Kurwongbah State School

"Individuals Together"

Curriculum Plan 2012

2

Page/s

Rationale 3

Curriculum- Strategic Improvement (CSI) Management Team 3

Role of the Curriculum Support Teacher (CST) 4

Role of Curriculum Teams- English, Mathematics, Science and History 4

Overview of 2012 Curriculum Priorities 5

Minimum Time Allocations 6

Implementing the Australian Curriculum 7

Australian Curriculum: English 7-10

Australian Curriculum: Mathematics 11-12

Australian Curriculum: Science 13-15

Exit Outcomes 16

Curriculum Organisation 17

Highly Effective Teachers 18-19

Pedagogy 20

Differentiated Learning 21-22

A Range of Teaching Strategies 23-27

Developing Habits of Mind 28-29

Assessment and Reporting 30

Assessment and Reporting in Prep 31

Moderation 32

Forming Partnerships 33

Supporting Documents 34

Appendix: Teaching in two Frameworks 35-36

Appendix: Overview of the QCAR Framework 37

Appendix: 2012 Assessment and Testing Overview 38-39

Appendix: 2012 KSS Yearly Data Collection Overview 40

Appendix: 2012 Kurwongbah State School English Targets 41

Appendix: Diagnostic Year 2 Net: Percentage of students not requiring

additional support

42

Appendix: 2012 Kurwongbah State School Mathematics Targets 43

Appendix: 2012 Kurwongbah State School Science Targets 44

Appendix: Overview of units at Kurwongbah State School 45-67

Appendix: North Coast Regional Classroom Teaching Expectations 68

CONTENTS

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The Kurwongbah State School Curriculum Plan outlines how the school addresses curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and reporting. It provides links between Education Queensland documents and school based documents. Curriculum at Kurwongbah is developed around the Australian Curriculum in English, maths and science from P-7; as well as the EYCG in Prep, and the Essential Learnings in Technology, The Arts, SOSE, HPE from years 1-7 and LOTE in years 6 and 7. The school is committed to developing teacher practices through professional development focusing on aspects of curriculum implementation and assessment and the incorporation of a proactive approach to planning and teaching. This is evidenced by the development of rigorous units, use of ICT and the incorporation of a variety of productive pedagogies within quality programs. The continued implementation of the Kurwongbah State School Assessment and Reporting Plan 2012 and the Kurwongbah State School Moderation Plan 2012 is aimed at further enhancing teacher proficiency in assessment, moderation and reporting practices and developing a common understanding of quality assessment. Kurwongbah State School’s Curriculum Plan is updated annually to reflect the current direction of curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and reporting. It is endorsed by the Curriculum- Strategic Improvement (CSI) Management Team.

The Curriculum- Strategic Improvement (CSI) Management Team is made up of Year Level Coordinators, the Curriculum Support Teacher, Learning Support Teacher- Literacy and Numeracy, HOSES, Principal, Deputy Principals and other key members of staff. The CSI Management Team respond to the Strategic Goals of the school and oversee whole school curriculum planning, implementation and review. The purpose of the CSI Management Team is to:

• Respond to the Teaching and Learning Audit results and recommendations by developing strategic goals and action planning

• Lead the school’s National Curriculum Implementation Plan • Continue to align school priorities to the QCAR Framework • Prioritise the KLAs of English, mathematics and science • Monitor school targets in English, mathematics and science • Respond to national and state directives and meet all strategic expectations • Identify the learning needs of staff and support them through curriculum change

processes • Keep staff informed of curriculum changes and imperatives and to provide

targeted professional development as needed • Ensure that staff’s continuing efforts in curriculum are valued and supported • Liaise with Curriculum Team Program Managers

RATIONALE

CSI MANAGEMENT TEAM

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Kurwongbah State School has identified the need for a Curriculum Support Teacher (CST) role to support teachers in curriculum planning, teaching, assessment and reporting. The CST currently works 5 days a fortnight (every second Wednesday, and every Thursday and Friday).

The CST works with the school Admin Team and Curriculum- Strategic Improvement Management Team to monitor, facilitate and action curriculum directives, initiatives, and alignment of curriculum, assessment and reporting.

Kurwongbah State School's CST will support teachers in the planning and implementation of curriculum programs by:

• Working alongside the school Principal, Deputy Principals and the Curriculum- Strategic Improvement Management Team to develop, implement and monitor strategic curriculum plans, goals and targets for the school

• Reviewing and updating the KSS Curriculum Overview (including Whole school plans and programs)

• Working with Curriculum Team Program Managers to monitor the implementation of the Australian Curriculum in English, mathematics and science

• Facilitating regular professional learning sessions that assist teachers in becoming familiar with curriculum intent, planning requirements, assessment practices, moderation, assessment and reporting

• Working in classrooms to provide modelled experiences and to observe and provide feedback on targeted curriculum areas and pedagogy

• Identifying, highlighting and encouraging sharing by Kurwongbah teachers, of high quality teaching and learning examples via face-to-face year level, whole school meetings, professional development and information sessions

• Sharing curriculum initiatives, productive pedagogies and effective strategies at conferences within the school, within the district and beyond

• Assisting teachers in the development of assessment tasks and in the successful implementation of moderation processes across class groups and local schools cluster.

• In 2012 the role of Curriculum Teams in English, mathematics and science will work to

monitor resources required for the implementation of the C2C units, identifying resources already available within the school and purchasing resources required to implement units. The team will also monitor the implementation of the Australian Curriculum in each curriculum area and make recommendations to the CSI Team to improve or streamline the delivery of the units.

• In 2012 the work of the History Team will involve becoming familiar with the Australian Curriculum: History http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/History/Rationale and preparing and delivering a number of professional learning sessions for staff in term four.

ROLE OF THE CST

ROLE OF CURRICULUM TEAMS

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Our work as Kurwongbah is vitally important. At Kurwongbah, we believe that teachers can make a significant difference to the lives of our students. We do this through structuring rigorous learning experiences that assist every student to reach their full potential. At Kurwongbah we are committed to:

Ensuring that every day, in every classroom, every student is learning and achieving to the best of their ability.

Refocusing our energies A crowded curriculum results in superficial coverage of content. We need to create space in the curriculum to develop depth of student understanding. In 2012 and beyond our priority must be to focus on English, mathematics and science . Other learning areas, while essential for the development of the whole child, will be refined and reworked to take up significantly less time and focus on developing deep understandings rather than a cursory coverage of multiple Essential Learnings. Children will be given opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge, understandings and skills in ways that suit their learning styles and strengths. Teachers will continue to differentiate for the range of students in their classrooms. Professional learning at Kurwongbah Ongoing professional development is essential in maintaining skilled and confident teachers. Throughout 2012 teachers at Kurwongbah will be involved in targeted, on-going professional development (including professional conversations, professional readings, mentoring, workshops and presentations) around key areas:

• Term 1: Differentiation • Term 2: Goal setting • Term 3: Feedback • Term 4: History- Familiarisation; preparing for implementation in 2013

Minimum time allocations for English, mathematics a nd science Access to a rich and engaging curriculum for all students is important. Queensland state schools are required to address the Australian Curriculum in English, mathematics and science and the Essential Learnings in all other Key Learning Areas (KLAs). International, national and state data highlights the need to focus attention on the teaching and learning of English, mathematics and science to improve student achievement in these important areas. English and mathematics are fundamental in all years of schooling and must therefore be a primary focus of learning. The focus on science recognises that studying this curriculum area provides an essential preparation for twenty-first century living. While

OVERVIEW OF 2012 CURRICULUM PRIORITIES

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we will continue to teach all learning areas, it is important that we prioritise English, mathematics and science. Required time allocations for English, mathematics and science in Prep to year 7 are provided in the table below. These allocations represent minimum times and it is up to teachers to decide how much additional time they may require for each curriculum area.

Minimum time allocations for English, mathematics a nd science in 2012:

Learning area

Prep Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7

English 7 hrs 7 hrs 7 hrs 7 hrs 6 hrs 6 hrs 6 hrs 6 hrs

Mathematics 5 hrs 5 hrs 5 hrs 5 hrs 5 hrs 5 hrs 5 hrs 5 hrs

Science 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 1.75 hrs

1.75 hrs

1.75 hrs

1.75 hrs

2.5 hrs

Languages 1.5 hrs 1.5 hrs

Teaching within two frameworks In the transition to the Australian Curriculum, we will plan, teach, assess and report using two curriculums:

1. Australian Curriculum in English, science and mathematics 2. Queensland curriculum —EYCG (Prep) and the QCAR Framework: Essential

Learnings and standards in Technology, The Arts, HPE, SOSE (years 1-7) and LOTE (6 and 7) (See Appendix: Teaching within two frameworks to view a visual representation of this)

Teaching and learning in the early years will continue to emphasise the five valued contexts for learning in the EYCG. These are:

• play

• real-life situations

• investigations

• routines and transitions

• focused learning and teaching. Teachers in Prep/1 classes should continue to plan and lead learning that is rich with active learning, play, exploration, experimentation and imagination. They also provide opportunities for children to apply and practise their learning in multiple contexts. Teaching and Learning Focus Areas This year we will deeply engage in two areas of teaching and learning in an explicit and focussed way. These focus areas have been identified through data analysis (i.e. 2011 NAPLAN results) and teacher feedback as being areas of need within the school and have been approved by the CSI Team. Semester One: Spelling Semester Two: Mental Computations (including number facts) Throughout the year, teachers will be provided with professional readings, professional learning sessions, and opportunities to deeply unpack data around these focus areas and to discuss these areas with other teachers in their year levels and beyond.

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In June 2010, Minister for Education and Training Geoff Wilson announced that the State, Catholic and Independent school sectors had agreed on a staged approach to the implementation of Phase 1 of the Australian Curriculum F(P)–10 in Queensland.

For F(P)–10, schools will implement the Australian Curriculum in English, mathematics and science in 2012 and history in 2013.

• Implementation in 2012 means: planning, teaching, assessing and reporting in English, maths and science across the year level/s using the Australian Curriculum.

• Implementation in 2013 means: planning, teaching, assessing and reporting in history across the year level/s using the Australian Curriculum.

In 2012 Kurwongbah staff will implement the Australian Curriculum in English, mathematics and science through the C2C suite of unit plans and resources.

Australian Curriculum: English All teachers at Kurwongbah have the responsibility to assist students to acquire the essential knowledge, understandings and skills in English that they will require for active, informed participation in schoo l and beyond.

The study of English is central to the learning and development of all young Australians. It helps create confident communicators, imaginative thinkers and informed citizens. It is through the study of English that individuals learn to analyse, understand, communicate with and build relationships with others and with the world around them. The study of English helps young people develop the knowledge and skills needed for education, training and the workplace. It helps them become ethical, thoughtful, informed and active members of society. In this light it is clear that the Australian Curriculum: English plays an important part in developing the understanding, attitudes and capabilities of those who will take responsibility for Australia’s future.

Although Australia is a linguistically and culturally diverse country, participation in many aspects of Australian life depends on effective communication in Standard Australian English. In addition, proficiency in English is invaluable globally. The Australian Curriculum: English contributes both to nation-building and to internationalisation.

IMPLEMENTING THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM

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The Australian Curriculum: English also helps students to engage imaginatively and critically with literature to expand the scope of their experience. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have contributed to Australian society and to its contemporary literature and its literary heritage through their distinctive ways of representing and communicating knowledge, traditions and experience. The Australian Curriculum: English values, respects and explores this contribution. It also emphasises Australia’s links to Asia.

Aims in English

At Kurwongbah State School, we aim to ensure that students:

• learn to listen to, read, view, speak, write, create and reflect on increasingly complex and sophisticated spoken, written and multimodal texts across a growing range of contexts with accuracy, fluency and purpose

• appreciate, enjoy and use the English language in all its variations and develop a sense of its richness and power to evoke feelings, convey information, form ideas, facilitate interaction with others, entertain, persuade and argue

• understand how Standard Australian English works in its spoken and written forms and in combination with non-linguistic forms of communication to create meaning

• develop interest and skills in inquiring into the aesthetic aspects of texts, and develop an informed appreciation of literature.

School Expectations- English Teachers at Kurwongbah State School are expected to :

• Be familiar with the Australian Curriculum: English available at: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/English/Rationale

• Implement the C2C English Units available on OneSchool (see the 2012 C2C English Unit Overview below). [Please note that the suggested teaching sequence and supporting resources are provided as a starting point. It is up to each individual teacher to determine which resources are used and to what extent. This should be determined on the basis of the needs of the students in the teacher’s class].

• Timetable the teaching of English for a minimum of 7 hours (Years Prep-3) and 6 hours (Years 4-7) each week

• Identify students prior knowledge, skills and understanding through pre-testing and analysis of existing data

• Differentiate learning to cater for the individual learning needs of students in your class

• Implement C2C assessment tasks and provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their knowledge, understandings and skills in all areas of English

• Work towards school targets in English

o Please refer to Appendix: Kurwongbah State School English Targets 2012

• Collect evidence of student knowledge, understanding and skills in all areas of English

• Participate in professional conversations and moderation activities to achieve consistency in teacher judgements across classes

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• Apply agreed standards to student work for the purposes of assessment

• Report on student progress two times a year using an agreed 5-point scale

• Provide ongoing feedback to students on their learning

• Assist students to set learning goals in English and to monitor those goals

Spelling In 2011, a decision was made to implement the C2C P-7 Spelling Program as our whole school spelling program. A spelling overview, year level spelling lists, year level spelling journals and other spelling resources can be located at: https://learningplace.eq.edu.au/cx/resources/file/64032b89-6bac-f41d-9983-90b6dfb51b73/1/index.html . In 2012, we will trial these materials to check for rigour and to assess the effectiveness of this program. Pre and post diagnostic spelling tests based on the P-7 Overvie, developed by the CST and ST L&N will be made available for each teacher in years 1-7 for each term next year.

Reading, spelling and handwriting- C2C

The following table gives further information about time distribution for reading, spelling and handwriting within the C2C English units.

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2012 C2C English Unit Overview: Term 1

Term 2 Term 3 Term 4

Prep Unit 1: Exploring our new world

Unit 2: Enjoying stories Unit 3: Interacting with others

Unit 4: Responding to texts

1 Unit 1: Exploring emotion in picture books

Unit 2: Explaining how a story works

Unit 3: Exploring characters in stories

Unit 4: Engaging with poetry

Unit 5: Examining language of communication — questioning

Unit 6: Retelling stores from other cultures

Unit 7: Creating digital procedural texts

Unit 8: Creating digital texts

2 Unit 1: Reading, writing and performing poetry

Unit 2: Retelling stories of families and friends

Unit 3: Identifying stereotypes

Unit 4: Responding persuasively to narratives

Unit 5: Exploring procedural texts

Unit 6: Exploring informative texts

Unit 7: Exploring narrative texts

Unit 8: Exploring plot and characterisation in stories

3 Unit 2: Investigating character and characterisation

Unit 1: Analysing and creating a persuasive text

[NB. Reverse order]

Unit 3: Exploring personal experiences through events

Unit 4: Exploring procedure

Unit 5: Reading and responding to different versions of a story

Unit 6: Creating online narratives

Unit 7: Reading, writing and performing poetry

Unit 8: Reading, writing and responding to people's stories from the past

4 Unit 1: Examining humour in poetry

Unit 2: Investigating author's language in a familiar narrative

Unit 3: Exploring recounts of texts set in the past

Unit 4: Retelling a familiar story

Unit 5: Exploring quest novels

Unit 6: Creating stories set in the past

Unit 7: Investigating persuasion

Unit 8: Persuading others

5 Unit 1: Examining literary texts (fantasy novel)

Unit 2: Examining literary texts (fantasy novel)

Unit 3: Examining media texts

Unit 4: Examining characters in animated film

Unit 5: Appreciating poetry

Unit 6: Responding to poetry

Unit 7: Exploring narrative through novels and film

Unit 8: Reviewing narrative film

6 Unit 1: Examining short stories

Unit 2: Writing a short story

Unit 3: Examining advertising in the media

Unit 4: Examining persuasive techniques in news reports

Unit 5: Exploring literary texts by the same author

Unit 6: Interpreting a literary text

Unit 7: Comparing informative texts

Unit 8: Transforming a text

7 Unit 1: Analysing persuasion in media texts

Unit 2: Persuading through motivational speeches

Unit 3: Reading and creating life writing: biographies

Unit 4: Reading and creating life writing: autobiographies

Unit 5: Reading and interpreting literature about Australia and Australians

Unit 6: Examining representations of Australia and Australians in literature

Unit 7: Exploring perspectives on Australian poetry and songs

Unit 8: Re-imagining Australian poetry and songs

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Australian Curriculum: Mathematics All teachers at Kurwongbah have the responsibility to assist students to acquire the essential knowledge, understandings and skills in mathematics that they will require for active, informed participation in schoo l and beyond.

