Curriculum Programs Foundation to 10

Policy

This policy outlines the requirements for school-based curriculum programs in Victorian government schools across Foundation to Year 10.

Summary

• Schools must provide all students with a planned and structured school-based curriculum program. There must be evidence of:
  • a school-based curriculum plan showing how the learning areas of the Victorian Curriculum F-10 will be substantially addressed, and how the school-based curriculum program will be organised and implemented
  • an explanation of how and when the curriculum and teaching practice will be reviewed
  • an outline of how the school will deliver its curriculum.
• School-based curriculum programs must meet the minimum standards for school registration and comply with associated departmental policies, including Physical and Sport Education – Delivery Requirements, Languages Education and Holocaust Education.
• Schools are encouraged to design and deliver their school-based curriculum programs flexibly, responding to the strengths, needs and aspirations of students and the school and wider community.
• Schools are expected to align the design and delivery of school-based curriculum programs to advice provided by Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and to the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes 2.0 (FISO 2.0).
• From 2025, schools must develop their approach to teaching and learning to align with the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 (VTLM 2.0) and Victoria’s approach to teaching reading F–2
• The department is creating Victorian Lesson Plans to support schools to deliver the Victorian Curriculum F-10. Victorian Lesson Plans are aligned with the VTLM 2.0 and will be published on the Arc platform.

Details

Requirements for curriculum programs in Victorian government schools are defined with reference to:

• the Guidelines to the Minimum Standards and Requirements for School Registration (Minimum Standards for School Registration) issued by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA)
• the F–10 Revised Curriculum Planning and Reporting Guidelines (PDF) issued by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0 guidelines are coming soon and will be published on the VCAA website.
• departmental policies.

Minimum standards for school registration

Schools must provide all students with a planned and structured school-based curriculum program to equip them with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to complete their schooling and to make a successful transition from school to work, training or further education.

Under the minimum standards for school registration, there must be evidence of:

• a school-based curriculum plan showing how the learning areas of the Victorian Curriculum F–10 will be substantially addressed, and how the school-based curriculum program will be organised and implemented, noting that some schools in unique circumstances can be exempted by the VRQA from addressing one or more of the learning areas of the Victorian Curriculum F–10
• an explanation of how and when the curriculum and teaching practice will be reviewed
• an outline of how the school will deliver its curriculum.

Schools are encouraged to design and deliver their school-based curriculum programs flexibly, responding to the strengths, needs and aspirations of students and the school and wider community.

In the Foundation stage of schooling (Prep to Year 2), schools may choose to structure their school-based curriculum program around the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF) outcomes (Identify, Connection, Wellbeing, Confidence and Communication). However, please note that schools are still required to report against the Victorian Curriculum F–10 achievement standards.

F–10 curriculum planning guidelines

In the F–10 Revised Curriculum Planning and Reporting Guidelines (PDF), the VCAA provides curriculum planning guidelines for schools to support them in the design and delivery of high-quality school-based curriculum programs.

The guidelines acknowledge the need to approach key stages of school differently, given that early years learners, older children and adolescents have unique learning and development needs. Key stages of schooling in the guidelines are:

• Foundation Stage (Prep to Year 2)
• Breadth Stage (Years 3 to 8)
• Pathways Stage (Years 9 to 10)

The VCAA also provides a comprehensive online Curriculum planning resource, which includes a self-assessment tool for schools and sample school-based curriculum plans.

Schools are expected to align the design and delivery of school-based curriculum programs to advice provided by VCAA.

Victorian Government priorities and departmental policies

Framework for Improving Student Outcomes

The department provides additional support to schools to strengthen curriculum planning as part of the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO 2.0).

Schools are expected to align the design and delivery of school-based curriculum programs to FISO 2.0. Online supports for the Teaching and Learning and Assessment elements of FISO 2.0 are available on the Guidance and Resources tabs of the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO 2.0) policy.

Victoria’s approach to teaching reading F-2

All Victorian government primary and specialist schools are required to implement a structured literacy approach to teaching reading, commencing implementation from 2025 with full implementation from the beginning of the 2027 school year.

As part of this approach, all schools teaching students in the first three years of school must use a teaching program based on the Big 6 of learning to read that includes a minimum of 25 minutes daily systematic synthetic phonics.

