Curriculum

Learning in the IB Primary Years Program 

The Friends' Primary School has been authorised to deliver the  International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) as its curriculum framework since 2001. The PYP provides the curriculum framework for all children from 3-year-old Kindergarten to Year 6 and weaves together the Australian Curriculum (ACARA) and Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. These engaging learning programs support  students to develop a sense of identity, build intercultural understanding and encourage their participation and engagement, developing active global citizenship.   Supported by the School's Purpose and Concerns and focusing on the development of the whole child, we strive to meet the academic, cultural, physical, social, emotional and spiritual development of each person.

Growing from strong curriculum foundations and based on current global education research, the PYP upholds a constructivist approach to education (where the process of learning is actively constructed by learners and teachers together). At the heart of the PYP is a belief that learning happens best when delivered through a meaningful and rigorous inquiry-based programs, where students’ individual skills, prior knowledge and relevant experiences are woven into the learning process. Specific and discrete skills are understood to be vitally important and are taught within the inquiry framework.

A flexible and contemporary approach to learning, the PYP is structured, purposeful, conceptually-driven through carefully planned Units of Inquiry, providing opportunities to actively engage children in the learning process. Student agency is an integral part of this approach; students are encouraged to become independent, make decisions for themselves, care for people and environments around them, contribute in service to the community and take ownership of their learning. The program leverages the diversity that our learners bring and evidences their learning through ongoing cycles of assessment. All of which is enriched by a strong focus on international mindedness, reflection and taking personal action. This approach is intended to elicit ideas of global significance that affect all people, an approach that will help students see their place in the wider world.

Learning Principles

Across the School we have developed a set of core learning principles that apply to all learners.

We know that students learn best when …

They engage academically

• Students know what success looks like, and where it leads to
• Students make connections and construct meaning for themselves
• Students experience success and identify progress made
• Students learn from mistakes through meaningful reflection
• Students connect new concepts with previous learning
• Students receive constructive feedback that leads to action
• Students are active and curious in their play and learning
• Students are organised and prepared
• Students have a voice in their learning
• Students and educators are interacting, questioning and communicating collaboratively
• Teachers design engaging learning experiences with multiple entry points
• Staff model passion for learning

They are in a comfortable physical and emotional environment

• Students have confidence that they will be respected if they take a risk
• Students are challenged to consider alternative perspectives
• Students know that their physical and mental health is supported
• Students are intrinsically motivated to take action
• Students believe physically and mentally that they can
• Students’ physical comforts are being addressed with a focus on simplicity
• Students and teachers value the importance of the learning environment both inside and out
• Students and teachers recognise the need for equity

They feel safe, secure and valued socially, culturally and spiritually

• Students trust the relationship, knowledge, skills and intent of other students and teachers
• Students’ differences are acknowledged, respected and responded to appropriately
• Students know that their peers respect them
• Students develop a strong sense of self
• Students are not judged
• Students value sharing their learning
• Students maintain their sense of curiosity and wonder of the world around them
• Students acknowledge and understand that there is something greater in the world around them
• Students’ voice is respected, listened to and considered
• Staff support all parents regarding the culture and context of learning at Friends’
• Staff embrace building relationships with all families
• Staff enact consistent expectations

IB Learner Profile

The Friends' School Learning Principles support our students to develop attributes of the IB learner profile, which represents a broad range of human capacities and responsibilities encompassing intellectual, personal, emotional and social growth.  Developing and demonstrating the attributes of the learner profile provides an important foundation for building the skills of international-mindedness and global citizenship. The learner profile also supports students to understand their own sense of agency and responsibility as they take action and seek to make positive change.

IB Learners strive to be:

Inquirers •They develop their natural curiosity. They acquire the skills necessary to conduct inquiry and research and show independence in learning. They actively enjoy learning and this love of learning will be sustained throughout their lives.

Principled •They act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice and respect for the dignity of individuals, groups and communities. They take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences that accompany them.

Communicators •They understand and express ideas and information confidently and creatively in more than one language and in a variety of modes of communication. They work effectively and willingly in collaboration with others.

Caring •They show empathy, compassion and respect towards the needs and feelings of others. They have a personal commitment to service, and act to make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment.

Reflective •They give thoughtful consideration to their own learning and experience. They are able to assess and understand their strengths and limitations in order to support their learning and personal development.

