From the Teaching and Learning Deputy

What is a Curriculum and How Does it Work?

Schools can be a bit of a mystery sometimes to parents. We often know who our child’s teachers are and some of the experiences they have had but how this is all planned and organised can be a bit of a mystery. I’m hoping today I can shed some light on how this works at St Paul. 

The foundation that underpins all the learning at St Paul is the Australian Curriculum.  A curriculum outlines the expectations for what children will be taught and assessed against. The first version of the Australian Curriculum was developed in 2010 and has been reviewed regularly since, bringing us to Version 9 of the curriculum which we use at St Paul and which can be explored here: https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au. The Australian Curriculum tells our teachers what should be taught in each learning area at each year level and the standard that children in that year level are expected to achieve in that learning area. 

Our teachers plan out your child’s learning by first looking at the expectations mapped out in the Australian Curriculum. They then plan learning experiences that will help your child explore this content in rich, engaging and accessible ways. For example, rather than sitting and listening to a teacher just telling them about scientific principles, our children can start exploring these using toys, games and opportunities to make. Teachers can then teach new scientific vocabulary and concepts to the children in connection with the children’s own play and exploration.  This approach promotes higher engagement, ownership and responsibility for our children whilst still delivering rigour in our learning plans.

You can therefore rest assured that at St Paul, your child is learning age-appropriate content aligned with the Australian Curriculum but doing so in a contemporary learning approach that prepares them with skills for (and a love of) independent, lifelong learning.