Upon adoption of the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians in 2008, Australia has moved towards a national curriculum to achieve consistency in curriculum, assessment and reporting from Prep to Year 12.
The Australian Curriculum sets out the core knowledge, understanding, skills and general capabilities important for all Australian students. It makes clear what all young Australians should learn as they progress through schooling and it is the foundation for high quality teaching to meet the needs of all Australian students.
Wellcamp State School will plan, teach, assess and report on the Australian Curriculum in English, Mathematics, Science, HPE and HASS.
Teachers will continue to use the Queensland Early Years Curriculum Guidelines as well as the Queensland Essential Learnings and Standards to plan, teach, assess and report on the remaining learning areas of Technology, Information and Communication Technologies and The Arts.
Curriculum
English
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 and build relationships with others and with the world around them.
The Australian Curriculum: English aims 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.
Language elements such as spelling, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary are developmentally sequenced within the strands of Language, Literature and Literacy.
Mathematics
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 is arranged in three strands:
Within each strand students are encouraged to reason and work mathematically, recognising the connections between the areas using mathematical Understanding, Fluency, Problem Solving, and Reasoning. We encourage students to be confident, creative users and communicators of mathematics enabling them to investigate, represent and interpret situations in their everyday life.
Science
Science is a human endeavour which reflects our curiosity about the world and our desire to understand and explain the phenomena we experience. Through collaboration and scientific inquiry, we can make evidence-based decisions about factors that influence our health, lifestyle and environment.
Biological Sciences - Students develop understandings about structure and function in living things; interdependencies within environments; and evolution of life on Earth.
Chemical Sciences - Students develop understandings about properties and structure of materials; and how atomic interactions and energy transfer produce physical or chemical change.
Earth and Space Science - Students develop understandings about Earth’s place in the universe, and how natural processes and human use of resources result in changes to Earth’s surface.
Physical Science - Students develop understandings about the relationships between forces and the motion of objects, and the transfer and transformation of energy within systems.
HASS - Humanities and Social Sciences
Humanities and Social Science subjects create critical thinkers who can examine complex information logically, and make informed decisions about the world and the role of humans in it, past and present. They develop effective communicators and encourage creative solutions to challenging problems.
Students study their own and other societies, past and present, and how they function socially, culturally, economically and politically.
Technology
This learning area is organised under the strands of:
Digital Technologies
Design Technologies
Students learn about information system components of data, and digital systems. They use digital systems to create ideas, information and digital solutions. Students learn about the use of technologies and design ideas across the multiple contexts. They learn the skills needed to create designed solutions.
Health and Physical Education (HPE)
HPE provides a foundation for developing active and healthy members of society. The strands of:
We offer students opportunities to develop the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes for making informed personal decisions. A specialist teacher delivers year level programs to develop specific movement skills as well as allowing students to participate in a range of physical activities including interschool and recreational sports opportunities. Personal Development and Health is promoted across the school through our School Wide Positive Behaviour Program and aspects are also integrated into the classroom program.
Languages - German
German is taught in Years 4-6 by a specialist teacher.
The Arts
A Specialist teacher delivers an Arts program which includes Dance, Drama and Music class lessons for all Preparatory to Year 6 classes. Each of these areas are taught for one term and then combined during term 4 for the presentation of a school performance at the end of the year. Visual Art and Media are incorporated into class activities across all year levels.