Balanced •They understand the importance of intellectual, physical, spiritual and emotional balance to achieve personal wellbeing for themselves and others.

Knowledgeable •They explore concepts, ideas and issues that have local and global significance. In so doing, they acquire in-depth knowledge and develop understanding across a broad and balanced range of disciplines.

Open-Minded •They understand and appreciate their own cultures and personal histories, and are open to the perspectives, values and traditions of other individuals and communities. They are accustomed to seeking and evaluating a range of points of view, and are willing to grow from the experience.

Courageous •They approach unfamiliar situations and uncertainty with courage and forethought, and have the independence of spirit to explore new roles, ideas and strategies. They are brave and articulate in defending their beliefs.

Thinkers •They exercise initiative in applying thinking skills critically and creatively to recognise and approach complex problems, and make reasoned, ethical decisions.

Program of Inquiry

The Program of Inquiry (PoI) incorporates all areas of learning.

Classroom and specialist teachers work together to plan rich, engaging and authentic transdisciplinary programs. All teachers from 3 year old Kindergarten to Year 6 are involved in developing the Program of Inquiry and reviewing it annually. A sample of the Program of Inquiry for 3 year old Kindergarten to Year 6 can be found here: 2023 Program of Inquiry. 

In practical terms, teachers and students are guided by six trandisciplinary themes as they design these inquiry units. 

They include: 

• Who are we 
• Where are we in place and time 
• How do we express ourselves 
• How does the world work 
• How do we organise ourselves 
• How do we share the planet

Concept-driven learning

The PYP is a concept-driven program. This means that our approach to covering the curriculum focuses on deeper conceptual learning as students build skills, encounter content knowledge and develop dispositions for learning. Each year, as children explore different subject matter they regularly revisit the PYP's seven key concepts activated by a series of questions. These conceptual questions help students to focus their inquiries, develop conceptual understandings of content knowledge and make connections across and between different subjects and year levels.

• What is it like? (Form)
• How does it work? (Function)
• How is it changing? (Change)
• Why is it like this? (Causation)
• How is it connected to other things? (Connection)
• What are the points of view? (Perspective)
• What is our responsibility? (Responsibility)

Approaches to Learning

The development of skills is vitally important in the PYP. Throughout the Program of Inquiry, students engage with, acquire and apply a set of transdisciplinary skills that transcend traditional subject boundaries and apply to all learning engagements. They include: social skills, communication skills, thinking skills, research skills and self-management skills. By developing skills, students’ increase their competence and understanding of how they learn as well as what they learn. The transdiscplinary skills are valuable tools for engaging with curriculum content, not only within the Units of Inquiry and classroom program but also for any teaching and learning that occurs within the broader school day or with different sections of the learning community.

Agency & Action

At The Friends' School, the agency of all students is honoured, as they are supported to take ownership for their own learning. Agency occurs when students have an active choice in matters that affect them and their learning, and when their voice, perspectives and ideas are welcomed and built upon within the learning group. Embracing learning opportunities with a strong sense of self-awareness and self-efficacy, our students learn to engage their sense of agency within the learning process, contributing knowledge, skills and key conceptual understandings to the learning community.  As part of this process, students collaborate with peers and teachers to set their own goals and reflect upon their learning.

In addition to developing knowledge, concepts, skills and agency, we support  students to take thoughtful and appropriate action. We offer all learners the opportunity and power to choose their actions, to act and to reflect on these actions in order to make a difference to the world. Students are challenged to take responsibility for the world in which they live.

Students take action in many forms, both at school and at home. These actions range from sharing resources they find, inviting parents and other guests to contribute  expertise, conducting independent inquiries and sharing their findings, reaching out to others within the class and school and making environmentally responsible changes at school and at home. At times this can also extend to initiating, promoting and supporting a wide range of service activities within the school and wider community.

Learning Areas

At The Friends' Primary School much of the learning is approached in a transdisciplinary manner under the umbrella of the PYP themes as outlined in the Program of Inquiry. Alongside this, skills  and knowledge that are specific to each of the disciplines is planned for and taught. The learning areas and specific content knowledge are outlined below

Language

English is the language of instruction at the school, but Friends’ endorses and enables both the learning of new languages and the continued use of a student’s home language when that language is not English. We believe that all learning areas have a key role to play in building students’ literacy skills.

