are able to report on these learning areas during 2014, they are not required to report against the Australian Curriculum standards for these subject areas until 2015. In 2015, a five-point grading scale (e.g. A-E) clearly defined against specific learning standards will be in place for assessment and reporting of students in Years 3-10, with flexibility provided for systems or schools in P-2 settings. For more details on reporting requirements in Western Australia, click here. 1
'Given that Kindergarten is not a compulsory year of schooling the School Curriculum and Standards Authority does not require schools to formally report on children's achievement and progress in Kindergarten. Reporting on children's progress in Kindergarten is a school system/sector/school decision.' 2
Given the phased development of the Australian Curriculum, schools will be teaching some learning areas from the Australian Curriculum supplemented by learning areas described in the former Western Australian Curriculum Framework. As the Australian Curriculum is developed, it will gradually replace the Curriculum Framework.
Note – Foundation (F) is referred to as Pre-primary (P) in Western Australia.
The content for the learning area of History whilst currently not modified from that which appears on ACARA's website, will be modified as the SCSA work towards developing the syllabuses for the Humanities and Social Sciences learning area.
Whilst schools are able to report on these learning areas during 2014, they are not required to report against the Australian Curriculum standards for these subject areas until 2015. In 2015, a five-point grading scale (e.g. A-E) clearly defined against specific learning standards will be in place for assessment and reporting of students in Years 3-10, with flexibility provided for systems or schools in P-2 settings. For more details on reporting requirements in Western Australia, click here. 1
'Given that Kindergarten is not a compulsory year of schooling the School Curriculum and Standards Authority does not require schools to formally report on children's achievement and progress in Kindergarten. Reporting on children's progress in Kindergarten is a school system/sector/school decision.' 2
Given the phased development of the Australian Curriculum, schools will be teaching some learning areas from the Australian Curriculum supplemented by learning areas described in the former Western Australian Curriculum Framework. As the Australian Curriculum is developed, it will gradually replace the Curriculum Framework.
Note – Foundation (F) is referred to as Pre-primary (P) in Western Australia.
Phase 2 & 3
The SCSA advises that the P-10 Australian Curriculum for Phases 2 and 3 as it has been published on the ACARA website will not be used in Western Australia schools.
Instead, the SCSA are adapting the content to suit the needs of WA students and schools as follows:
The learning areas:
The following subjects are also being developed into a concise learning area to be called 'Humanities and Social Sciences' for future implementation in Western Australia:
Access more details on Western Australia's implementation of Phases 2 and 3 here.
* The content for the learning area of History whilst currently not modified from that which appears on ACARA's website, will be modified as the SCSA work towards developing the syllabuses for the Humanities and Social Sciences learning area.
Instead, the SCSA are adapting the content to suit the needs of WA students and schools as follows:
The learning areas:
- The Arts
- Technologies
- Languages
- Health and Physical Education
The following subjects are also being developed into a concise learning area to be called 'Humanities and Social Sciences' for future implementation in Western Australia:
- Geography
- Civics and Citizenship
- History* and
- Economics and Business.
Access more details on Western Australia's implementation of Phases 2 and 3 here.
* The content for the learning area of History whilst currently not modified from that which appears on ACARA's website, will be modified as the SCSA work towards developing the syllabuses for the Humanities and Social Sciences learning area.
Downloading the Curriculum
The curriculum can be separated into two sections: (i) The Australian Curriculum for Western Australia and (ii) The Western Australia Curriculum Framework.
(i) The Australian Curriculum for Western Australia
The SCSA provide a portal for the downloading of the K-10 Australian Curriculum for Western Australian schools here.
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*.
*Note: Only The Progressive Curriculum Frameworks for the Australian Curriculum for the learning areas of English, Mathematics, Science & History are suitable for use in Western Australia schools.
The SCSA also provides further information on the K-10 Curriculum and Assessment Outline here, which consists of:
(ii) The Western Australian Curriculum Framework
The K-10 Syllabus for the existing Western Australian Curriculum Framework for the following learning areas can be downloaded from the following the Department of Education (W.A) via the following links:
The Learning Statements for the existing Western Australian Curriculum Framework for the following learning areas can be downloaded from the SCSA here.
(i) The Australian Curriculum for Western Australia
The SCSA provide a portal for the downloading of the K-10 Australian Curriculum for Western Australian schools here.
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*.
*Note: Only The Progressive Curriculum Frameworks for the Australian Curriculum for the learning areas of English, Mathematics, Science & History are suitable for use in Western Australia schools.
The SCSA also provides further information on the K-10 Curriculum and Assessment Outline here, which consists of:
- Guiding principles of teaching, learning and assessment
- Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines which complement the Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum (now online for consultation)
- The Pre-primary – Year 10 English, Mathematics, History and Science Australian Curriculum content including the general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities
- The Pre-primary – Year 10 English, Mathematics, History and Science Australian Curriculum achievement standards
- Student diversity materials
- Assessment resources
- The Reporting Policy: Pre-primary – Year 10
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Links to useful websites and resources.
(ii) The Western Australian Curriculum Framework
The K-10 Syllabus for the existing Western Australian Curriculum Framework for the following learning areas can be downloaded from the following the Department of Education (W.A) via the following links:
- The Arts
- Health & Physical Education
- Languages Other than English
- Science
- Society and Environment
- Technology and Enterprise.
The Learning Statements for the existing Western Australian Curriculum Framework for the following learning areas can be downloaded from the SCSA here.