Learning mathematics creates opportunities for and enriches the lives of all Australians. The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics provides students with essential mathematical skills and knowledge in Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability. It develops the numeracy capabilities that all students need in their personal, work and civic life, and provides the fundamentals on which mathematical specialties and professional applications of mathematics are built.

Mathematics has its own value and beauty and the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics aims to instil in students an appreciation of the elegance and power of mathematical reasoning. Mathematical ideas have evolved across all cultures over thousands of years, and are constantly developing. Digital technologies are facilitating this expansion of ideas and providing access to new tools for continuing mathematical exploration and invention. The curriculum focuses on developing increasingly sophisticated and refined mathematical understanding, fluency, logical reasoning, analytical thought and problem-solving skills. These capabilities enable students to respond to familiar and unfamiliar situations by employing mathematical strategies to make informed decisions and solve problems efficiently.

The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics ensures that the links between the various components of mathematics, as well as the relationship between mathematics and other disciplines, are made clear. Mathematics is composed of multiple but interrelated and interdependent concepts and systems which students apply beyond the mathematics classroom. In science, for example, understanding sources of error and their impact on the confidence of conclusions is vital, as is the use of mathematical models in other disciplines. In geography, interpretation of data underpins the study of human populations and their physical environments; in history, students need to be able to imagine timelines and time frames to reconcile related events; and in English, deriving quantitative and spatial information is an important aspect of making meaning of texts.

The curriculum anticipates that schools will ensure all students benefit from access to the power of mathematical reasoning and learn to apply their mathematical understanding creatively and efficiently. The mathematics curriculum provides students with carefully paced, in-depth study of critical skills and concepts. It encourages teachers to help students become self-motivated, confident learners through inquiry and active participation in challenging and engaging experiences.

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Aims in mathematics

At Kurwongbah State School we aim to ensure that students:

• are confident, creative users and communicators of mathematics, able to investigate, represent and interpret situations in their personal and work lives and as active citizens

• develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of mathematical concepts and fluency with processes, and are able to pose and solve problems and reason in Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability

• recognise connections between the areas of mathematics and other disciplines and appreciate mathematics as an accessible and enjoyable discipline to study.

School Expectations- Mathematics Teachers at Kurwongbah State School are expected to :

• Be familiar with the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics available at: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Mathematics/Rationale

• Implement the C2C Mathematics Units available on OneSchool [Please note that the suggested teaching sequence and supporting resources are provided as a starting point. It is up to each individual teacher to determine which resources are used and to what extent. This should be determined on the basis of the needs of the students in the teacher’s class].

• Timetable the teaching of mathematics for 5 hours (Prep – Year 7) each week

• Identify students prior knowledge, skills and understanding through pre-testing and analysis of existing data

• Implement C2C assessment tasks and investigations that provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their knowledge, understandings and skills in all areas of mathematics

• Work towards school targets in Mathematics

o Please refer to Appendix: Kurwongbah State School Mathematics Targe ts 2012

• Collect evidence of student knowledge, understanding and skills in all areas of Mathematics

• Participate in professional conversations and Moderation activities to achieve consistency in teacher judgements across classes

• Apply agreed standards to student work for the purposes of assessment

• Report on student progress two times a year using an agreed 5-point scale

• Provide ongoing feedback to students on their learning

• Assist students to set learning goals in mathematics and to monitor those goals

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Australian Curriculum: Science All teachers at Kurwongbah have the responsibility to assist students to acquire the essential knowledge, understandings and skills in science that they will require for active, informed participation in schoo l and beyond.

Science provides an empirical way of answering interesting and important questions about the biological, physical and technological world. The knowledge it produces has proved to be a reliable basis for action in our personal, social and economic lives. Science is a dynamic, collaborative and creative human endeavour arising from our desire to make sense of our world through exploring the unknown, investigating universal mysteries, making predictions and solving problems. Science aims to understand a large number of observations in terms of a much smaller number of broad principles. Science knowledge is contestable and is revised, refined and extended as new evidence arises.

The Australian Curriculum: Science provides opportunities for students to develop an understanding of important science concepts and processes, the practices used to develop scientific knowledge, of science’s contribution to our culture and society, and its applications in our lives. The curriculum supports students to develop the scientific knowledge, understandings and skills to make informed decisions about local, national and global issues and to participate, if they so wish, in science-related careers.

In addition to its practical applications, learning science is a valuable pursuit in its own right. Students can experience the joy of scientific discovery and nurture their natural curiosity about the world around them. In doing this, they develop critical and creative thinking skills and challenge themselves to identify questions and draw evidence-based conclusions using scientific methods. The wider benefits of this “scientific literacy” are well established, including giving students the capability to investigate the natural world and changes made to it through human activity.

The science curriculum promotes six overarching ideas that highlight certain common approaches to a scientific view of the world and which can be applied to many of the areas of science understanding. These overarching ideas are patterns, order and organisation; form and function; stability and change; systems; scale and measurement; and matter and energy.

Aims in science

At Kurwongbah State School we aim to ensure that students develop:

• an interest in science as a means of expanding their curiosity and willingness to explore, ask questions about and speculate on the changing world in which they live

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• an understanding of the vision that science provides of the nature of living things, of the Earth and its place in the cosmos, and of the physical and chemical processes that explain the behaviour of all material things

• an understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry and the ability to use a range of scientific inquiry methods, including questioning; planning and conducting experiments and investigations based on ethical principles; collecting and analysing data; evaluating results; and drawing critical, evidence-based conclusions

• an ability to communicate scientific understanding and findings to a range of audiences, to justify ideas on the basis of evidence, and to evaluate and debate scientific arguments and claims

• an ability to solve problems and make informed, evidence-based decisions about current and future applications of science while taking into account ethical and social implications of decisions

• an understanding of historical and cultural contributions to science as well as contemporary science issues and activities and an understanding of the diversity of careers related to science

• a solid foundation of knowledge of the biological, chemical, physical, Earth and space sciences, including being able to select and integrate the scientific knowledge and methods needed to explain and predict phenomena, to apply that understanding to new situations and events, and to appreciate the dynamic nature of science knowledge.

School Expectations- Science Teachers at Kurwongbah State School are expected to :

� Be familiar with the Australian Curriculum: Science available at: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Science/Rationale

� Implement the C2C Science Units available on OneSchool (see the 2012 C2C Science Unit Overview below) [Please note that the suggested teaching sequence and supporting resources are provided as a starting point. It is up to each individual teacher to determine which resources are used and to what extent. This should be determined on the basis of the needs of the students in the teacher’s class].

� Timetable the teaching of science for 1 hour (Years P-2). 1.75 hours (Years 3-6) 2.5 hours (Year 7) each week

� Identify students prior knowledge, skills and understanding through pre-testing and analysis of existing data

• Implement C2C assessment tasks

• Work towards school targets in Science

� Please refer to Appendix: Kurwongbah State School Science Targets 2012

• Collect evidence of student knowledge, understanding and skills in all areas of Science

• Participate in professional conversations and Moderation activities to achieve consistency in teacher judgements across classes

• Apply agreed standards to student work for the purposes of assessment

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• Report on student progress two times a year using an agreed 5-point scale

• Provide ongoing feedback to students on their learning 2012 C2C Science Unit Overview:

Term 1

Term 2 Term 3 Term 4

Prep Unit 1: Our living world

Unit 2: Our material world

Unit 3: Weather watch

Unit 4: I like to move it, move it

1 Unit 1: Living adventure

Unit 2: Material madness

Unit 3: Changes around me

Unit 4: Light and sound

2 Unit 1: Mix, make and use

Unit 2: Toy factory

Unit 3: Good to grow

Unit 4: Save planet Earth

3 Unit 1: Is it living?

Unit 2: Spinning Earth

Unit 3: Hot stuff

Unit 4: What's the matter?

4 Unit 1: Here today gone tomorrow

Unit 2: Ready, set, grow!

Unit 3: Material use

Unit 4: Speedy but safe

5 Unit 1: Survival in the Australian environment

Unit 2: Our place in the solar system

Unit 3: Now you see it

Unit 4: Matter matters

6 Unit 1: Making changes – comparing reactions

Unit 2: Power up – electricity usage down

Unit 3: Our changing world

Unit 4: Life on Earth

7 Unit 1: Water - waste not, want not

Unit 2: Water - waste not, want not (continued)

Unit 3: Moving right along - exploring motion

Unit 4: Moving right along - applications

Unit 5: Heavenly bodies

Unit 6: Sensational seasons

Unit 7: Organising organisms

Unit 8: Affecting organisms

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Our Goal is for students to:

KLAs Curriculum School Programs Pro-Active Initiatives

Ref

lect

or � Have an understanding

of themselves: -Personal well being -Self concept -Self worth

HPE SOSE The Arts Music English

Seasons for growth School Camps Instrumental Music

Leaders’ Council Aussie of the Month Outstanding Student Awards Individual recognition of students SSS Room

PAL Goal setting Self evaluation Behaviour Reports Yr 5 Bike Ed

Com

mun

icat

or � Become effective

communicators -Appropriate social skills -Cooperative team skills -Tolerance and respect for differences

The Arts English HPE Science SOSE

Drama Peer Tutoring Camp School Band Sports Day Cross Country Interschool Sport Social Skills Intraschool Sport Program Values Program

Chess Club Junior Singers Senior Singers

Sports Room Monitors Hall games String Ensemble Speaking on Parade

Thi

nker

� Be critical and creative thinkers

-Risk taker -Problem Solver -Divergent Thinker -Flexible and adaptable -Knowledge of the past -Cultural and political awareness

Technology Maths Science SOSE English LOTE The Arts

ICT Drama GATE Program Thinking Skills

ACE Day Computer Lab Special Days Chess Club

Student initiated Talent Quests Parade Presentations Drama Performances

Par

ticip

ator

� Be self directed learners able to participate as active community members

-Initiative -pro-active -work ethic -love of learning -values and ethics

English The Arts Maths SOSE Science LOTE HPE Technology

Seasons for Growth Virtues Program Effective Management of Students Policy Social Skills Program

Buddy System Top Kurwongbah Kid Excursions/Incursions Class Meetings Open communication High Five Strategy Free Dress Days Fund raising days School Camps Strings Ensemble

Author/ Illustrator visits Kidsing Year 6/7 Meetings Tidy Block Term discos Theme Days Bookweek activities (Dress-up parade, competitions, displays) School Fetes

The Kurwongbah State School Community values these attributes:

We strive to develop these attributes in our students through these formal and informal school programs and initiatives:

EXIT OUTCOMES

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Our Vision for our students: At Kurwongbah all stu dents are encouraged to become responsible, confident, self-m otivated and co-operative individuals who aspire to achieve their m aximum potential within a safe and supportive multi-age setting.

Kurwongbah State School is a P to 7 multiage school which caters for the needs of approximately 850 students. In 2012 the school is organised in the following way:

• Prep/ One: 6 double classes (JA, JB, JC, JD, JE, JF) • Years 2/3: 4 double classes (JG, JH, JI, JJ) • Years 3/4: I double class (JSK) • Years 4/5: 3 double classes (SE, SF, SG) • Years 6/7: 3 double classes (SA, SB, SC) • Year 6: 1 single class (SD)

Implementing unit plans: C2C units aligned to the Australian Curriculum in English, mathematics and science will be implemented from Prep to year 7. Prep teachers will implement the Early Years Curriculum Guidelines . Teachers in Years 1-7 follow a two year cycle to implement Technology, SOSE, HPE and Arts units and Assessment Bank Items (See Appendix: Overview of Units at Kurwongbah ). These units have been collaboratively developed by the CST and classroom teachers and align to the QCAR Framework: Essential Learnings and Standards , while the Assessment Bank Items are sources from the QSA Assessment Bank and align to identified Essential Learnings. For further information about the QCAR Framework, please refer to Appendix: Overview of the QCAR Framework Unit plans are presented in a consistent format using the Kurwongbah unit planner or QSA unit planner across each juncture point and include the following features:

• Unit Overview • Essential learnings • Assessment overview • Identified text types and embedded ICT • Teaching and learning opportunities • Guides to making Judgements • Supporting resources

Units will continue to be reviewed, updated and realigned as the Australian Curriculum is released and we receive directives from EQ regarding familiarisation and implementation priorities. Unit plans and Assessment Bank Items can be accessed on the Intranet from G drive by following this path: G:\Coredata\Curriculum\Integrated Unit Planning

CURRICULUM ORGANISATION

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Studies that take into account all of the available evidence on teacher effectiveness suggest that students placed with high-performing teachers will progress three times as fast as those placed with low-performing teachers. (Barber & Mourshed, 2007)

At Kurwongbah we believe that all teachers can be highly effective teachers. There is now a large body of educational research into the factors underpinning highly effective teaching. Meta-analyses of this research (e.g. Walberg, 1984; Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 2000; Hattie, 2003) reveal a number of teaching practices associated with significantly improved student outcomes. Four broad characteristics of highly effective teaching are summarised briefly here.