We are all language learners and teachers at Friends' Primary School. This includes:

1. Teaching and learning in English.
2. Acknowledgement and support of home languages.
3. English as an Additional Language and dialect (EALD) support when required.
4. Teaching and learning of Japanese as an additional language to all students from 4 Year Old Kindergarten to Year 6.

English is learned in a variety of contexts in every classroom. There are times each week when students work in small groups where specific skills are developed according to children’s current level of understanding and need. This is particularly evident in reading, writing and spelling. While aspects of the English program are taught separately from the Program of Inquiry, frequently there are direct connections and opportunities to acquire, practise and demonstrate language skills during the Units of Inquiry.

We celebrate and encourage the diversity of world languages that our students bring. The langauges support students to build meaning and make connections. The IB PYP calls this process of moving between different languages “translanguaging”. For example, researching in home language and then synthesising into English. Support for English as an additional language students is provided as their language profile and needs are identified.

Japanese Language Program

Friends' Primary School students from 4 Year Old Kindergarten to Year 6 participate in the Japanese language program with a specialist lesson once a week. The Japanese program, where possible, works with classroom Units of Inquiry and aims to develop communication skills and the capability for reflection on language use and learning. It supports the IB PYP in the development of intercultural understanding by providing the opportunity for students to engage with other cultures and peoples in meaningful ways.

Mathematics

Mathematical learning is focused through the development of the Australian Curriculum Proficiencies of understanding, fluency, problem solving and reasoning. Number work is introduced and developed during focused Mathematics sessions. Wherever there is a natural connection, elements of the Mathematics program are learned and applied within the Units of Inquiry.  Measurement, Geometry and Statistics and Probability lend themselves to authentic integration into our Program of Inquiry.

Humanities and Social Sciences

The History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship and Economics and Business curriculum is incorporated into the Program of Inquiry, and often sits in the Where we are in time and place, Who we are, and How we organise ourselves units.

Science

The Science curriculum sits within the Program of Inquiry, where the knowledge and skills of science are addressed within the How the world works, Sharing the planet, and How we organise ourselves units.

The Arts

From 3 Year Old Kindergarten, children attend specialist Music classes each week, and from Year 1 they also attend specialist Art classes. Drama is incorporated into the English program, and Dance into the Physical Education and Music programs. Alongside the process of developing subject-specific skills and knowledge, much of the learning is linked to the concepts within the Units of Inquiry. Classroom teachers also incorporate opportunities for children to further delve into the arts in their classroom programs.

Personal, Social & Physical Education

Physical Education

Students participate in a specialist Physical Education program either in two half-hour sessions or a one hour session each week. In addition, the teachers run daily PE sessions and children are also given the opportunity to opt into outdoor games during lunchtime run by Year 6 leaders.

Health

The Health curriculum is incorporated into Units of Inquiry and through the development of self-management skills in the areas of personal hygiene, healthy lifestyles and healthy eating within both the classroom and PE programs. The Physical Education program recognises the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, the body’s response to exercise, the development of physical fitness and what it means to be physically, mentally and socially healthy. The Growing Up Program, promotes safe and protective behaviours and is implemented for all students at The Friends' Primary School.

Social and Emotional

Opportunities for the development of social and emotional understanding and skills is an integral part of the Physical Education program and is also embedded within the Units of Inquiry and developed through many of  the approaches to learning. We believe that being able to build relationships with others, express and manage their own emotions and develop responsible decision making skills helps students to learn more effectively, forge successful connections with others and develop resilience.

Outdoor Education

Students at The Friends' Primary School are involved in Outdoor Education. 4 Year Old Kindergarten enjoy a specialised program that includes regular visits to a local natural landscape.  Prep to Year 5 students have a number of excursions throughout the year focusing on a bush and beach experience. The Year 3 to 6 Program also includes overnight camps.  Outdoor Education at Morris is an experiential program. Through adventure, challenges and exploration within our natural environment we support the student’s emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual growth in Outdoor Education across the years, many connections are made to units of inquiry.

The pursuit of outdoor skills and knowledge encompasses concepts including safety, awareness, the environment, and all aspects of physical and social skill development. The positive physical, mental and social challenges encourage self-exploration, questioning and risk taking that builds independence, self-confidence, perseverance and resilience.

Library

The library plays a central role supporting the teaching and learning across the curriculum. The teacher librarians collaboratively plan with the classroom teachers to facilitate transdisciplinary learning and to meet the needs of our diverse learners. Students have a library lesson with a teacher librarian once a week, during which time  students develop information literacy skills and explore literature with the aim of encouraging a life-long love of reading. The library provides a range of online (both eBook and eAudio) and print resources to support all learners. A growing collection of books in a range of foreign languages is also available for students to borrow.  The library is open before and after school and during breaks and parents are welcome to access the library.

Information Communication Technology (ICT)

The Friends’ School encourages and supports the use of new and evolving technologies to enhance teaching and learning.

Technology supports all curriculum areas and underpins the learning within the Program of Inquiry. Classroom programs encompass the Australian Curriculum elements of investigating, creating, collaborating, organising and becoming digital citizens. The students are given opportunities to use dual platforms (the iPad and/or laptop), to program robotic devices, make wearable technology, design through our ‘Maker Spaces’, use circuitry, code and program and use a variety of Apps and software to underpin and support or publish their learning. We educate our students  to interact digitally in a socially responsible way, requiring all students adhere to our Digital Citizenship Guide and Computer Use Agreement.

 Co-curricular Program

Co-curricular programs at The Friends’ School are about ‘Letting our lives speak’, and are flexible, student-centred, and aligned with the International Baccalaureate’s requirements of engagement in Creativity, Activity and Service expectations for learners. The aim of the Co-curricular Program at The Friends’ School is for students to experience a balance of activities that cater for the whole person.

At the Primary School programs are offered in the areas of Music, Sport and Co-curricular Clubs, and are optional. They are offered before and after school and at break times. The Co-curricular Clubs vary  each term and some examples include, drawing, gardening, chess and rubik’s cube club.

Reporting & Assessment | Opportunities for building partnerships

Sharing and Understanding Learning

Learning is the continual process of building concrete experiences from clear evidence of current understandings to develop the necessary skills and knowledge in order to reach towards new understandings. Assessment is the means by which students, teachers and parents develop a shared knowledge, through feedback, of what constitutes current understanding and skills based on evidence. Therefore the primary purpose of assessment is to inform the next step for the learner to extend their knowledge, skills and understandings.

We aim to involve the student, the parent and the teacher in the assessment and reporting process throughout each year of a student’s learning. In this process we reflect the philosophy and objectives of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (PYP) and meet the requirements of the Australian National Curriculum.  

Year Level Information Night

This is held within the first few weeks of term, providing an opportunity for the teacher to share information with the parents about the coming year and parents to share information with the teacher regarding their child.

Portfolios

Portfolios are available on Seqta Engage from early in the year for students to share with family and friends.

Portfolios are co-created between students, teachers and other members of the learning community. They are a documented record of students learning and thinking, displaying reflection on personal learning and growth and demonstrating involvement in a variety of learning engagements and inquries.

In key learning areas these will be mapped back to the Australian Curriculum requirements.

Parent Teacher Discussions

These conversations are an opportunity for the parent and teacher to discuss the details of their child’s academic progress, learning behaviours, and social and emotional wellbeing. They will occur throughout the year on a cyclical basis. Families are welcome to contact teachers at any time throughout the year.

Student-Led Conversations

These are important opportunities for the students to lead conversations with their family, share progress, explain learning and talk about strategies and skills they are developing as they continue to grow and learn. These conversations will occur in Semester 2.

Open Classrooms

Periodically throughout the year each Year level holds an “open classroom”.  This is an opportunity for parents and community members to interact with the students and engage in conversation  about their learning and the skills they are developing as learners.

Program of Inquiry & Year Level Expectations in English & Mathematics

The transdisciplinary themes mark the starting point of student inquiries. It is within the context of each theme that students explore related central ideas and assimilate knowledge. The six themes provide guidance as to what the students will inquire into.

They allow for authentic embeddedness of subject areas, invite students to engage in dialogue about real issues in the world and connect us globally.    

In the appendix that follows, each year level’s Program of Inquiry is presented, along with the achievement standards for each a year level for English and Mathematics.

2023 Program of Inquiry

Morris – Friends’ Early Learning and Friends’ Primary Years

Learning in 3 Year Old Kindergarten

The 3 Year Old Kindergarten curriculum is the first important opportunity for children to engage with the learning program of the School. It brings together our core influences of The Quaker Values, The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (PYP), The Early Years Framework: Belonging, Being and Becoming and The Reggio Emilia approach.