High expectations

Highly effective teachers create classroom environments in which all students are expected to learn successfully. They set high expectations for student learning and create orderly classrooms in which students feel safe and supported to learn. They are driven by a belief that, although individuals are at different stages in their learning, every student is capable of learning and making progress beyond their current level of attainment if motivated and given appropriate learning opportunities and support. Highly effective teachers understand the importance of developing students’ own beliefs in their abilities to learn successfully, and work to promote students’ understandings of the relationship between effort and success. As part of this process, highly effective teachers make clear what students are expected to learn. They communicate clear and high expectations of individual students and are clear about the standards expected of students in each grade of school. They set learning goals for individuals couched in terms of the knowledge, skills and understandings that they are expected to develop (not simply in terms of classroom activities to be completed). They set high expectations for individual progress and are focused on ensuring that all students achieve grade-level proficiency in foundational skills such as reading, writing and numeracy. Deep knowledge Highly effective teachers have a deep understanding of the subjects they teach. These teachers have studied the content they teach in considerably greater depth than the level at which they currently teach and they have high levels of confidence in the subjects they teach. Their deep content knowledge allows them to focus on teaching underlying methods, concepts, principles and big ideas in a subject, rather than on factual and procedural knowledge alone. Highly effective teachers not only have deep knowledge of the subjects they teach, they also have deep understandings of how students learn those subjects (i.e. pedagogical content knowledge). They understand how learning typically progresses in a subject: for example, the skills and understandings that are pre-requisites for progress, and common paths of student learning. They are familiar with the kinds of learning difficulties that some students experience and with appropriate interventions

HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TEACHERS

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and available professional support for those difficulties. And they are aware of common student misunderstandings and errors, and know how to diagnose and address obstacles to further learning. Targeted teaching The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly. (Ausubel, 1968) Highly effective teachers establish where students are up to in their learning. They understand the importance of first ascertaining students’ current levels of knowledge, skill and understanding, and they see teaching not so much as the delivery of one-size-fits-all, grade-appropriate curriculum content to a classroom of students, as the design of learning opportunities tailored to students’ current levels of readiness and need. They use ‘starting point’ assessments and diagnoses of individual difficulties and misunderstandings to design effective interventions and teaching. Having established where students are up to in their learning, these teachers then direct their teaching to student needs and readiness. They maximise student engagement — and hence learning — by differentiating teaching according to student needs (i.e. not teaching to the middle of the class, but personalising teaching and learning as required). They use evidence-based teaching methods (such as direct instruction) that are known to be effective in promoting student learning and they use intrinsic factors (such as curiosity) to engage students and to motivate learning. Highly effective teachers work to ensure that all students are appropriately engaged, challenged and extended, including high-achieving students who already are working well beyond grade expectations. Continuous monitoring A consistent and strong research finding is that highly effective teachers provide continuous feedback to learning. They continually monitor the progress of individual students and provide feedback to support further learning. The provision of feedback is a key to effective classroom teaching. Highly effective teachers provide feedback in forms that guide student action and provide encouragement that further progress is possible with further effort. They assist students and parents to see and to monitor individual progress over time — including across the years of school — and they provide feedback to parents on what they can do to support their children’s learning. Beyond this, highly effective teachers reflect on their own practice and strive for continuous improvement. They use feedback about student learning to reflect on the effectiveness of their teaching efforts. They recognise that improvement in teaching is always possible and are eager to find ways to improve outcomes for students. They place a high priority on their own professional learning and usually work with colleagues in pursuit of improved teaching practices and enhanced student learning. Accessed from: Teaching and Learning: Highly Effective Teachers (Roadmap Years 1-9) http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=45365

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Pedagogical beliefs: Multi-age Multi-age grouping is a deliberate educational strategy, based on child-centred, developmental philosophy of learning occurring because our school community believes in: • creating an environment for cooperative learning based on a recognition of each

child’s uniqueness and unique rate of development. • all children learning in different ways. By addressing individuality and diversity the

school strives to cater for the needs of each child through a strong philosophical commitment to individualised, small group and large group (across age and year levels) teaching strategies. Multi-Age classes allow opportunities for all students to achieve at their own ability levels, whether this is at a year level or maturity level. The focus is on learning stages, which are developmental, rather than on the artificial barriers of year levels.

• bringing the advantages of family living into the classroom, offering children a wider variety of friendships and role-models, and greatly enhancing the learning environment.

Developmental learning and individual needs of students are addressed through the following: • Multi-age structure of classes; • Cooperative planning with specialist staff; • Quality classroom programs; • Whole School Thinking Skills program; • Learning Support Program; • Use of a variety of teaching strategies including Explicit Teaching, Constructivist

Teaching, Cooperative Learning, Inquiry-based Teaching • Integration of ICT's into planning/ teaching and learning • Inclusive education • SSS Room • GATE Program The school community is committed to providing on-going, quality professional development to ensure that staff have the necessary skills to work with students in our multi-age environment. Enhancing Pedagogy: Productive Pedagogies Kurwongbah State School recognises that optimum student learning is achieved through integrated learnings that are connected to the real world, contain high levels of intellectual quality, recognise differences in students and groups and are provided in a supportive classroom environment. Focus on developing effective teaching strategies is ensured through:

Year Level Meetings Planned professional dialogues Pupil Free Day Inservice

Networking Professional development opportunities

PEDAGOGY

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Differentiated Classroom learning Differentiated learning is a pedagogical approach that identifies and monitors the individual needs of students and matches these with ways of teaching. It focuses on HOW something is taught and centres the learner as pivotal in all classroom activity. Teachers are aware of their students’ diverse backgrounds and know that they are academically, culturally, linguistically, economically, socially and motivationally diverse. To maximise student outcomes, teachers consider this diversity when designing educational programs to cater for individual needs. Teacher practice Classroom teachers in their day-to-day teaching acknowledge that the particular learning needs of individual children are the starting place to consider differentiated learning. To ascertain these learning needs, teachers monitor the progress of their students to see where they are at within a particular learning task. Teachers can monitor this progress through identifying:

• difficulties students might be having with the content, • skills and processes • student strengths, and their levels of readiness • students’ interests and motivations • the ways students learn.

This monitoring then informs classroom teaching and learning activities so that each individual student’s learning needs, including high-achieving students, can be catered for. Suggestions for differentiating learning needs

Dimensions

Planning considerations

Our students

• What do my students already know about what I am about to teach? • What learning difficulties and misunderstandings do I anticipate my students might have with what I am about to teach? • What constitutes my students’ backgrounds? How will I harness these to maximise student outcomes? • How will I design the learning experiences to include all my students, including social support?

Curriculum intent

• Does my planning present and represent the curriculum so that all students have access to the same content? • Does my planning provide opportunities for students to have different entry points, learning tasks and outcomes that are tailored to their individual needs?

DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING

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Assessment

• Does the assessment provide opportunities and mediums through which students can demonstrate learnings? • Have I scaffolded their learning in ways that are responsive to their own particular needs so that assessments are achievable? • Does my assessment accommodate the learning goals of each and every student for this particular unit of work?

Teaching and learning sequence

• Will the learning experiences engage, challenge and extend all my students despite their diverse backgrounds, characteristics and needs? • Do the learning experiences provide students with different opportunities to acquire the content, processes and skills? • Have I incorporated flexible learning experiences e.g. a variety of activities and learning tasks; representation of curriculum in different contexts; individual, group and whole-of-class instructional modes; and multimodal assessment? • How will I adjust my teaching in response to the progress students are/are not making?

Making Judgments

• Are the task-specific assessable elements aligned with what I intended to assess and what I intended students to learn? • Am I consistently using the evidence in student work to make judgments against the nominated assessable elements?

Feedback

• Does my feedback-reflection-action loop explicitly focus on individual progress and differences in students? • Do I use information gained through continuous and formative assessment processes to modify my teaching and to plan the learning activities appropriate to my students? • Does my feedback process provide information to students and their parents/care givers about particular student learning needs?

Please note:

There is an expectation at Kurwongbah that documentation of differentiation

practices will occur at the unit level and will be collaboratively planned with your

cohort support teacher (IEC/ ST L&N) and recorded in OneSchool or equivalent.

There is an understanding that differentiation will occur daily in all classrooms as

units are changed, tweaked, extended and adapted to suit the needs of all learners

within the classroom but that extensive daily documentation of differentiation is not

required.

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Productive teachers use a range of teaching strategies including: • Direct teaching • Interactive teaching • Indirect teaching • Experiential teaching Direct teaching

Direct teaching is a highly structured teaching strategy. It's used to build and consolidate student knowledge, understanding and skills. The teacher actively directs the students in learning activities and focuses on ensuring all students achieve and consolidate the learning objectives.

Direct teaching methods include:

1. Explicit teaching

Explicit teaching is teaching of specific concepts or skills within a highly structured framework. The focus is on achieving specific learning outcomes. Students build and consolidate knowledge and/or skills important to a unit or program of work. This provides building blocks for more meaningful learning.

2. Intensive teaching

When the explicit teaching method is used to achieve specific learning outcomes for individual or small groups it is referred to as intensive teaching. It may involve specialist teachers and/or the use of assistive technology.

Intensive teaching is characterised by:

• individual/small group instruction – up to six students • explicit instructional talk at all stages • high response rates from teacher • immediate feedback on learning • sequential mastery of learning • opportunities for students to use higher order thinking skills.

For some students intensive scaffolding may be required to achieve specific knowledge and/or skills important to a unit or program of work.

3. Structured overview

A structured overview (or advance organiser), is a verbal, visual or written summary or outline of a topic, concept or skill. It's given to students at the start of a unit or lesson.

It distils difficult or complex ideas into simple definitions or explanations and shows how all the information relates. Structured overviews can be used throughout a lesson or unit to reinforce relationships between ideas and anchor learning.

Students can place new ideas in context and see the 'big picture'. It also provides a model for when students look for their own organising ideas and generate organisers of their own.

A RANGE OF TEACHING STRATEGIES

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4. Drill and practice

In a drill, students attend to material or skills repeatedly and/or in different ways until they're firmly established in their minds. Practice involves repeatedly applying or using a concept or skill in order to increase speed and/or automaticity. (Automaticity is when a student can perform a task without thinking about it.)

Drilling and practising concepts and skills refines and improves the retention and recall of facts and processes and the ability to use them effectively and efficiently. This provides the building blocks for more meaningful learning. Students are able to master materials at their own pace.

Interactive teaching

Interactive teaching has students working collaboratively and productively in small groups in a planned, well-managed and monitored learning environment. Interactive teaching involves:

• teachers specifying what students are to do

• students engaging with the task

• teachers monitoring progress and making decisions about what to do next to achieve the learning goal.

Interactive teaching methods include:

1. Whole-class discussion

A whole-class discussion is a group interaction where students participate in a purposeful, systematic exchange of facts, ideas and opinions.

Students share ideas, listen to a variety of points of view and express and explore their own views about a topic or problem.

Whole-class discussions help students to explore a range of perspectives on a topic or issue. Discussions can generate new ideas or original solutions to problems as students build on each others' thinking. This method also helps students develop communication skills and provides an opportunity for students to see that their ideas are valued. By participating in the discussions, students can also reflect on their own attitudes and values, and those of others.

2. Cooperative learning

Cooperative learning involves small groups of students working together to achieve a common learning goal.

Each learner within a group is given responsibility for some part of the learning. The entire group is accountable for the success of each of its members. However, each student is accountable for demonstrating his or her understanding of the material.

Students of any age or ability can achieve more by working collaboratively than by working alone. This method is also useful when:

• the learning task is too large for individual students

• an issue needs to be explored from multiple perspectives

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• trying to develop students' social and collaborative skills as a way of learning.

Students learn by seeing how other students approach learning. Students learn by teaching others.

3. Peer partner learning

In peer partner learning, one student provides feedback to a partner while the partner completes a task or skill. It's a collaborative experience where students learn from and with each other.

A version of peer partner learning is reciprocal teaching, when students teach each other specific material or skills.

Indirect teaching

Indirect teaching focuses on the student taking responsibility for their learning. In this strategy, students are involved in observing, investigating and drawing inferences from data, and forming hypotheses. The teacher organises the learning environment for the student. However, as the student takes responsibility for their learning, the teacher's role moves from instructor to facilitator.

Indirect teaching methods include:

1. Inquiry-based learning

Inquiry-based learning is about posing questions and finding answers to questions and issues. It is an open-ended and creative way of seeking knowledge through using critical and creative thinking.

Inquiry-based learning is useful when the question or issue:

• extends beyond the classroom

• involves broad and deep investigation.

It encourages independent learning as students have to come up with resolutions to questions themselves, rather than relying on the teacher.

Students can have a significant say about the content and context of their work, and develop ownership over the learning.

Inquiry-based learning builds students' research, interview and web search skills. It also builds the critical and creative thinking skills necessary for thoughtful review of information.

2. Inductive teaching

In inductive teaching, students' knowledge comes from the way they experience and interact with facts, information and events. Essentially, inductive teaching is a process that enables students to discover a concept from the inside out.

Teachers give students information about an issue or concept and encourage students to:

• look for patterns within the information

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• explore, observe and raise questions • make connections from their explorations of the information.

Students use their specific learning to make a conclusion about information and/or events. Students can then apply their conclusion to new information, issues or events. That is, they take the generalisation and apply it to a new or unfamiliar situation.

3. Problem-based learning

Problem-based learning involves students working together to solve an open-ended, challenging problem. This is different to giving students a problem to solve using information they have just learnt — better termed an 'exercise' rather than a problem.

Problem-based learning is appropriate when the problem needs broad and deep research and investigation.

It develops students ability to be self-directed, independent and interdependent learners as they work together to solve a problem. They learn how to take responsibility for their own group and organise and direct their learning with support from the teacher. It develops students thinking and reasoning skills, including:

• analysis • applying existing knowledge to new situations • separating fact from opinion • making judgments • critical and creative thinking.

Experiential teaching

In experiential teaching, students learn from experiencing real, simulated or dramatised situations. Through the teaching process students are immersed in practical experiences that model real-world issues. Students can:

• analyse and process their experiences

• form ideas or theories about issues, ideas and/or problems

• make generalisations

• reflect on their learning and future applications.

Experiential teaching methods include:

1. Field experience

A field experience is a structured activity that involves taking students out of the classroom. It can be a brief activity or a longer, more sustained project.

While this method occurs outside the classroom, the setting could be in the school garden or playground.

A field experience brings learning to life as students participate in experiences with 'real' people, places and/or events.

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2. Simulation

A simulation copies realistic, 'real world' conditions as much as possible. This helps students transfer concepts and problem-solutions to the 'real' world.

Simulations can include cooperative games or games played by individuals against their own standard.

In a simulation, students experience and learn from and about situations they cannot experience directly.

3. Role play

Role play involves students exploring issues, ideas and/or problems through dramatic action when they 'put on someone else's shoes'.

In role play, students consider another perspective to an issue by taking on a particular role. It makes learning relevant, particularly when the roles are of people involved in real-life or life-like situations. Role play gives students opportunities to examine their values and behaviours, develop empathy towards others and skills for solving interpersonal problems.

4. Process drama

Process drama is a dramatic event without a written text. It can be improvised or composed and rehearsed. In a process drama, students can create an imagined world where they discover, articulate and sustain fictional roles and situations.

The teacher may take on a role within the dramatic event or may stand outside the fiction.

In a process drama, students can imagine themselves as others and explore beliefs, feelings, behaviours and relationships across diverse situations.

[N.B. Additional information about these teaching strategies and methods, including examples can be found at: https://learningplace.eq.edu.au/cx/resources/items/f3515e44-6fe3-47e9-a582-75b4beb73a45/1/priority_four.html?.hb=true]

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In years 6/7 students engage with a series of ongoing activities and focussed discussions that help them to develop healthy mental habits of mind. The habits of mind, from the Dimensions of Learning model (Marzano, et. al., 1997) include a number of productive mental habits that have the potential to: 1. Enhance students’ learning of academic knowledge 2. Increase students’ abilities to learn in any situation Productive mental habits help students to be successful learners in whatever circumstances they encounter. Habits of mind have been identified within each Integrated Unit across the two year cycle. A set of laminated posters have been developed for teachers, one poster for each habit of mind, to assist in unpacking and discussing the habit of mind with students. These posters are available to borrow from the Resource Centre. The 15 habits of mind identified in the Dimensions of Learning model fall into three general categories: critical thinking, creative thinking, and self- regulated thinking. Students who have mental habits that exemplify critical thinking tend to:

• Be accurate and seek accuracy • Be clear and seek clarity • Maintain an open mind • Restrain impulsivity • Take a position when the situation warrants it • Respond appropriately to others’ feelings and level of knowledge

Students who have mental habits that exemplify creative thinking tend to:

• Persevere • Push the limits of their knowledge and abilities • Generate, trust, and maintain their own standards of evaluation • Generate new ways of viewing a situation that are outside the boundaries of

standard convention Students who have mental habits that exemplify self-regulated thinking tend to:

• Monitor their own thinking • Plan appropriately • Identify and use necessary resources • Respond appropriately to feedback • Evaluate the effectiveness of their actions

(N.B. Additional information, activities and examples of each habit can be found on pages 274- 297 in the Dimensions of Learning Teacher’s Manual , 2nd edn).

DEVELOPING HABITS OF MIND

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Helping students develop productive habits of mind Students learn to use the habits of mind most effectively when teachers consistently model, define, explain and discuss the habits in the classroom and when they reward students for demonstrating the habits. Students can assist students to develop productive habits of mind by explicitly teaching each of the habits in a structured way. The following process should be followed by teachers when introducing and teaching each habit: 1. Help students understand habits of mind

• facilitate classroom discussion of each habit • use examples from literature and current events of people who are using the

habits in different situations • share personal anecdotes that relate to each habit • notice and label student behaviour that demonstrates a particular habit • ask students to identify personal heroes or mentors and describe the extent

to which they exemplify specific habits of mind • help students create posters that illustrate their understanding of the habits

2. Help students identify and develop strategies related to habits of mind

• use think-aloud to demonstrate specific strategies • ask students to share their own strategies • encourage students to find examples of strategies mentioned in literature

and current events • ask students to interview others • ask students to identify or focus on a habit of mind they would like to

develop 3. Create a culture in the classroom and the school that encourages the development and use the habits of mind

• model the habits • integrate the habits into daily routines and activities of the classroom • develop and display posters, icons and other visual representations to

express the importance of productive habits of mind • cue students to focus on specific mental habits or ask them to identify habits

that would help them while working on difficult tasks 4. Provide positive reinforcement to students who exhibit the habits of mind

• appoint “process observers”, students who watch for examples of other students who are demonstrating the habits

• ask students to self-assess their use of specific habits (N.B. More detailed information about each step can be found on pages 264- 270 in the Dimensions of Learning Teacher’s Manual , 2nd edn) Reference: Marzano, R. et.al. (1997) Dimensions of learning: Teacher’s manual. Colorado: McRel.

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Assessment Assessment is a key aspect of the teaching and learning process. Assessment focuses on the performance of individual and groups of students in the educational setting and occurs in a variety of ways. It involves a practical, systemic process for collecting and analysing data, the major purpose of which is the improvement of learning through informed decision making. Assessment occurs when students are active in their teaching and learning environment. It should be:

• Diagnostic • Formative • Summative

A range of assessment techniques and instruments used at Kurwongbah State School include:

• Focussed analysis; • Consultation; • Observation; • Peer and self assessment.

Reporting Reporting is the process of communicating information obtained from the assessment process about students’ demonstration of learning outcomes. Reporting provides information on:

• Demonstrated evidence of student learning against agreed standards; • Judgments made about students’ demonstration of learning outcomes.

Audiences: • Students of Kurwongbah State School • School Administration Team – Principal and Deputy Principals • Parents/carers of students at Kurwongbah State School • Kurwongbah State School Community • Education Queensland.

When:

• A written progress report is issued twice a year – end of Semester 1 and Semester 2

• Year 2 Diagnostic NET report issued annually to students in years 1,2 and 3 • Face-to-Face Interviews are offered twice a year- once at the end of Term 1

and again during Semester 2 Assessment and Reporting Plan Information regarding assessing and reporting at Kurwongbah is specifically detailed in the Kurwongbah State School Assessment and Reporting Pl an. Please refer to this plan for further information about assessment and reporting practices and responsibilities at Kurwongbah.

ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING

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The Early Years Curriculum Guidelines (EYCG) clearly articulate the processes that guide assessment and monitoring practices in Prep. Page 84 of the EYCG outlines the curriculum expectations associated with how data is gathered, organised, interpreted and reported. It is the department’s view that this process for the basis for school based monitoring, assessment and reporting in prep. The Assessment and reporting in Prep document outlines the Department's expectations regarding the process and practices associated with gathering, interpreting and reporting on student progress in Prep. Assessment in Prep Prep teachers at State School (A) are expected to: 1. Gather evidence of student learning and development over time using a range of strategies including:

• Observations • Focused discussions • Digital records • Time sampling • Collection and analysis of artefacts

2. Organise data into a format. This can be paper-based or digital folio. At Kurwongbah we have agreed to a modified paper folio. 3. Reflect on the evidence gathered for individual children. During this analysis, teachers consider the learning statements and phase descriptions in the EYCG. It is the quality not the quantity of evidence that enables teachers to feel confident about their interpretation of the learning occurring. 4. Make a judgement about the child’s learning in a particular phase. Teachers reflect on student progress twice a year using the Early Learning Record (ELR). The purpose of the ELR is to monitor children’s overall progress and build a picture of their learning and development over the Prep Year. Reporting in Prep Currently, written reports are not a requirement in Prep. The Department’s guidelines for written reporting, including the use of the five point scale, apply from Years 1-10 (NB. Final information about reporting in Prep shou ld be confirmed by QSA and Teaching and Learning in early 2012). Reporting in Prep should take the form of oral reporting to parents twice yearly. Prep teachers can report using the ELR in the same way Year 2 teachers discuss the continua with parents.

ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING IN PREP

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Why do we moderate? Moderation provides an opportunity for teachers to achieve consistency in teacher judgement through a structured process that allows them to compare judgements in order to either confirm or adjust them. The process involves close collaboration to establish a shared understanding of what achievement of KLA standards looks like and whether or not the student has demonstrated achievement of that standard. Teachers work towards making judgements that are consistent and comparable . What purposes can moderation serve in supporting co nsistency in teacher judgement?

• Develop shared or common interpretations of standards and expectations of what constitutes achievement of KLA standards

• Develop shared understandings of what students’ achievements look like • Develop accuracy and reliability in making judgements • Ensure judgements are equitable in terms of implications for student learning • Strengthen the value of teachers’ judgements • Inform well-targeted teaching programs • Make judgements in relation to syllabus standards

Ultimately, we engage in moderation to ensure that reported judgements of student achievement are defensible and comparable. Social Moderation Social moderation is an extended, collaborative process. It is the culmination of a process that delivers multiple opportunities for learning through quality, equitable and well-considered educational experiences. The ultimate aim of moderation is to achieve comparable grades in a diverse range of authentic assessment tasks across a range of schools in Queensland. The moderation process can be enacted within a school based context and/or across clusters or regions. While cohesive groups working collaboratively to achieve consensus, on-line models may provide moderation contexts that respond to issues such as distance or like-school groupings. Conference Model of Moderation At Kurwongbah, we have chosen the Conference Model as the process for moderation each term. Using the conference model for moderation, teachers discuss and deliberate in making their judgements about the quality of all of the evidence presented as student work. Teachers make judgements on several criteria to rea ch an 'on-balance' holistic judgement. This is not a procedural approach but one that is based on the teachers' professional knowledge in shared and collaborative decision making. Teachers mark (some or all) student responses individually, and then select assessment samples representative of their application for A to E standards. They meet with other teachers to discuss their judgements by sharing their samples. Teachers reach a consensus on the interpretation and application of the standards.

Further details about Moderation at Kurwongbah State School including Moderation protocols and an Overview of Moderation activities for 2011 can be accessed via the Kurwongbah State School Moderation Plan

MODERATION

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Forming strong partnerships with our school community and local community is a priority. This is evidenced through: An Emphasis on a Team Approach

• Building strong year level teams through year level meetings, year level moderations and shared practice.

• Explicitly planning for links between classes and sectors of the school as part of the curriculum plan.

• Regular opportunities for cohort and whole school sharing and reflection. Strong Parent Partnerships

• Parent Information evening sessions run at the beginning of the year to give parents information about the year ahead and classroom routines and expectations.

• Displays in the classrooms, Administration Block and the Resource Centre feature student-created products and highlight the innovative practices within our classrooms.

• Regular parent communication through school newsletters, class newsletters, communication books, interviews and emails.

• Inviting parents to learning celebrations, culminating activities or Expos planned as part of unit planning.

• Parent volunteers working in classrooms • Parent workshops and information sessions provided throughout the year. • Parent involvement with home reading, homework tasks and school

projects. • Involving parents in school projects – Book Club, Premier’s Reading

challenge, Support-A-Talker, Support-A-Reader, etc. Community Links

• Regularly invite community members with specific expertise to participate as part of our integrated Units, e.g. Local member.

• Utilise local facilities for excursions and to enhance learning. Some of the links already created include:

• A study of the local area and places of interest (2/3 unit) • Study of Lake Kurwongbah (6/7 unit) including the involvement of a local

environmental group • Excursions to local places as part of integrated units- Working Farm,

Heritage Museum, Local Council Library, etc.

FORMING PARTNERSHIPS

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School documents that support this Curriculum Plan are: • Kurwongbah State School Curriculum Overview- 2012 • Kurwongbah State School Assessment and Reporting Plan- 2012 • Kurwongbah State School Moderation Plan- 2012 • Kurwongbah State School Science Program- 2012 • GATE Action Plan • Learning Enhancement Policy • Effective Management of Students Policy • Kurwongbah State School Values Project

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

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Tables 1 and 2 indicate the Australian Curriculum learning areas and the Queensland curriculum early learning areas or the key learning areas that teachers will use when planning, teaching, assessing and reporting in 2012. Table 1: Prep learning areas in 2012 Prep Year curriculum from 2012 • Australian curriculum • Queensland curriculum: EYCG

.

APPENDIX: TEACHING IN TWO FRAMEWORKS

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Table 2: Years 1 to 7 learning areas in 2012 Years 1 to 7 curriculum from 2012 • Australian curriculum • Queensland curriculum: Essential learnings

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The QCAR Framework enables schools to deliver cohesive learning programs for Years 1-9 and help students achieve deeper levels of understanding. Intellectually challenging and real-world learning experiences will help all students become lifelong learners. Assessing student work against the same standards will increase the consistency of teacher judgements of student achievement across the state.

The QCAR Framework supports the importance of both the Early Phase and Middle Phase of learning by ensuring the creation of space for learning within the total school environment, continuity of curriculum intent and comparability and consistency in assessment and reporting.

Curriculum

• Essential Leanings: Core of curriculum • School based curriculum: Contextually relevant curriculum • Inquiry based curriculum model: developing deep knowledge and understanding • Pedagogical Practices : Developing curriculum intent to provide multiple

opportunities for students to engage in intellectually challenging and real-world learning experiences

Assessment

• Standards: ensuring continuity, comparability and consistency • Assessment strategies and techniques • Evidence of student achievement • Social Moderation and Moderation Protocols • Pedagogical Practices : Provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate

their learning in a range of contexts and media Assessment refers to the collection of information about student achievement. The QCAR framework recognises the central role of teachers' every day classroom assessment in providing authentic and valid feedback for ongoing improvement in teaching and student learning. It also recognises that statewide point-in-time assessment provides reliable and comparable information about student achievement across schools. While each assessment approach provides different information, in combination fuller picture of student achievement is provided. Reporting

• Reporting guidelines: Formats, styles and frequency • Template • Pedagogical Practices : Developing reporting structures and techniques that

reflect the multiple opportunities in which students have demonstrated their learning (Accessed from: http://education.qld.gov.au/qcar/implementing.html)

APPENDIX: OVERVIEW OF THE QCAR FRAMEWORK

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When

What

Who

Action

Annual

BRIGANCE Screener (Prep, Term 1) Prep Reading Behaviours Inventory (Prep, Term 3) Letter/Sound Checklist (Prep, Year 1 (Final year) Terms 2 and 4)

Classroom teacher Classroom teacher Teacher aides

Intervention Intervention, differentiation, targeted teaching Targeted teaching

Speech Screening (Prep/ Year 1, Term 2) Vision Screener (Prep/ Year 1, Term1/ Term 2)

Speech pathologist Eyes@Narangba

Intervention, Support-A-Talker; home program, intensive support (one-on-one, small group) Individual screening, teacher information

Auditory processing (Year 1; Term 3)

Teacher aides

Parent information

Year 2 Diagnostic Net (Year 2, NB. 2012- Final Year)

Classroom Teacher, Net Teacher

Support-A-Reader, Support-A-Writer, Support-A-Number, Support-A-Talker

South Australian Spelling Test (Years 2-7, Term 4)

Classroom Teacher

Individualised spelling programs, whole class programs

NAPLAN (Years 3, 5 and 7, Term 2)

Classroom teacher

Intensive teaching initiative (final year), Lexia, Enrichment program

QCATs (Years 4 and 6, Term 3)

Classroom teacher

Collaborative marking/moderation; District moderation, reporting

PAT-R (Years 4 and 6, Term 4)

Classroom teacher

Data analysis, referral process, classroom reading programs

PAT-Maths (Years 4 and 6, Term 4)

Classroom teacher

Data analysis, referral process, classroom mathematics programs

APPENDIX: 2012 ASSESSMENT AND TESTING OVERVIEW

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Semester

Summative assessment tasks (Technology, HPE, SOSE, The Arts, LOTE)

Classroom teacher

Targeted teaching, reporting

PROBE (Years 3-7; Terms 2 and 4)

Classroom teacher

Whole class reading program

Term

Spelling diagnostic tests - pre and post (Years 2-7)

Classroom teacher

Differentiation; targeted teaching

PM Benchmark (Years P-3)

Classroom teacher/ Key teacher/ Teacher aide/ Learning Support

Whole class reading program, Support-A-Reader, volunteer program

Science summative assessment task (C2C, Years P-7)

Classroom teacher

Targeted teaching, reporting

Unit

English formative assessment (C2C, Years P-7) Mathematics formative assessment (C2C, Years P-7)

Classroom teacher Classroom teacher

Monitoring, differentiation, grouping, goal setting Monitoring, differentiation, grouping, goal setting

English- summative assessment task (C2C, Years P-7) Mathematics- summative assessment task (C2C, Years P-7)

Classroom teacher Classroom teacher

Reporting, moderation, goal setting Reporting, moderation, goal setting

Monthly

Triple S OneSchool Reports

Behaviour ST

Weekly

Student work samples (Years P-7) Observations (Years P-7) Checklists (Years P-7) Anecdotal records (Years P-7)

Classroom teacher Classroom teacher/ Learning support

Differentiation, explicit teaching

Weekly Triple S Room Reports

Behaviour ST

BMI, Task cards, Playground cards, YOYOB Cards, LOTE cards, IBSP, Parent contact, Stakeholder meetings, Outside agencies

40

Appendix: 2012 Kurwongbah State School Yearly Data Collection Overview

Year Level

Term One

Term Two

Term Three

Term Four

P BRIGANCE Screener – (K) Speech Screening Letter/Sound Checklist (K) Vision Screener (K)

PM Benchmark (K) Sight Word Checklist (K) Letter/Sound Checklist (K)

1 Vision Screener (K) Speech Screening

Auditory Processing (K) PM Benchmark (K)

2 Validation (S) PM Benchmark (K)

PM Benchmark (K) SA Spelling Test (K) PROBE OPTIONAL

3 NAPLAN (National Assessment Program- Literacy and Numeracy tests) (N) (NB. Text type-persuasive) Tuesday 15 May Wednesday 16 May Thursday 17 May PM Benchmark (K)

SA Spelling Test (K) PM Benchmark (K) PROBE OPTIONAL

4

PROBE (K)

QCATs (Queensland Comparable Assessment Tasks) Arrive June 22 (S) • English • Science • Mathematics Implement 9 Jul-21 Sept

SA Spelling Test (Week 4) (K) PROBE (Week 4-8) (K) PAT-R Reading Comprehension Test Form 4 (K) Vocabulary Test Form 1 PAT-MATHS Maths Test Form 1 (K)

5 NAPLAN (National Assessment Program- Literacy and Numeracy tests) (N) (NB. Text type-persuasive) Tuesday 15 May Wednesday 16 May Thursday 17 May PROBE (K)

SA Spelling Test (Week 4) (K) PROBE (Week 4-8) (K)

6

PROBE (K)

QCATs (Queensland Comparable Assessment Tasks) Arrive June 22 (S) • English • Science • Mathematics Implement 9 Jul-21 Sept

SA Spelling Test (Week 4) (K) PROBE (Week 4-8) (K) PAT-R Reading Comprehension Test Form 5 (K) Vocabulary Test Form 2 PAT-MATHS Maths Test Form 3 (K)

7 NAPLAN (National Assessment Program- Literacy and Numeracy tests) (N) (NB. Text type- persuasive) Tuesday 15 May Wednesday 16 May Thursday 17 May PROBE (K)

SA Spelling Test (Week 4) (K) PROBE (Week 4-6) (K)

Key: K- School-based S- State-based N- National testing *NB Teachers are to advise Learning Support on new enrolments

41

Appendix: 2012 Kurwongbah State School English Targets

SA

Spelling

PM Benchmark

PROBE

NAPLAN

PAT R

English

(Report Card)

80% of students at

or above

95% of students at or above

95% of students at or above

Reading Writing Grammar and

Punct.