The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (PYP)

In 3 Year Old Kindergarten the International Baccalaureate PYP focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world outside. The Units of Inquiry reflect themes of global significance and include the transdisciplinary themes: Sharing the Planet, Who We Are, How We Express Ourselves and How the World Works. The PYP fosters attitudes and attributes that support children to become the most effective learner they can be. We encourage children to be curious about the world they live in and actively encourage them to wonder about the everyday things they are seeing and see the extraordinary. The program has a strong focus on developing a sense of place and connection to a learning community.

The Early Years Learning Framework: Belonging, Being and Becoming

This is the Australian Framework for Early Childhood settings for children from birth to five years. The play-based framework is used to plan learning experiences and communicate with families about their child’s learning journey.

The Reggio Emilia Approach

Originating in post war Italy, the Reggio Emilia Approach has been embraced by Early Childhood Educators around the globe.  It is both an inspiration and validation of our practice. We view children as competent, active learners and teachers collaborate with children as they construct meaning about the world in which they live. Connections with families are important, they are considered to be an essential part of the learning community. The environment is viewed as the ‘third teacher’ and is carefully curated to present stimulating and engaging spaces to learn in, encouraging and supporting children to represent their thinking independently, in “one hundred languages” of expression.

Learning in 4 Year Old Kindergarten 

The 4 Year Old Kindergarten curriculum is dynamic and responsive to current trends while remaining focused on our core influences of The Quaker Values, The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (PYP), The Early Years Framework: Belonging, Being and Becoming and The Reggio Emilia Philosophy.

The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (PYP)

In 4 Year Old Kindergarten the International Baccalaureate PYP focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world outside. The units of inquiry reflect themes of global significance and include the transdisciplinary themes: Sharing the Planet, Who We are, How We Express Ourselves and Where We Are in Place and Time. The PYP fosters attitudes and attributes that support children to become the most effective learner they can be. We encourage children to be curious about the world they live in and actively encourage them to wonder about the everyday things they are seeing and see the extraordinary. The program has a strong focus on developing a sense of place and connection to earth.

The Early Years Learning Framework: Belonging, Being and Becoming

This is the Australian Framework for Early Childhood settings for children from birth to five years. The play-based framework is used to plan learning experiences and communicate with families about their child’s learning journey.

The Reggio Emilia Approach

Originating in post war Italy, the Reggio Emilia Approach has been embraced by Early Childhood Educators around the globe.  It is both an inspiration and validation of our practice. We view children as competent, active learners and teachers collaborate with children as they construct meaning about the world in which they live. Connections with families are important, they are considered to be an essential part of the learning community. The environment is viewed as the ‘third teacher’ and is carefully curated to present stimulating and engaging spaces to learn in, encouraging and supporting children to represent their thinking independently, in “one hundred languages” of expression.

Expected Year Level Outcomes for Prep

English

By the end of Foundation, students listen to texts, interact with others and create short spoken texts, including retelling stories. They share thoughts and preferences, retell events and report information or key ideas to an audience. They use language features including words and phrases from learning and texts. They listen for and identify rhymes, letter patterns and sounds (phonemes) in words. They orally blend and segment phonemes in single-syllable words.

They read, view and comprehend texts, making connections between characters, settings and events, and to personal experiences. They identify the language features of texts including connections between print and images. They name the letters of the English alphabet and know and use the most common sounds (phonemes) represented by these letters (graphs). They read words including consonant–vowel–consonant words and some high-frequency words.

They create short written texts, including retelling stories using words and images where appropriate. They retell, report information and state their thoughts, feelings and key ideas. They use words and phrases from learning and texts. They form letters, spell most consonant–vowel–consonant words and experiment with capital letters and full stops.

Mathematics

By the end of Foundation Year, students make connections between number names, numerals and position in the sequence of numbers from zero to at least 20. They use subitising and counting strategies to quantify collections. Students compare the size of collections to at least 20. They partition and combine collections up to 10 in different ways, representing these with numbers. Students represent practical situations that involve quantifying, equal sharing, adding to and taking away from collections to at least 10. They copy and continue repeating patterns. 

Students identify the attributes of mass, capacity, length and duration, and use direct comparison strategies to compare objects and events. They sequence and connect familiar events to the time of day. Students name, create and sort familiar shapes and give their reasoning. They describe the position and the location of themselves and objects in relation to other objects and people within a familiar space.

Students collect, sort and compare data in response to questions in familiar contexts.