Spelling 85% of students at or above stanine

% of students at or above C

level (or equivalent)

Accuracy Comp. Accuracy

Comp.

NMS U2B NMS U2B NMS U2B NMS U2B Vocab Comp

Sem 1

Sem 2

Sem 1

Sem 2

Prep 80%

Year 1 6.5

4-7 7-13 75% 75% 80%

Year 2

7.5 12-16

16- 20

75% 75% 93%

Year 3

8.5 18-22

22-24

75% 75% 97%

42% 100% 51% 96% 54% 98%

43% 91%

Year 4

9.5 95% 75% 4-6 4-6 84%

Sem 1: Puppy Sem2: Glow worms

Book 1 Book 4

Year 5

10.5 95% 75% 96%

30% 98% 30% 96% 38% 92% 23% 84% Sem 1: Maria Sem 2: Blue Whales

Year 6

11.5 95% 75% 4-6 4-6 89%

Sem 1: Dogs

Book 2 Book 5 Sem 2: Oil

Year 7

12.5 95% 75% 99%

26% 97% 36% 94% 17% 99% 13% 87% Sem 1: Train Sem 2: Bradley

42

Appendix: Diagnostic Year 2 Net: Percentage of stud ents not requiring additional support

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012 Targets

Reading

87%

77%

80%

88.8 %

90%

Writing

93%

91%

89%

90.7 %

93%

Number

91%

93%

97%

91.6 %

95%

43

Appendix: 2012 Kurwongbah State School Mathematics Targets

NAPLAN

QCATs

PAT M

Achievement Level (Report

Card)

NMS U2B % of students at or above C level

80% of students at or above stanine

% of students at or above C level (or equivalent)

Prep

80%

Year 1

80%

Year 2

93%

Year 3

98%

35%

89%

Year 4

85% 4-6

Book 1

84%

Year 5

95%

23%

82%

Year 6

85% 4-6

Book 3

77%

Year 7

99%

14%

88%

44

Appendix: 2012 Kurwongbah State School Science Targ ets

QCATs

Achievement Level (Report Card)

% of students at or above C level

% of students at or above C level (or equivalent)

Prep

85%

Year 1

85%

Year 2

100%

Year 3

87%

Year 4

85%

86%

Year 5

85%

Year 6

85%

88%

Year 7

82%

45

Prep- Overview of English, maths and science C2C un its (Australian Curriculum)

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4

Unit 1: Exploring our new world Text types: a range of literary and non-literary texts including fiction, non-fiction books and everyday texts Unit focus: Students listen to and read texts to explore predictable text structures and common visual patterns represented in a range of literary and non-literary texts including fiction, non-fiction books and everyday texts.

Unit 2: Enjoying stories Text types: a range of literary and non-literary texts Unit focus: Students listen to and engage with a range of literary and non-literary texts to explore predictable structures and common visual patterns represented.

Unit 3: Interacting with others Text types: a range of multimodal texts, including poetry and rhymes Unit focus: Students listen to, view and interpret a range of multimodal texts, including poetry and rhymes, to develop an understanding of sound and letter knowledge, a range of language features, and to identify common visual patterns.

Unit 4: Responding to texts Text types: a range of texts, including the oral narrative traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as well as the contemporary literature of these two cultural groups, and classic and contemporary world literature, including texts from and about Asia Unit focus: Students will have multiple opportunities to explore a range of texts, including the oral narrative traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; contemporary literature of these two cultural groups; and classic and contemporary world literature, including texts from and about Asia.

Unit 1: Me myself and I Throughout this unit, continuous elements of mathematics will be repeated frequently to consolidate foundation learning concepts and make them automatic. Students will be explicitly taught: • counting • understanding of numbers to 10 • comparing and ordering numbers.

Unit 2: Myself and others Throughout this unit, continuous elements of mathematics will be repeated frequently to consolidate foundation learning concepts and make them automatic. Students will be explicitly taught: • counting • understanding numbers to 10 • copying • continuing and creating patterns • describing position and movement.

Unit 3: How things grow Throughout this unit, continuous elements of mathematics will be repeated frequently to consolidate foundation learning concepts and make them automatic. Students will be explicitly taught: • comparing and ordering collections • sorting, classifying and describing objects and

two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects in the environment

• collecting information through questioning.

Unit 4: What’s out there Throughout this unit, continuous elements of mathematics will be repeated frequently to consolidate foundation learning concepts and make them automatic. Students will be explicitly taught: • representing practical situations to model addition

and sharing • using direct and indirect comparisons to decide

which is longer, heavier or holds more.

Unit 1: Our living world In this unit, students investigate the needs of living things. They develop the understanding that the survival of all living things is reliant on basic needs being met. Students will: • explore, observe and discuss the living world using

the senses • classify a range of familiar living things • respond to questions about living things, to form

generalisations about what living things need to survive

• compare and contrast the needs of plants and animals

• examine how the needs of living things are met • hypothesise about the consequences of needs not

being met • propose actions that can be taken to support the

provision of the basic needs of living things.

Unit 2: Our material world In this unit, students use their senses to examine familiar objects. They explore the materials of which these objects are made and their properties. Students will: • explore familiar objects to gather information

about the material they are made from • respond to questions about everyday objects • use their senses to make their observations

about familiar objects • sort and classify objects on the basis of

properties of materials • investigate the property of a material in a range

of different objects • investigate an object (e.g. a cup) made from

different materials (e.g. plastic, paper) • select the most appropriate materials for the

construction of an object and explain the reason for their choice.

Unit 3: Weather watch In this unit, students explore daily and seasonal changes in the weather. They make links to how these changes in their immediate environment affect them and their daily activities. Students will: • examine their current observations of the daily

and seasonal changes • respond to questions about the weather, making

observations using their senses • make links to how changes in the weather

modify their behaviour and dress • listen to the stories about how Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander concepts of time and weather patterns explain how things happen

• formulate generalisations about how changes in the weather might affect plants and animals.

Unit 4: I like to move it, move it In this unit, students examine how things move. They draw conclusions about the factors influencing that movement. Students will: • make observations of movement using their senses • explore how familiar living things move • make links between the movement of living things

and their size and shape • make links between the movement of living things

and their environment • explore the way different objects move • respond to questions about moving objects • investigate the movement of different-sized, but

similar-shaped objects • construct an object that moves and explain factors

influencing the movement.

APPENDIX: OVERVIEW OF UNITS AT KURWONGBAH

46

Year 1 Overview of units- 2012 (Essential Learning s)

Semester One: Positive pathways

Semester Two: Around the World

The Arts The Arts- Drama Students develop and present a dramatic interpretation of a familiar story.

The Arts- Dance Students plan and perform a 4-movement dance sequence based on an excerpt from a familiar cultural story

HPE Heathy food, healthy me! Students learn about healthy food choices to select food for a healthy school lunch.

Assessed through PE lessons only.

SOSE

Community Helpers Students identify and describe the role of a Community Helper to demonstrate what they know and understand about people who help us (from an image of the Community Helper). Essential Learning: Citizenship involves belonging to groups and communities and valuing different contributions and behaviours such as caring for other members e.g. families and schools are groups that are based on cooperation and care for their members.

Cultural diversity Students “visit” a series of countries around the world and use concept maps to record their thinking and understanding about those places and cultural experiences.

Technology Make it tasty! Students design and make a sandwich for another class member (design, make, evaluate, reflect).

Postcard Design Students design and make a postcard from a chosen country considering layout and visual appeal.

47

Year 1 Overview of units- 2013 (Essential Learning s)

Positive Pathways:

friends Matter

Act it out!

Our Art Gallery

Safety First

School of Rock

Wildlife Warriors

Overview of the unit

When classroom routines and a positive classroom environment are established, learning opportunities are enhanced. When social skills are explicitly taught, students are given every opportunity to participate in group tasks and contribute to class learning experiences.

Students will interpret and present familiar children’s picture books using simple dramatic techniques.

Students explore visual arts concepts and processes to develop a deep knowledge and understanding of art elements to develop a folio of art works.

Students explore safety considerations in a variety of contexts- sun safety, water safety and road safety.

Students design and create a musical instrument for the classroom band.

Everyone can make a difference! In this unit, students consider the ways that they can make a difference to protect the natural environment and care for wildlife through sustainable practices including reducing, reusing and recycling.

KLAs and strands

SOSE- Political and economic systems HPE- Personal development Technology

The Arts - Drama

The Arts - Visual Arts

HPE- Health

Technology

SOSE- Place and space

Possible incursion/ excursion

Art Gallery Reef Puppet Show Orchestra/ Science Centre- sounds

Australia Zoo

48

Year 1- Overview of English, maths and science C2C units (Australian Curriculum)

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6 Unit 7 Unit 8

Exploring emotion in picture books Students listen to, read, view and interpret written picture books including stories from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. They identify emotive content and justify their interpretations of the stories.

Explaining how a story works Students listen to, read and view picture books and stories from their own and other cultures to analyse and explain a familiar story.

Exploring characters in stories

Text type: spoken, written and multimodal literary texts

Unit focus: Students listen to, read, view and interpret spoken, written and multimodal literary texts to identify some features of characters in literary texts and to create written character descriptions.

Engaging with poetry

Text type: humorous poems

Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view a variety of humorous poems, chants, rhymes and songs to identify and justify humour. Students recite a humorous poem to the class and reflect on their recitation.

Examining language of communication — questioning Text type: a variety of texts using animal characters Unit focus: Students listen to, read, view and interpret texts with animal characters to explore how they reflect human qualities. Students present an interview in pairs asking open and closed questions of an animal character.

Retelling stories from other cultures Text type: picture books and stories Unit focus: Students listen to, read, view and interpret picture books and stories including a wide selection from different cultures to retell a favourite story in writing to an audience of peers.

Creating digital procedural texts Text type: interpret written and digital procedural texts Unit focus: Students listen to, read, view and interpret written and digital procedural texts to explore predictable text structures and images in information texts. Students create a multimodal written and visual presentation of a procedure.

Creating digital texts Text type: range of narrative texts Unit focus: Students listen to, read, view and interpret a range of narrative texts to create digital innovation on a favourite story. Students present a spoken persuasive justification about the choices for their innovation

In this unit students build upon prior learning.

They will: • explore numbers to

100, including partitioning and the use of number lines

• skip counting by twos, fives, and tens

• solve simple addition and subtraction problems

• recognise part- whole relationships

• tell time to the half-hour

• describe duration, using months, weeks days and hours

• connect days of the week to familiar events and actions

• describe position and movement.

In this unit students build upon prior learning.

They will: • explore numbers to

100, including partitioning and the use of number lines

• skip counting by twos, fives, and tens

• solve simple addition and subtraction problems

• recognise part- whole relationships

• sort, describe and recognise familiar two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional and objects.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts.

They will: • investigate, explore

and describe patterns in number including partitioning and the use of number lines

• skip count by twos, fives, and tens

• solve simple addition and subtraction problems

• measure using uniform informal units

• measure and compare the length and capacity of objects

• choose simple questions and gather responses

• represent data with objects and drawings.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts.

They will: • investigate, explore

and describe patterns in number including partitioning and the use of number lines

• skip count by twos, fives, and tens

• solve simple addition and subtraction problems

• describe attributes of coins

• classify two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects according to obvious features.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts.

They will: • apply knowledge of

number to practical situations, including addition, subtraction and partitioning

• skip count by twos, fives and tens

• recognise and describe one-half as one of two equal parts of a whole

• recognise and sort Australian coins and make comparisons

• classify two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects according to obvious features.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts.

They will: • apply knowledge of

number to practical situations, including addition, subtraction and partitioning

• skip count by twos, fives and tens

• recognise and describe one-half as one of two equal parts of a whole

• use the language of chance

• choose simple questions and gather responses

• represent data with objects and drawings.

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts.

They will: • apply knowledge of

number to practical situations, including addition, subtraction and partitioning

• describe one-half as one of two equal parts of a whole

• make comparisons of length and capacity in practical applications

• tell time to the half-hour

• describe duration using months, weeks days and hours

• connect days of the week to familiar events and actions.

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts.

They will: • apply knowledge of

number to practical situations, including addition, subtraction and partitioning

• describe one-half as one of two equal parts of a whole

• recognise coins and make comparisons

• give and follow directions to familiar locations

• identify outcomes of familiar events involving chance

• choose simple questions and gather responses

• represent data with objects and drawings.

49

Unit 1: Living adventure

In this unit, students will examine a range of living things to explore links between external features of living things and the environment where their needs are met. They will use this information to predict consequences of environmental change.

Students will: • identify and compare features of living

things • analyse the purpose/s of their features • consider a range of different features

which are used for the same purpose • examine living things that may be found

locally • investigate different environments and

related living things • reflect on the relationship between the

needs of living things and their local environment

• formulate ideas about survival of living things when changes occur in their environment.

Unit 2: Material madness

In this unit, students will explore physical changes occurring to familiar materials and apply this knowledge to create something they can use.

Students will: • explore everyday materials and their

observable properties, such as colour, shape, size, texture, and thickness

• investigate how materials can be physically changed (e.g. bending, twisting, pulling, cutting, heating, cooling, painting)

• analyse how physical changes affect familiar/unfamiliar materials

• create something useful by making physical changes to familiar materials.

Unit 3: Changes around me

In this unit, students will compare the changes that occur in the sky and landscape They will make links to how the changes affect their experiences.

Students will: • compare observations of the day sky

and landscape with the night sky and landscape

• examine changes that occur in the sky and landscape

• reflect on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander explanation of observable changes in the sky and landscape

• formulate links with changes that occur in the sky and landscape to experiences in everyday life.

Unit 4: Light and sound

In this unit, students investigate a range of sources that produce light and sounds. They will keep a record of their developing scientific understanding through their sensory explorations of light and sound.

Students will: • use their senses to explore sound and

light in the world around them • identify and describe sources of light and

the effect of an absence of light • determine that objects can be seen when

a light source is available to illuminate them

• identify sources of sound and the effect of an absence of sound

• explore different ways to change the sound produced using familiar objects and actions (e.g. striking, blowing, scraping)

• examine musical instruments from other cultures

• construct a musical instrument to produce different sounds.

50

Years 2/3 Overview of units- 2012 (Essential Learni ngs)

The Arts

Visual Arts- Colour my world Children use colour to create visual art works that express a feeling. They select one of their artworks and prepare an artist’s statement about it. They also interpret the artworks of another child, making use of visual arts language.

Media- PhotoStory Students select images from a bank of images (available in G drive) to design and create a presentation using PhotoStory that explains the production of a common food or clothing item by sequencing digital images and recording audio, inserting transitions and applying relevant text as captions.

HPE

Assessed through PE lessons only

Transport safety test (QSA Assessment Bank Item) Students analyse a transport scene to identify dangerous behaviours. They identify possible risks and harms and suggest alternative behaviours that would minimise risks to themselves and others.

SOSE

Safe and happy classrooms (QSA Assessment Bank Item) Students will discuss classroom rules. They will choose five classroom rules for a poster and explain why these rules are important. They will also reflect on their poster design.

How is it made? Students create a series of concept maps and flow charts that record their understandings about the processes/steps associated with the production of familiar food and clothing items. They explain the steps involved in the production of a familiar food or clothing item.

Technology

Mixed media construction Students design and create a sculpture or collage from mixed media, considering available everyday materials and their properties to explore the use of those materials in a variety of interesting ways. Students reflect on their constructions.

Make a puppet/ mask Students follow the technology process to design, make and evaluate a puppet (or mask) and reflect on their learning.

51

Years 2/3 Overview of units- 2013 (Essential Learni ngs)

Positive Pathways- Working

and playing together

Push it, pull it!

Food, Glorious Food

Celebrating Indigenous

Culture

SOSE

Belonging to a Group- Make a Shield - Create a shield that describes aspects of the group they belong to (i.e. uniform, name, logo, slogan, rules, behaviours, activities, values)

Cultural symbol, celebration or artefact - Select a symbol, celebration or artefact-research and share what they know with the class (can choose any means of sharing)

HPE

Working and playing together- Y-Chart Create a Y-Chart to describe what a group that is working well together will look like, sound like and feel like.

Analysing and comparing two daily eating plans using The Guide to Healthy Eating as a reflection tool. Healthy Lunchbox Item- speaking task

Technology

Moving forward (Assessment Bank Item).

Design Tasks (Choose from a number of options):

The Arts

Dramatic role-play - Responding to social scenarios in role.

Telling a story through dance - create and present a dance sequence based on a traditional indigenous story.

Consider multiple options for allowing students to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skil ls in each KLA.

52

Year 2- Overview of English, maths and science C2C units (Australian Curriculum)

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6 Unit 7 Unit 8

Reading, writing and performing poetry Text types: a range of poems using imagery about a particular topic Unit focus: Students read and listen to a range of poems about a topic to create an imaginative reconstruction of a poem using imagery to enhance its descriptive qualities. Students present the reconstructed poem to an audience of peers.

Retelling stories of families and friends Text types: a variety of texts including traditional oral stories, simple biographies, plays and drama activities about families and friendships Unit focus: Students explore a variety of texts including traditional oral stories, simple biographies, plays and drama activities to analyse how stories convey a message about issues that relate to their family and friends. Students will record and retell a story about a friend or family member in a multimodal form.

Identifying stereotypes Text types: a variety of texts to explore how depictions of characters in print, sound and images create stereotypes Unit focus: Students read, view and listen to a variety of texts to explore how depictions of characters in print, sound and images create stereotypes. Students create an imaginative digital written and spoken “Who am I?” of a stereotypical character and present to an audience of peers.

Responding persuasively to narratives Text types: a variety of literary texts to explore how stereotypes are used to persuade audiences

Unit focus: Students read, view and listen to a variety of literary texts to explore how stereotypes are used to persuade audiences. Students create a persuasive response comparing how the visual representations of a character are depicted differently in two publications of the same story, giving reasons for a particular preference.

Exploring procedural texts Text types: a variety of everyday procedural texts and familiar stories that involve a procedure e.g. fairy tales, traditional stories and contemporary stories

Unit focus: Students read, view and listen to a variety of everyday procedural texts and familiar stories that involve a procedure e.g. fairy tales, traditional stories and contemporary stories. Students develop multimodal instructions for a familiar procedure and present this in role e.g. how to build a straw house — The Three Little Pigs.

Exploring informative texts Text types: a range of informative texts and familiar stories; simple newspaper reports

Unit focus: Students read, view and listen to a range of informative texts and familiar stories to create a newspaper report about an event in a literary text.

Exploring narrative texts Text types: a range of stories from other cultures, including traditional oral tales, picture books, film, plays and drama performances

Unit focus: Students read, view and listen to a range of stories from other cultures. They create a written recount of an event in the life of a person or character from one of the stories studied.

Exploring plot and characterisation in stories Text types: a variety of stories including dreaming stories, picture books, traditional tales and digital texts

Unit focus: Students explore a variety of stories including dreaming stories, picture books, traditional tales and digital text to explore how stories use plot and characterisation to entertain and engage an audience. Students recreate a segment from a story in cartoon form.

53

In this unit students apply a variety of mathematical concepts in real-life, life-like and purely mathematical situations. Through the sub-strands — Number and place value and Using units of measurement (time), students have opportunities to develop understandings of: • Duration of time —

interpreting time on calendars using dates, days, months and seasons of the year

• Number sequences — counting, ordering and comparing numbers

• Place value — representing numbers in different ways

• Numbers — partitioning numbers to show relationships between addition and subtraction

• Mental computation — solving addition and subtraction problems using a range of strategies.

In this unit students apply a variety of mathematical concepts in real-life, life-like and purely mathematical situations.

Through the sub-strands — Number and place value, using units of measurement and chance, students have opportunities to develop understandings of:

• Number sequences — skip counting

• Place value — representing 2- and 3-digit numbers in different ways

• Computation — exploring a range of addition and subtraction strategies

• Measurement — measuring, comparing and ordering objects using informal units of length, area and capacity

• Chance events — identifying and describing outcomes using the language of chance.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts. They will: • explore collections to at

least 1000 • investigate the

connection between addition and subtraction

• solve problems using addition and subtraction number sentences

• describe and compare halves, quarters and eighths of collections and associated turns

• compare and contrast informal units and use the language of measurement

• compare the mass of objects using balance scales.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts. They will: • explore collections to at

least 1000 • investigate the

connection between addition and subtraction

• solve problems using addition and subtraction number sentences

• describe and compare halves, quarters and eighths of collections and associated turns

• recognise and represent division as groupings of equal sets

• describe patterns with numbers

• describe and draw two-dimensional shapes

• describe the features of three-dimensional objects

• gather data related to a question of student interest

• display collected data in tables, lists and picture graphs.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts. They will: • solve simple problems

involving multiplication and division

• describe and compare halves, quarters and eighths of collections

• count and order small collections of Australian coins and notes according to their value

• explore the chance of likely, unlikely, certain and impossible events.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts. They will: • solve simple problems

involving multiplication and division

• describe and compare halves, quarters and eighths of collections

• investigate the comparison and ordering of shapes and objects based on length, area, volume and capacity, using uniform informal units

• investigate mass and balance scales

• describe the features of three-dimensional objects

• solve problems involving the use of time, seasons and calendars.

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts. They will: • explore the connection

between addition and subtraction and the links to multiplication and division

• describe and compare halves, quarters and eighths of collections and associated turns

• describe and draw two-dimensional shapes

• describe the features of three-dimensional objects

• interpret maps of familiar locations

• explore geometrical and spatial reasoning through two-dimensional shapes, three-dimensional objects, flips, slides.

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts. They will: • explore the connection

between addition and subtraction and the links to multiplication and division

• describe and compare halves, quarters and eighths of collections and associated turns.

Unit 1: Mix, make and use

In this unit, students investigate combinations of different materials and give reasons for the selection of particular materials. Students will make something they can use in their daily lives.

Students will: • explore a variety of materials and relate the

properties of the materials to their use • determine why different materials are selected in

the construction of everyday objects • investigate the effects of combining or mixing

materials • reflect on how different cultures mix materials for

different purposes such as inks, pigments and paints

• evaluate materials, such as paper, that can be changed and remade or recycled into new products.

Unit 2: Toy factory

In this unit, students explain the movement of objects used for their play and relate these to the pushes and pulls involved. Students then apply this knowledge to explain the movement of a toy they create.

Students will: • explore different types of movement such as

slide, rock, roll, and fall • explore how pushes and pulls can change the

shape of an object • examine gravity as a force that pulls things

towards the Earth • investigate how the shape affects the movement

of an object towards the Earth • analyse pushes and pulls in Indigenous and

Asian toys and games • design a toy that moves, and identify the pushes

and pulls involved.

Unit 3: Good to grow

In this unit, students explore how living things change as they grow. Students will identify patterns of growth and the relationships between parents and their offspring.

Students will: • establish that living things have predictable

characteristics at different stages of development • explore the needs of living things at different

stages of growth • examine the stage of development where

offspring can be produced • consider the development of living things once

growth has been completed • investigate the different types of offspring in

living things and compare the parent to the offspring

• reflect on links to Earth’s resources required by living things.

Unit 4: Save planet Earth

In this unit, students investigate ways the Earth’s resources can be used and managed. They will identify actions to conserve these resources.

Students will: • explore natural resources in a local area (e.g.

water, soil, vegetation) • examine different resources and how they can

be used • compare the ways Indigenous people manage

the Earth’s resources with current practice • hypothesise about the consequences of a

change in a particular resource • propose an action plan that can conserve local

resources (e.g. turning off dripping taps, recycling paper).

54

Year 3- Overview of English, maths and science C2C units (Australian Curriculum)

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6 Unit 7 Unit 8 Unit 2: Investigating character and characterisation Text types: short narratives, simple chapter books or digital stories to explore the use of descriptive language in the construction of character Unit focus: Students listen to, view, read and explore short narratives, simple chapter books or digital stories to explore the use of descriptive language in the construction of character. Students plan and write a persuasive letter about or to a character from one of the texts studied.

Unit 1: Analysin g and creating a persuasive text Text types: digital, written and spoken reviews of literary texts Unit focus: Students read, view and analyse digital, written and spoken reviews of literary texts to plan and prepare a spoken persuasive review of a digital literary text.

Unit 3: Exploring personal experiences through events Text types: literary and informative texts portraying experiences of an event or celebration Unit focus: Students read and listen to written and spoken literary and informative texts to identify the way authors portray experiences of an event or celebration. Students plan and deliver a multimodal persuasive presentation of a chosen event or celebration.

Unit 4: Exploring procedure Text types: informative, literary and digital texts on caring for other things, including instruction manuals Unit focus: Students listen to, read, view and analyse informative, literary and digital texts on caring for other things, including instruction manuals to plan and create a written procedure which includes related visual images.

Unit 5: Reading and responding to different versions of a story Text types: a range of stories, with a focus on different versions of the same story Unit focus: Students listen to, view, read and compare a range of stories, with a focus on different versions of the same story. They create a spoken retell of a story they select from another perspective.

Unit 6: Creating online narratives Text types: a range of narratives presented as simple chapter books, including digital texts Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view a range of narratives presented as simple chapter books, including digital texts. They demonstrate understanding through written responses, focusing on language used to describe and shape setting and events of a chosen narrative. Students create a multimodal online narrative innovating on a narrative studied in class by revising the ending.

Unit 7: Reading, writing and performing poetry Text types: a range of poetry from and about Australia’s past Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view a range of poetry from and about Australia’s past to create and perform a written poem that includes the use of imagery.

Unit 8: Reading, writing and responding to people’s stories from the past Text types: informative and imaginative texts, including online texts, set in the past about people and their experiences Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view informative and imaginative texts, including online texts, set in the past about people and their experiences. They retell in role the experiences of a character or person from a selected text.

In this unit students build upon prior learning. They will: • investigate number

patterns with addition and subtraction

• investigate odd and even numbers

• apply place value to 10 000

• recognise and explain the connection between addition and subtraction

• recall and use single digit addition facts

• represent money and count change

• measure, order and compare length, mass and capacity

• tell time to the minute.

In this unit students build upon prior learning. They will: • investigate number

patterns with addition and subtraction

• investigate odd and even numbers

• apply place value to 10 000

• recognise and explain the connection between addition and subtraction

• recall and use single digit addition facts

• create and interpret simple grid maps

• identify angles as a measure of turn.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts. They will: • partition and regroup

to 10 000 • recall and use single

digit addition facts • model and represent

unit fractions including ½, ¼, 1/3,

1/5 • make three-

dimensional objects • locate and describe

symmetry in the environment.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts. They will: • partition and regroup

to 10 000 • recall and use single

digit addition facts • model and represent

unit fractions including ½, ¼, 1/3,

1/5 • conduct chance

experiments • identify data sources • collect, display data.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts. They will: • apply place value to

10 000 • recall and use

multiplication facts of 2, 3, 5 and 10

• recall and use multiplication facts and related division facts

• solve problems involving multiplication

• connect multiples of fractions

• measure, order and compare length, mass and capacity

• use time units.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts. They will: • apply place value to

10 000 • recall and use

multiplication facts of 2, 3, 5 and 10

• recall and use multiplication facts and related division facts

• solve problems involving multiplication

• connect multiples of fractions

• identify data sources • collect, display and

interpret data.

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts. They will: • partition and regroup

to 10 000 • solve problems

involving multiplication • conduct simple money

transactions to the nearest five cents

• locate, describe and identify shapes and symmetry and angles of turn

• recognise and model the key features of three-dimensional objects.

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts. They will: • partition and regroup

to 10 000 • solve problems

involving multiplication • conduct simple money

transactions to the nearest five cents

• create and interpret simple grid maps

• locate, describe and identify shapes and symmetry and angles of turn.

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Unit 1: Is it living? In this unit, students will describe patterns and relationships as they classify living and non-living things. They will gather data on the diversity of living and non-living things in their local environment. Students will: • recognise that certain characteristics

distinguish living from non-living things

• explore Indigenous perspectives of living and non-living

• examine observable features of living things and use these to determine groups

• generate other ways to group living and non-living things according to a variety of criteria, and justify their decisions

• consider reasons for the category of once-living and examples such as paper, skeleton, wood and fossils

• apply the ethical considerations for handling (collecting and returning) and observing animals.

Unit 2: Spinning Earth In this unit, students will demonstrate their knowledge of Earth’s rotation on its axis. They will explore different cultural understandings of the relationship between the sun and Earth causing day and night. Students will: • model Earth’s rotation on its axis

causing day and night • gather data to explore how variations

occur to the length of day and night • make links regarding the variations

between day and night and the seasons

• investigate early devices used to measure time that are dependent of the relative position of the Earth and sun

• collect information on other cultural understandings of day and night including Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Asian

• examine how western understanding of day and night has changed

• compare and contrast the different understandings.

Unit 3: Hot stuff In this unit, students investigate how heat can be transferred through conduction. Students demonstrate this knowledge about heating by adapting a familiar task. Students will: • identify sources of heat • examine indigenous methods of

producing heat • explore the transference of heat

within and between objects • group sources of heat according to

the way they are produced • investigate the usefulness of familiar

materials as conductors and insulators

• consider the safety implications of heat transference within and between objects

• design a device to maximise/minimise heat conduction.

Unit 4: What’s the matter? This unit involves students investigating the properties of solids and liquids and the effect of adding or removing heat. Students will evaluate how adding or removing heat affects materials in everyday life. Students will: • examine the properties of solids and

liquids • identify and classify everyday

materials that are solids and liquids • compare solids and liquids and their

ability to flow or maintain shape and volume

• investigate the properties of a range of liquids and explore the way that solids and liquids change under different conditions (such as heating and cooling) in everyday situations

• apply knowledge of properties of solids and liquids to everyday situations

• create a description of a solid or liquid, outlining the properties, how it is affected by heating and cooling, and its uses.

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Years 4/5 Overview of KLA units- 2012 (Essential Le arnings)

Semester One- Bound for Botany Bay

The Arts Drama- Role Play Students work in small groups to create and present a dramatic role-play related to a period of time or event studied within the Bound for Botany Bay unit.

Dance Students respond to a cultural story or a piece of cultural music by planning, practising and presenting a dance sequence.

HPE HPE covered by PE lessons only.

To be confirmed

SOSE

Timeline to colonisation Students develop an understanding of British colonisation of Australia by creating a simple timeline of the events including European exploration, British industrialisation, the voyage of the First Fleet and the landing at Sydney Cove. Students choose one of these events to describe and discuss in more detail.

Celebrating cultural diversity in Australia Students select a cultural event, festival or celebration to research and present information in the form of an informational poster.

Technology PowerPoint Presentation Students design, produce and reflect on a PowerPoint presentation to share their SOSE knowledge and understandings.

Creating a poster Students follow the technology design process to plan and create an informational poster (based on the SOSE unit – Celebrating Cultural Diversity in Australia) which demonstrates their ability to incorporate design elements and information to convey a message.

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Years 4/5 Overview of KLA units- 2013 (Essential Le arnings)

Term 1

Term 2

Term 3

Term 4

SOSE

Discovering Democracy - Students explore and discuss rules and laws in Australia by considering concepts such a government, democracy (elected representation and free speech), the legal system and the consequences of breaking the law (school rules, class rules, rules for class meetings, Student Councillor election process and ongoing role plays as well as the Discovering Democracy online materials will provide stimulus for discussion.