Expected Year Level Outcomes for Year 1

English

By the end of Year 1, students interact with others, and listen to and create short spoken texts including recounts of stories. They share ideas and retell or adapt familiar stories, recount or report on events or experiences, and express opinions using a small number of details from learnt topics, topics of interest or texts. They sequence ideas and use language features including topic-specific vocabulary and features of voice.

They read, view and comprehend texts, monitoring meaning and making connections between the depiction of characters, settings and events, and to personal experiences. They identify the text structures of familiar narrative and informative texts, and their language features and visual features. They blend short vowels, common long vowels, consonants and digraphs to read one-syllable words. They read one- and two-syllable words with common letter patterns, and an increasing number of high-frequency words. They use sentence boundary punctuation to read with developing phrasing and fluency.

They create short written and/or multimodal texts including recounts of stories with events and characters. They report information and experiences, and express opinions. Ideas in their texts may be informative or imaginative and include a small number of details from learnt topics, topics of interest or texts. They write simple sentences with sentence boundary punctuation and capital letters for proper nouns. They use topic-specific vocabulary. They write words using unjoined upper-case and lower-case letters. They spell most one- and two-syllable words with common letter patterns and common grammatical morphemes, and an increasing number of high-frequency words.

Mathematics

By the end of Year 1, students connect number names, numerals and quantities, and order numbers to at least 120. They demonstrate how one- and two-digit numbers can be partitioned in different ways and that two-digit numbers can be partitioned into tens and ones. Students partition collections into equal groups and skip count in twos, fives or tens to quantify collections to at least 120. They solve problems involving addition and subtraction of numbers to 20 and use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems involving addition, subtraction, equal sharing and grouping, using calculation strategies. Students use numbers, symbols and objects to create skip counting and repeating patterns, identifying the repeating unit.

They compare and order objects and events based on the attributes of length, mass, capacity and duration, communicating reasoning. Students measure the length of shapes and objects using uniform informal units. They make, compare and classify shapes and objects using obvious features. Students give and follow directions to move people and objects within a space. 

They collect and record categorical data, create one-to-one displays, and compare and discuss the data using frequencies. 

Expected Year Level Outcomes for Year 2

English

By the end of Year 2, students interact with others, and listen to and create spoken texts including stories. They share ideas, topic knowledge and appreciation of texts when they recount, inform or express an opinion, including details from learnt topics, topics of interest or texts. They organise and link ideas, and use language features including topic-specific vocabulary and features of voice.

They read, view and comprehend texts, identifying literal and inferred meaning, and how ideas are presented through characters and events. They describe how similar topics and information are presented through the structure of narrative and informative texts, and identify their language features and visual features. They use phonic and morphemic knowledge, and grammatical patterns to read unfamiliar words and most high-frequency words. They use punctuation for phrasing and fluency. 

They create written and/or multimodal texts including stories to inform, express an opinion, adapt an idea or narrate for audiences. They use text structures to organise and link ideas for a purpose. They punctuate simple and compound sentences. They use topic-specific vocabulary. They write words using consistently legible unjoined letters. They spell words with regular spelling patterns, and use phonic and morphemic knowledge to attempt to spell words with less common patterns.

Mathematics

By the end of Year 2, students order and represent numbers to at least 1000, apply knowledge of place value to partition, rearrange and rename two- and three-digit numbers in terms of their parts, and regroup partitioned numbers to assist in calculations. They use mathematical modelling to solve practical additive and multiplicative problems, including money transactions, representing the situation and choosing calculation strategies. Students identify and represent part-whole relationships of halves, quarters and eighths in measurement contexts. They describe and continue patterns that increase and decrease additively by a constant amount and identify missing elements in the pattern. Students recall and demonstrate proficiency with addition and subtraction facts within 20 and multiplication facts for twos.

They use uniform informal units to measure and compare shapes and objects. Students determine the number of days between events using a calendar and read time on an analog clock to the hour, half hour and quarter hour. They compare and classify shapes, describing features using formal spatial terms. Students locate and identify positions of features in two-dimensional representations and move position by following directions and pathways. 

They use a range of methods to collect, record, represent and interpret categorical data in response to questions. 

Expected Year Level Outcomes for Year 3

English

By the end of Year 3, students interact with others, and listen to and create spoken and/or multimodal texts including stories. They relate ideas; express opinion, preferences and appreciation of texts; and include relevant details from learnt topics, topics of interest or texts. They group, logically sequence and link ideas. They use language features including topic-specific vocabulary, and/or visual features and features of voice.They read, view and comprehend texts, recognising their purpose and audience. They identify literal meaning and explain inferred meaning. They describe how stories are developed through characters and/or events. They describe how texts are structured and presented. They describe the language features of texts including topic-specific vocabulary and literary devices, and how visual features extend meaning. They read fluently, using phonic, morphemic and grammatical knowledge to read multisyllabic words with more complex letter patterns.

They create written and/or multimodal texts including stories to inform, narrate, explain or argue for audiences, relating ideas including relevant details from learnt topics, topics of interest or texts. They use text structures including paragraphs, and language features including compound sentences, topic-specific vocabulary and literary devices, and/or visual features. They write texts using letters that are accurately formed and consistent in size. They spell multisyllabic words using phonic and morphemic knowledge, and high-frequency words.

Mathematics

By the end of Year 3, students order and represent natural numbers beyond 10 000. They partition, rearrange and regroup two- and three-digit numbers in different ways to assist in calculations. Students extend and use single-digit addition and related subtraction facts and apply additive strategies to model and solve problems involving two- and three-digit numbers. They use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems involving single-digit multiplication and division, recalling multiplication facts for twos, threes, fours, fives and tens, and using a range of strategies. Students represent unit fractions and their multiples in different ways. They make estimates and determine the reasonableness of financial and other calculations. Students find unknown values in number sentences involving addition and subtraction. They create algorithms to investigate numbers and explore simple patterns. 

Students use familiar metric units when estimating, comparing and measuring the attributes of objects and events. They identify angles as measures of turn and compare them to right angles. Students estimate and compare measures of duration using formal units of time. They represent money values in different ways. Students make, compare and classify objects using key features. They interpret and create two-dimensional representations of familiar environments. 

Students conduct guided statistical investigations involving categorical and discrete numerical data and interpret their results in terms of the context. They record, represent and compare data they have collected. Students use practical activities, observation or experiment to identify and describe outcomes and the likelihood of everyday events explaining reasoning. They conduct repeated chance experiments and discuss variation in results.

Expected Year Level Outcomes for Year 4

English

By the end of Year 4, students interact with others, and listen to and create spoken and/or multimodal texts including stories. They share and extend ideas, opinions and information with audiences, using relevant details from learnt topics, topics of interest or texts. They use text structures to organise and link ideas. They use language features including subjective and objective language, topic-specific vocabulary and literary devices, and/or visual features and features of voice.

They read, view and comprehend texts created to inform, influence and/or engage audiences. They describe how ideas are developed including through characters and events, and how texts reflect contexts. They describe the characteristic features of different text structures. They describe how language features including literary devices, and visual features shape meaning. They read fluently and accurately, integrating phonic, morphemic, grammatical and punctuation knowledge.

They create written and/or multimodal texts including stories for purposes and audiences, where they develop ideas using details from learnt topics, topics of interest or texts. They use paragraphs to organise and link ideas. They use language features including complex sentences, topic-specific vocabulary and literary devices, and/or visual features. They write texts using clearly formed letters with developing fluency. They spell words including multisyllabic and multimorphemic words with irregular spelling patterns, using phonic, morphemic and grammatical knowledge.

Mathematics

Expected Year Level Outcomes for Year 5

English

By the end of Year 5, students interact with others, and listen to and create spoken and/or multimodal texts including literary texts. For particular purposes and audiences, they share, develop and expand on ideas and opinions, using supporting details from topics or texts. They use different text structures to organise, develop and link ideas. They use language features including topic-specific vocabulary and literary devices, and/or multimodal features and features of voice.

They read, view and comprehend texts created to inform, influence and/or engage audiences. They explain how ideas are developed including through characters, settings and/or events, and how texts reflect contexts. They explain how characteristic text structures support the purpose of texts. They explain how language features including literary devices, and visual features contribute to the effect and meaning of a text.

They create written and/or multimodal texts, including literary texts, for particular purposes and audiences, developing and expanding on ideas with supporting details from topics or texts. They use paragraphs to organise, develop and link ideas. They use language features including complex sentences, tenses, topic-specific vocabulary and literary devices, and/or multimodal features. They spell using phonic, morphemic and grammatical knowledge.