Mapping - Students read and create a variety of maps of Australia and surrounds to better understand the location of states, cities, neighbouring countries and resource use in Australia. Mapping conventions such as presentation, compass points, symbols and legend/key will be explicitly taught.

Technology

Print Making - Student experiment with printing methods (e.g. block , screen, lino/foam) to create a design to promote the plight of a threatened species in Australia.

Design Task - Students investigate, design and evaluate the effectiveness of a simple game or animation (see below).

The Arts

Visual Arts Folio - Students explore the art elements of colour, line, shape and texture and create a folio of art images that demonstrate their ability to use the art elements in a variety of ways.

Media - Students use images, sounds and text to create/ programme a simple game or animation using SCRATCH (scratch.mit.edu) to promote a healthy lifestyle to their peers.

HPE

Group Speaking Task - Students participate in an ongoing formal speaking program (focus here is on: group work, positive interpersonal behaviours, positive interactions and relationships in groups, valuing the contributions of fellow group members). Use of a checklist and annotations to track skills.

Get Fit! – Students test their own fitness levels and then design a fitness activity to target an area of fitness to teach their peers.

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Year 4- Overview of English, maths and science C2C units (Australian Curriculum)

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6 Unit 7 Unit 8

Examining hum our in poetry Students identify and analyse the literary devices of humour used in poetry by different authors. Students create a humorous poem and present it to a familiar audience in an informal context.

Investigating author’s language in a familiar narrative Students read a narrative and create a new chapter for that narrative to present to their peers.

Exploring recounts of texts set in the past Text types: a variety of historical texts including narratives, diaries, logs, journals, newspaper reports and documentaries Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view a variety of historical texts including narratives, diaries, logs, journals, newspaper reports and documentaries to write a literary recount set in the past from a different perspective. They demonstrate understanding of texts through written responses. Student recount is imaginative and response is informative.

Retelling a familiar story Text types: a stories from and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view stories from and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, to retell a familiar story as an oral presentation. They demonstrate understanding by responding in writing to comprehension questions focusing on themes of and messages in stories. The student retelling is imaginative and the response is informative.

Exploring quest novels Text types: quest novels Unit focus: Students listen to and read quest novels by different authors including print and digital texts. They demonstrate understanding of a chosen novel through a written reading journal and give spoken justifications of their opinions and ideas to their peers. (A quest novel tells the story of an adventurous journey undertaken by the main character (protagonist). In a quest the protagonist usually meets with and overcomes a series of obstacles, returning in the end with the benefits of knowledge and experience gained through the journey).

Creating stories set in the past Text types: stories from and about people in Australia’s past including those from other cultures and contemporary stories about people in Australia Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view stories from and about people in Australia’s past, including those from other cultures, and contemporary stories about people in Australia. They demonstrate understanding of past and contemporary stories through written responses focusing on character development, use of dialogue and language features. They use their knowledge to create a written digital narrative highlighting a character’s development.

Investigating persuasion Text types: a range of non-fiction and multimodal persuasive product advertisements from different times Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view a range of non-fiction and multimodal persuasive product advertisements from different times. They demonstrate understanding of text through written and spoken responses, focusing on techniques and language features used to persuade viewer. They justify opinions to peers during panel discussion.

Persuading others Text types: a range of commercial packaging and related advertisements Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view a range of commercial packaging and related advertisements. Students demonstrate understanding through written responses to reading comprehension focusing on persuasive techniques used in commercial packaging. Students design and promote a commercial package for a known type of product.

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In this unit students build upon prior learning. They will: recognise, represent, order and apply place value of numbers up to tens of thousands investigate properties of odd and even numbers recall multiplication facts (2,3,4,5,10) investigate equivalent fractions used in context (count by halves, quarters and thirds) investigate multiplication number patterns.

In this unit students build upon prior learning. They will: recognise, represent, order and apply place value of numbers up to tens of thousands investigate properties of odd and even numbers recall multiplication facts (2,3,4,5,10) investigate equivalent fractions used in context (count by halves, quarters and thirds) investigate multiplication number patterns investigate time.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts. They will: recognise, represent and order numbers up to tens of thousands recall multiplication and related division facts (2,3,4,5,6,9,10) investigate properties of odd and even numbers investigate number sequences involving multiples (3,4,6,7,8,9) locate and represent fractions (halves, thirds and quarters) in a range of contexts and models split and combine two-dimensional shapes investigate the area of regular and irregular shapes compare and classify angles investigate symmetry patterns, pictures and shapes.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts. They will: recognise, represent and order numbers up to tens of thousands recall multiplication and related division facts (2,3,4,5,6,9,10) investigate properties of odd and even numbers investigate number sequences involving multiples (3,4,6,7,8,9) locate and represent fractions (halves, thirds and quarters) in a range of contexts and models select and trial methods for collecting data, including survey questions and recording sheets, related to an issue or problem organise and display data, and interpret and analyse.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts. They will: apply place value to partition, rearrange and regroup numbers to at least tens of thousands recall multiplication and related division facts 0-9 use efficient written and mental strategies for multiplication and division apply place value of numbers to tenths and hundredths use addition and subtraction to find unknown quantities solve word problems related to money (purchases and change) explore chance in everyday events collect data related to an issue or problem, organise and display data, and interpret and analyse.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts. They will: apply place value to partition, rearrange and regroup numbers to at least tens of thousands recall multiplication and related division facts 0-9 use efficient written and mental strategies for multiplication and division apply place value of numbers to tenths and hundredths make connections between fractions and decimals (equivalence) solve word problems related to money (purchases and change) investigate length, mass, capacity and temperature investigate location (scale, legend, direction).

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts. They will: apply place value to partition, rearrange and regroup numbers to at least tens of thousands solve word problems for multiplication and division using a variety of strategies investigate the area of regular and irregular shapes using metric units investigate volume.

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts. They will: apply place value to partition, rearrange and regroup numbers to at least tens of thousands solve word problems for multiplication and division using a variety of strategies explore everyday chance events.

Unit 1: Here today gone tomorrow In this unit, students explore the effect of human activity, natural disasters and extreme weather that cause erosion of the Earth’s surface. Students will: • recognise that geological processes can

occur on different scales of time • investigate weathering and erosion • collect and record evidence of change to

local landforms • analyse soil and rock samples from the local

area • explore fossils and the way they were formed • use fossil evidence to hypothesise what the

Earth’s surface could be like • examine how human activity impacts on

erosion both directly and indirectly • access local and Indigenous knowledge

about local landforms.

Unit 2: Ready, set, grow! In this unit, students will investigate life cycles. They will examine relationships between living things and their dependence on the environment. Students will: • review stages of development of living things • make and record observations of living

things as they develop through their life cycles

• recognise environmental factors that can affect life cycles

• investigate the relationship between plants, animals and humans within habitats

• predict the effect on living things when there are human causes or natural changes to the environment

• predict the effects when the balance between living things changes

• investigate reasons why a species has become endangered.

Unit 3: Material use In this unit, students will investigate a range of physical properties of materials and consider how these influence their selection and use. Students will: • explore a range of materials and describe

the properties • compare and contrast patterns and

relationships within the properties of materials

• relate the properties of materials to their use • identify materials used for the same purpose • plan and conduct an investigation to identify

the best material from a range for a particular purpose

• consider how properties of materials and other factors influence appropriate selection in everyday life

• consider ways in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples utilised natural materials, and relate these uses to the properties of the material.

Unit 4: Speedy but safe In this unit, students will investigate how forces affect objects through direct and indirect contact and relate this to the safety equipment. Students will: • review the concept of pushes and pulls as

types of forces • explore magnetic forces as an example of

indirect forces • analyse and classify forces in their daily lives

as direct and indirect forces • examine a range of types of forces in

reference to the way they affect motion • investigate friction as a force that slows

objects • apply the understanding of friction to

everyday situations • analyse the potential forces involved in

safety equipment.

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Year 5- Overview of English, maths and science C2C units (Australian Curriculum)

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6 Unit 7 Unit 8 Examining literary texts (fantasy novel)

Students listen to, read and interpret a novel from the fantasy genre showing understanding of character development in relation to plot and setting. They demonstrate the ability to analyse the development of a main character through a written response.

Examining literary texts (fantasy novel)

Students listen to, read and interpret a novel from the fantasy genre. They show an understanding of character development in relation to the plot and setting of a novel, creating and delivering a spoken presentation in the role of a character. In role, they justify the character’s actions and behaviours in relation to an issue.

Examining media texts Text type: news articles and news reports from magazines, journals, newspapers, television and internet websites Unit focus: Students listen to, read, view and interpret a range of news articles and reports from magazines, journals, newspapers, television and internet websites to respond to viewpoints portrayed in media texts. They create a multimodal news article, including written, visual, spoken and/or audio elements, from a particular viewpoint.

Examining c haracters in animated film Text type: suitable comic books –print and digital - and excerpts from cartoons Unit focus: Students listen to, read, view and interpret a range of animations including film and digital texts, presenting points of view of interpersonal relationships of and ethical dilemmas faced by fantasy characters within real world settings during a panel discussion. They produce an imaginative multimodal comic strip exploring a character’s behaviour when faced with an ethical dilemma.

Appre ciating poetry Text type: poetry, songs, anthems and odes from different times Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view a range of poetry, songs, anthems and odes from different times to create a folio of responses. They analyse authors’ use of language and its impact on the messages and ideas of text.

Responding to poetry Text type: range of narrative poetry including ballad Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view a range of poetry including narrative poems to create a transformation of a chosen poem to a digital narrative. In a spoken presentation they explain why they chose particular traits of a character for their transformation of the poem.

Exploring narrative and narrative film Text type: films and novels involving flashbacks or shifts in time and non-stereotypical characters Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view films and novels with a range of non-stereotypical characters involving flashbacks or shifts in time. They create a written comparison of a novel and the film version of the novel. They demonstrate understanding of positioning of non-stereotypical characters in a chosen film through a viewing comprehension.

Reviewing narrative film Text type: narrative films and spoken, written and digital movie reviews Unit focus: Students listen to and view narrative films and spoken, written and digital movie reviews to create a written movie review of a chosen film expressing and justifying opinions during a panel discussion.

In this unit students build upon prior learning. They will: identify and describe factors and multiples use estimation, rounding and efficient mental and written strategies to solve problems and check reasonableness of answers to calculations compare and order common unit fractions and represent them on number line investigate patterns with fractions and whole numbers pose questions to allow for the collection of data construct data displays.

In this unit students build upon prior learning. They will: identify and describe factors and multiples use estimation, rounding and efficient mental and written strategies to solve problems and check reasonableness of answers to calculations compare and order common unit fractions and represent them on number line investigate patterns with fractions and whole numbers use 12- and 24-hour time describe translations, reflections and rotations explore symmetry and transformations.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts. They will: solve problems involving multiplication of large numbers by one- and two-digit whole numbers investigate number systems beyond hundredths pose questions and collect categorical data construct data displays describe and interpret data sets.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts. They will: solve problems involving multiplication of large numbers by one- and two-digit whole numbers investigate number systems beyond hundredths calculate the perimeter and area of rectangles investigate three-dimensional shapes and their nets.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts. They will: solve problems involving the addition and subtraction of fractions with the same denominator use equivalent number sentences involving multiplication and division to find unknown quantities investigate chance including outcomes of chance experiments and probabilities ranging from 0–1.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts. They will: solve problems involving the addition and subtraction of fractions with the same denominator use equivalent number sentences involving multiplication and division to find unknown quantities use appropriate units of measurement for length, area, volume, capacity and mass estimate, measure, compare and construct angles.

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts. They will: develop strategies to solve problems involving the addition and subtraction of fractions investigate chance and probability.

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts. They will: develop strategies to solve problems involving the addition and subtraction of fractions create simple financial plans use grid references for locations and use directional language.

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Unit 1: Survival in the Australian environment In this unit, students examine the structural features and adaptations that assist living things to survive in their environment. They use this new knowledge to pose questions and make predictions about the relationship between adaptations and environmental changes. Students will: • participate in field work to identify and

describe adaptations of living things to the Australian environment

• classify adaptations as structural or behavioural

• explain how particular adaptations assist survival in a range of environments

• compare how and why similar structural features vary in different environments

• consider how decisions made to grow particular plants and crops relate to environmental conditions

• pose questions and make predictions about how changes in the environment (natural and human-caused) might affect the survival and future adaptations of living things.

Unit 2: Our place in the solar system In this unit, students explore the place of Earth in the solar system and use this knowledge to look for patterns and relationships between components of this system. They consider how science and technology have advanced understanding of space. Students will: • research how the development of optical

instruments and technology contributed to the discovery of the planets and major bodies in the solar system

• describe how scientists from a range of cultures have contributed to understandings of space

• gather and record data to compare facts about the planets and the sun

• create models that show the relative size of and distance between Earth, the other planets and the sun

• compare environmental conditions on other planets with those on Earth and hypothesise whether or not life is possible on other planets

• examine how technologies developed to aid space exploration have impacted on society

• outline Australia’s involvement in space exploration

• consider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories related to the solar system.

Unit 3: Now you see it In this unit, students investigate properties of light and the formation of shadows. They explore the role of light in everyday objects and devices and consider how improved technology has changed devices. Students will: • investigate shadow formation and

relationships to a light source • make predictions and investigate

absorption, transmission, reflection and refraction

• classify materials as transparent, opaque or translucent

• draw simple, labelled ray diagrams • relate familiar phenomena (e.g. rainbows)

to properties of light • discuss the role of light in their everyday

lives • investigate devices that utilise light and

how improved technology has led to them changing over time

• construct a model of a device which uses mirrors or lenses and explain the properties of light it utilises

• research the contributions of other cultures to the development of optical devices.

Unit 4: Matter matters In this unit, students broaden their classification of matter to include gases and begin to see how matter structures the world around them. They investigate the observable properties and behaviour of solids, liquids and gases, and the development of composite materials to meet the needs of modern society. Students will: • review the properties of solids and liquids • investigate properties of gases • describe safety considerations for

handling and using gases • classify everyday materials and items as

solid, liquid or gas • explore ways in which solids, liquids and

gases change under different conditions • compare the range of properties within

solids, liquids and gases • recognise sublimation and explain how

this change in state can be useful in everyday situations

• investigate some composite materials and their classification in terms of state.

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Years 6/7 Overview of KLA units- 2012 (Essential Le arnings)

KLA

Semester 1

Semester 2

The Arts Visual Arts - Beyond observation

Students explore the art elements of line, shape, colour and texture and complete the QSA Assessment Bank Item Beyond Observation (Students create and display a series of observational drawings and abstract one drawing using a grid drawing exercise. They respond and reflect on drawing processes).

Dance Student work in small groups to plan, practise and present a bush dance.

HPE Healthy Eating Plan for Adolescents (Health) Students analyse their own eating habits, learning about healthy eating and the nutritional needs of adolescents to design their own healthy eating plan. Essential learning: Food groups are rich in particular nutrients, and food intake can be adapted to meet changing needs during adolescence

HPE covered by PE lessons only.

SOSE Reading and understanding maps Students explore the conventions of reading and making maps through the study of a variety of map types and their features. Essential Learning: Distribution maps, climate zone maps and weather maps have specific features to convey information, including latitude, longitude, eight compass points, scale and distance, a legend and shading and/or symbols.

Events that shaped Australia Students will select and investigate a significant historical event that has influenced Australian identity.

Technology Technology Students design and create a one-page advertisement or information brochure to inform their peers of the components and importance of a healthy eating plan. Essential learning: Product design and production decisions are influenced by specifications, constraints and aspects of appropriateness including functions, aesthetics, ethics, culture, available finances and resources, and sustainability e.g. menu design is influenced by type of cuisine, cultural theme and cost

Stck ‘em up! Students will investigate, design, create and evaluate one of the following tasks based upon a historical event or person in Australia: Diorama, Wanted Poster or Rat Trap.

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Years 6/7 Overview of KLA units- 2013 (Essential Le arnings)

KLA

Semester 1

Semester 2

SOSE

Biodiversity/ Sustainability Action Plan (working with EnviroCom Australia).

Democracy and levels of government - Information Report and Knowledge check.

Technology

Designing, making and evaluating animation in Scratch (scratch.mit.edu) – the context here is quite flexible- science, book study, ad for a book or year of chemistry, link to HPE task (or a topis of the students’ own choosing).

Individual set design task - design a set based on a chosen ballad.

The Arts

Drama elements in action - Role play and responses (formative assessment; use of checklist).

Media: Media Production to accompany an oral presentation of a ballad (English unit of study) OR Designing and creating a 30 second TV commercial based on an issue (SOSE unit of study).

HPE

Identity and self image - Students explore and challenge stereotypical representations of body image.

HPE covered by PE lessons only.

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Year 6- Overview of English, maths and science C2C units (Australian Curriculum)

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6 Unit 7 Unit 8 Examining short stories Text types: a range of short stories on a similar theme, including stories those from and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view a range of short stories on a similar theme by different authors, including those from and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. Students create a written comparison exploring and comparing differences in the use of narrator, voice, language, style and register to represent a selected theme and justify their opinion to an audience.

Writing a short story Text type: short stories exploring interpersonal relationships and ethical dilemmas; selection of traditional stories from different cultures and storytelling traditions, presented as spoken, print and digital texts Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view short stories, including traditional stories from different cultures. (Texts selected may be for example from Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Asian or European story-telling traditions.) They feature stereotypical and non-stereotypical characters and are presented as spoken, print and digital texts. Students create written responses to comprehension questions.

Examining advertising in the media Text type: multimodal advertisements from magazines, billboards and television Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view advertisements from magazines, billboards and television. They demonstrate their understanding of the texts’ persuasive features through written responses to comprehension questions by justifying their responses in discussions with peers. They create a digital multimodal advertisement to persuade a particular audience.

Examining persuasive techniques in news reports Text type: a variety of news reports from print, television, radio and internet Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view a variety of news reports from television, radio and internet to identify and analyse bias and the effectiveness of persuasive devices used to influence audiences. They create a critical review of a chosen news report.

Exploring literary texts by the same author Text types: a range of novels by the same author (a number of authors could be studied in this unit); also, texts that build understanding of the author, the ideas explored in the novel and textual features of novels Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view literary texts by the same author to create written responses focusing on author’s style, use of language, character development and structure.

Interpreting a literary text Text types: a class set of a novel set in earlier times; novel/s studied in previous unit Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view a novel set in earlier times. They demonstrate their understanding of the novel through written responses by comparing the novel studied in this unit with the fantasy novel studied in Unit 5. They present an interpretation of an event from a novel set in earlier times.

Comparing informative texts Text types: a range of informative texts, for example recipe, manual of instructions and directions, text book with description of natural phenomena, recount of events, rules and laws Unit focus: Students listen to, read, view and analyse informative texts such as recipe books, manuals or textbooks from past and present times. They demonstrate their understanding of these texts through written responses to comprehension questions. They create a comparative essay comparing language and textual features of these informative texts.

Transforming a text Text types: a range of informative texts, for example recipe, manual of instructions and directions, text book with description of natural phenomena, recount of events, rules and laws Unit focus: Students listen to, read and compare informative texts, such as recipe books, manuals or textbooks, from the past with contemporary online informative texts. Students transform an informative text from the past into a contemporary multimodal digital informative text. They present a spoken justification for the choices made when creating the transformation.

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In this unit students build upon prior learning. They will: identify and describe prime, composite, square and triangular numbers use efficient mental and written strategies for all four operations with whole numbers compare fractions with related denominators and represent them on a number line connect and convert metric units of length, mass and capacity construct prisms and pyramids.

In this unit students build upon prior learning. They will: identify and describe prime, composite, square and triangular numbers use efficient mental and written strategies for all four operations with whole numbers add and subtract decimals sequence whole numbers, fractions and decimals and describe the rule used explore different ways to present data.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts. They will: investigate positive and negative numbers investigate fractions of a quantity explore the use of brackets and the order of operations solve length and area problems construct and interpret data displays represent data in a variety of ways interpret secondary data.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts. They will: investigate positive and negative numbers multiply and divide decimals by powers of ten order of operations investigate the relationship between fractions, decimals and percentage solve length and area problems.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts. They will: multiply decimals by whole numbers and perform divisions with terminating decimals order of operations calculate percentage discounts solve problems involving length, mass and capacity connect volume and capacity investigate angles.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts. They will: multiply decimals by whole numbers and perform divisions with terminating decimals calculate percentage discounts describe probability (using fractions, decimals and percentage) conduct chance experiments (observed and expected frequency) compare observed frequencies across experiments with expected frequencies.

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts. They will: use efficient mental and written strategies for all four operations with whole numbers calculate percentage discounts understand order of operations connect volume and capacity interpret and use timetables investigate combinations of translations, reflections and rotations use the Cartesian coordinate system in relation to all four quadrants.

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts. They will: use efficient mental and written strategies for all four operations with whole numbers understand order of operations calculate percentage discounts use repeated trials of chance experiments to make predictions of likely outcomes.

Unit 1: Making changes — comparing reactions In this unit, students investigate changes that can be made to materials and how these changes are classified as reversible or irreversible. They explore the effects of reversible and irreversible reactions in everyday materials and how they are used to address issues facing society. Students will: review changes of state caused by heating or cooling explore different changes to materials discuss the difference between reversible and irreversible changes to materials investigate why changes of state are classified as reversible changes investigate why some changes to material (such as burning, rusting and composting) are classified as irreversible develop criteria which could be used to classify a change as reversible or irreversible examine recycling of common material, considering reversible and irreversible changes valuate irreversible changes which benefit society and ones which do not.

Unit 2: Power up — electricity usage down In this unit, students investigate how energy from a variety of sources can be used to generate electricity. They evaluate personal and community choices to use renewable energy sources to enhance sustainability. Students will: revise the concept of energy and apply it to the context of electricity investigate electrical circuits and the features of the components explore requirements for the safe use of electricity identify energy transformations and transferences in electrical circuits and everyday electrical devices compare electrical conductors and insulators and investigate their use collect and examine data on household electricity use and practices that affect electrical energy consumption suggest ways to minimise electrical energy consumption research how moving air and water can be used to generate electricity examine renewable sources of energy being considered by communities evaluate the contribution of energy sources to sustainability.

Unit 3: Our changing world In this unit, students explore ways in which scientific understanding can assist in the early detection of natural disasters and in minimising their impact. They consider ways science can inform choices about where people live and how they manage natural disasters. Students will: research major geological and extreme weather events both in Australia and neighbouring countries compare the effects of different geological events describe how scientists gather evidence to predict the effect of, and measure, significant geological and weather events hypothesise relationships between volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis compare the different scales used for measuring the strength of geological and weather events consider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural and historical understandings of these events research the scientific work being conducted in various centres around the world to advance global disaster alerts and communications analyse how scientific information gathered from geological and weather events can inform the future decisions of communities.

Unit 4: Life on Earth In this unit, students will, through the context of a local environment, investigate the relationship between the growth and survival of living things and the physical conditions of their environment. They examine ways in which humans’ actions impact on the environment and living things. Students will: review ways in which living things depend on the environment to survive predict how altering the physical conditions of the environment impacts on living things design and conduct an investigation to assess the accuracy of this prediction research organisms that live in extreme environments (e.g. undersea volcanic vents) participate in field studies to collect data about the physical conditions of a local environment and investigate how these support the growth and survival of living things in that environment examine how human activities have changed the environment debate how personal and community choices affect the growth and survival of other living things discuss Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander environmental perspectives.

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Year 7- Overview of English, maths and science C2C units (Australian Curriculum) Unit 1: Analysing persuasion in media texts Students listen to, read and view a range of media texts from newspapers, television, the internet and picture books. Students create a multimodal response analysing the use of persuasive techniques and devices.

Unit 2: Persuading through motivational speeches Students examine how language is used to persuade in famous motivational speeches from political and cultural (arts and sport) contexts. Students deliver a persuasive speech with the purpose of creating an emotional response.

Unit 3: Reading and creating life writing: biographies Text types: biographies, interviews, digital stories and films Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view biographies, interviews, digital stories and films to interview a chosen person (the subject) and create a written biographical excerpt of an event that changed the subject’s life.

Unit 4: Reading and creating life writing: autobiographies Text types: autobiographies and excerpts from autobiographies Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view autobiographies and excerpts from autobiographies in a variety of styles and modes to create a multimodal autobiographical excerpt with written and visual elements.

Unit 5: Reading and interpreting literature about Australia and Australians Text types: literature about Australia and Australians, including the close study of a novel; literature selected includes texts written by authors from other countries and cultures, including Asia Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view literature about Australia and Australians, including the close study of a novel. Literature selected includes texts written by authors from other countries and cultures, including Asia. Students demonstrate their understanding of this literature by responding in writing to comprehension questions about excerpts from the texts.

Unit 6: Examining representations of Australia and Australians in literature Text types: texts that feature different representations of Australia and Australians written by authors from other countries and cultures, including Asia, about Australia and Australians; these texts include a novel for close study Unit focus: Students examine the ways Australia and Australians are represented in the texts studied in Unit 5 to create a written analytical response.

Unit 7: Exploring perspectives on Australian poetry and songs Text types: a variety of Australian literary texts, with a strong emphasis on poetry, and commentaries on these texts that put forward different points of view; commentaries include reviews, analyses, interpretations and readings Unit focus: Students listen to, read and view a variety of Australian literary texts, with a strong emphasis on poetry, and commentaries on these texts that put forward different points of view. They create and present a spoken persuasive response to selected poems and commentaries on them. Commentaries include reviews, analyses, interpretations and readings.

Unit 8: Re -imagining Australian poetry and songs Text types: a variety of songs and poems about Australian and Australians Unit focus: Students listen to and read a variety of songs and poems about Australian and Australians. They select a poem or song and transform it into different types of text to communicate its ideas or messages in a different way.

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In this unit students build upon prior learning. They will: apply associative, commutative and distributive laws compare, order, add and subtract integers compare fractions and mixed numbers and represent these on a number line solve addition and subtraction problems involving fractions express quantity as a fraction of another solve simple linear equations construct sample spaces investigate probabilities of events.

In this unit students build upon prior learning. They will: apply associative, commutative and distributive laws compare, order, add and subtract integers compare fractions and mixed numbers and represent these on a number line solve addition and subtraction problems involving fractions express quantity as a fraction of another introduce the concept of variables when creating algebraic expressions solve simple linear equations draw views of three-dimensional shapes.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts. They will: explore index notation, square roots, round decimals, connect fractions, decimals and percentages round decimals to a specific number of decimal places investigate and calculate best buys construct and analyse data displays.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 concepts. They will: explore index notation, square roots, round decimals, connect fractions, decimals and percentages round decimals to a specific number of decimal places investigate and calculate best buys investigate linear and non-linear relationships establish formulas for area classify triangles and describe quadrilaterals interpret data.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts. They will: compare equivalent fractions multiply and divide fractions and decimals connect fractions, decimals and percentages and carry out conversions find percentage of quantities solve problems using simple ratios investigate, interpret and analyse graphs calculate and interpret mean, median, mode, and range.

In this unit students build upon Term 1 and 2 concepts. They will: multiply and divide fractions and decimals plot points on the Cartesian plane and find coordinates for given points investigate, interpret and analyse graphs calculate the volume of rectangular prisms explore corresponding, alternate and co-interior angles investigate angles, parallel lines, translation, symmetry, reflection, rotation and coordinates on the Cartesian plane.

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts. They will: extend and apply associative, commutative and distributive laws to algebraic equations calculate and interpret mean, mode, median and range construct, compare and analyse a range of data displays investigate the collation of large count data.

In this unit students build upon Term 1, 2 and 3 concepts. They will: extend and apply associative, commutative and distributive laws to algebraic equations calculate the volume of rectangular prisms relate the calculation of areas and volumes to substitution and the solution of simple equations.

Unit 1: Water — waste not, want not In this unit, students investigate the importance of water, the water cycle, properties of water and separation techniques used to provide clean drinking water. Students will: appraise renewable and non-renewable resources in the local area examine the importance of water and the water cycle do field work to investigate local water investigate pure substances and mixtures, including solutions, investigate and use a range of physical separation techniques.

Unit 2: Water — waste not, want not (continued) This unit builds on the concepts explored in Unit 1 and considers how these apply in the community. Students will: investigate methods by which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities collect and transfer water investigate local water treatment processes and quality assurance compare and contrast human recycling processes of water to the natural water cycle consider local authorities’ decisions about sustainability and recycling of water.

Unit 3: Moving right along — exploring motion In this unit, students investigate how the change to an object’s motion is caused by unbalanced forces acting on an object. Students will: review different types of forces and how these affect objects investigate how balanced and unbalanced forces affect the motion of an object explain scientific principles of balanced and unbalanced forces and use force diagrams explore the forces acting on simple machines.

Unit 4: Moving right along — applications This unit builds on the concepts explored in Unit 3 and considers an application of these forces. Students will: discuss the forces involved in artefacts used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities design and construct a propulsion vehicle relate understandings of forces to safety considerations associated with modes of transportation.

Unit 5: Heavenly bodies In this unit, students learn about interrelationships between the Earth, sun and moon. Students will: compare times for the rotation of Earth, the sun and the moon, and the times for the orbits of Earth and the moon model the relative movements of Earth, the sun and the moon explore the role of gravity in keeping planets and moons in orbit investigate and explain the phases of the moon, and solar and lunar eclipses.

Unit 6: Sensational seasons This unit builds on the concepts explored in Unit 5 and considers the seasons, different cultural beliefs and how scientific understanding has changed over time. Students will: examine how and why seasons occur research cultural stories about cycles involving the Earth, sun and moon from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and how these affected their practices outline the changes in scientific understandings of the Earth, sun and moon system.

Unit 7: Organising organisms This unit will focus on classification and relationships between organisms, ecosystems and human interactions. Students will: explore the diversity of living organisms, including grouping of organisms on the basis of similarities and differences consider how classification systems have changed devise and use dichotomous keys create and interpret food chains and webs to show relationships between organisms in an environment.

Unit 8: Affecting organisms This unit builds on the concepts explored in Unit 7 and considers their application. Students will: participate in field work to investigate relationships between organisms in a local ecosystem determine the effect of human activity and other living things on local ecosystems explain how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practices can inform sustainable management of the environment.

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In NCR our expectations regarding classroom teachin g practices are: Pedagogy Each teacher: 1. ensures that every lesson has a purpose and that all lesson time is productive 2. delivers each lesson using explicit instruction (as per their school’s definition of an excellent lesson) 3. uses strategies to move student knowledge from short term to long term memory 4. accepts accountability for each student’s learning 5. uses data to inform their teaching and student learning. Learning Environment Each teacher: 1. establishes an atmosphere of high expectations 2. sets a positive classroom learning tone 3. demands high standards of student presentation and handwriting 4. regularly corrects student work and provides feedback to each student 5. provides a high standard of classroom display that is relevant and educationally stimulating. Student Engagement Each teacher facilitates high student engagement by: 1. building effective relationships with all student s(ensuring that each student feels valued and respected) 2. ensuring that each student is given work at a level they can access and which is academically challenging 3. supporting each student to have friends at school 4. establishing goals for and with each student and engages each student in their progress towards their goals.

APPENDIX: North Coast Regiona l Classroom Teaching Expectations