Mathematics

 By the end of Year 5, students use place value to write and order decimals including decimals greater than one. They express natural numbers as products of factors and identify multiples. Students order and represent add and subtract fractions with the same or related denominators. They represent common percentages and connect them to their fraction and decimal equivalents. Students use their proficiency with multiplication facts and efficient calculation strategies to multiply large numbers by one- and two-digit numbers and divide by single-digit numbers. They check the reasonableness of their calculations using estimation. Students use mathematical modelling to solve financial and other practical problems, formulating and solving problems, choosing arithmetic operations and interpreting results in terms of the situation. They apply properties of numbers and operations to find unknown values in numerical equations involving multiplication and division. Students create and use algorithms to identify and explain patterns in the factors and multiples of numbers.   

They choose and use appropriate metric units to measure the attributes of length, mass and capacity, and to solve problems involving perimeter and area. Students convert between 12- and 24-hour time. They estimate, construct and measure angles in degrees. Students use grid coordinates to locate and move positions. They connect objects to their two-dimensional nets. Students perform and describe the results of transformations and identify any symmetries. 

They plan and conduct statistical investigations that collect nominal and ordinal categorical and discrete numerical data using digital tools. Students identify the mode and interpret the shape of distributions of data in context. They interpret and compare data represented in line graphs. Students conduct repeated chance experiments, list the possible outcomes, estimate likelihoods and make comparisons between those with and without equally likely outcomes.

Expected Year Level Outcomes for Year 6

English

By the end of Year 6, students interact with others, and listen to and create spoken and/or multimodal texts including literary texts. For particular purposes and audiences, they share, develop, explain and elaborate on ideas from topics or texts. They use and vary text structures to organise, develop and link ideas. They use and vary language features including topic-specific vocabulary and literary devices, and/or multimodal features and features of voice.

They read, view and comprehend different texts created to inform, influence and/or engage audiences. They identify similarities and differences in how ideas are presented and developed including through characters, settings and/or events, and how texts reflect contexts. They identify how texts have similar and different text structures to reflect purpose. They explain how language features including literary devices, and visual features influence audiences.

They create written and/or multimodal texts, including literary texts, for particular purposes and audiences, developing, explaining and elaborating on relevant ideas from topics or texts. They use text structures and vary paragraphs to organise, develop and link ideas. They use and vary language features including sentence structures, topic-specific vocabulary and literary devices, and/or multimodal features. They spell using phonic, morphemic and grammatical knowledge.

Mathematics

By the end of Year 6, students use integers to represent points on a number line and in the Cartesian plane. They solve problems using the properties of prime, composite and square numbers. Students order common fractions, giving reasons, and add and subtract fractions with related denominators. They use all 4 operations with decimals and connect decimal representations of measurements to the metric system. Students solve problems involving finding a fraction, decimal or percentage of a quantity and use estimation to find approximate solutions to problems involving rational numbers and percentages. They use mathematical modelling to solve financial and other practical problems involving percentages and rational numbers, formulating and solving the problem, and justifying choices. Students find unknown values in numerical equations involving combinations of arithmetic operations. They identify and explain rules used to create growing patterns. Students create and use algorithms to generate sets of numbers, using a rule. 

They interpret and use timetables. Students convert between common units of length, mass and capacity. They use the formula for the area of a rectangle and angle properties to solve problems. Students identify the parallel cross-section for right prisms. They create tessellating patterns using combinations of transformations. Students locate an ordered pair in any one of the 4 quadrants on the Cartesian plane.

They compare distributions of discrete and continuous numerical and ordinal categorical data sets as part of their statistical investigations, using digital tools. Students critique arguments presented in the media based on statistics. They assign probabilities using common fractions, decimal and percentages. Students conduct simulations using digital tools, to generate and record the outcomes from many trials of a chance experiment. They compare observed frequencies to the expected frequencies of the outcomes of chance experiments.

Exhibition

Towards the end of Year 6, students engage in an in-depth, collaborative inquiry that acts as the culmination of all learning in the primary years. Students demonstrate independence and responsibility for their own learning and explore multiple perspectives on a chosen area of significance. They exhibit ongoing development of the attributes of the learner profile. They demonstrate engagement with the approaches to learning, transdisciplinary inquiry and PYP key concepts. With the support of their teachers, specialist teachers and other community members, students investigate, research, synthesise and apply their learning of previous years, reflecting on their journey throughout the PYP.