Explicit teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness

In the early years of school, the development of decoding skills is best developed through a program that includes a minimum of 25 minutes of daily explicit teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness using a systematic synthetic phonics approach. This means teachers use a clear scope and sequence of increasingly complex grapheme-phoneme correspondences and morphology. Students first learn to pronounce single letters and sounds and then blend them to form words. It also involves teaching students to segment sounds and spell words to make the link between reading and writing. Decodable texts are used to practice the letter-sound combinations that students have been taught. This builds students’ skills so they develop automaticity and so can read words quickly and accurately.

The ‘Big 6’

The essential elements of reading are the ‘Big 6’, each of which should form part of a structured literacy approach:

• Oral language – knowing and using spoken words to express knowledge, ideas and emotions
• Phonemic awareness –which is the knowledge of sounds (phonemes)
• Phonics – knowing the sound (phoneme) and letter (grapheme) relationships
• Fluency – reading accurately and at an appropriate rate with expression
• Vocabulary – understanding words in isolation and in context
• Comprehension – making meaning from text which includes developing knowledge of grammar.

These are the foundational skills that have a reciprocal relationship and are all necessary to enable students to independently read and respond to increasingly complex fiction and non-fiction texts.

Implementation support

Implementation supports available to schools include:

• English lesson plans aligned to the Big 6, the English Curriculum 2.0 and the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0. This includes the Phonics Plus program in F-2, progressively available in the Victorian lesson plans site, which uses a systematic synthetic phonics approach to teach reading
• Webinars and other professional learning opportunities to support implementation of this approach to teaching reading.
• $5 million in one-off funding in early 2025 for government primary and specialist schools, to support transition to the systematic synthetic phonics approach.
• Year 1 Phonics Check, a literacy assessment aligned to the reading position, available in 2025 and implemented in all schools from 2026.
• The Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 (VTLM 2.0) and implementation of the Victorian Curriculum V2.0
• New teaching resources that will replace the current Literacy Teaching Toolkit that will be available on Arc from 2025.

For further details, refer to Victoria’s approach to teaching reading F–2 (PDF).

Physical and sport education

A minimum time allocation is mandated for physical and sport education in Victorian government schools. Refer to Physical and Sport Education – Delivery Requirements.

Other time allocations

Time allocations are not mandated in any other learning area, but schools should note:

• as above, schools are required to substantially address all learning areas of the Victorian Curriculum F–10
• time allocations are not a measure of the quality of the teaching and learning program
• how much time students are given to engage with a curriculum area will influence the knowledge and skills that can be addressed.

Languages

All Victorian government schools are required to provide a languages program for students from Foundation to Year 10. Refer to Languages Education.

Holocaust education

All Victorian government school students in the Years 9 to 10 band of schooling must be taught about the Holocaust as part of the school’s curriculum program. Refer to Holocaust Education – Delivery Requirements.

Sexuality and consent education

All Victorian government school students must receive a comprehensive and age-appropriate sexual health education aligned to the Victorian Curriculum, including the teaching of consent. Refer to Sexuality and Consent Education.

Career education

All students in Years 7 to 12 must participate in planned career education activities. Refer to Career Education Funding – Accountability and Reporting Requirements.

Teaching and learning resources – selecting appropriate materials

All Victorian government schools must ensure that teaching and learning resources provide challenging and engaging learning programs for students but do not offend students or the wider school community due to their obscene, offensive or controversial nature. Refer to Teaching and Learning Resources – Selecting Appropriate Materials.

Student wellbeing

School-based curriculum programs must:

• incorporate opportunities for all students to enhance their own and others' wellbeing
• support students to develop knowledge, understanding and skills that enable them to engage critically with a range of health and wellbeing areas and issues.

General religious education

A secular education includes education about world faiths

Learning about religions is part of the Victorian Curriculum. It provides information to students about world faiths and secular belief structures, which enables them to understand the world around them, respect differences and embrace people from all cultural and religious backgrounds to build strong and respectful relationships within a multicultural society.

All education providers must ensure that their programs and teachings are delivered in a manner that supports and promotes the principles and practice of democracy, including a commitment to freedom of religion, speech and association. Government school teachers must not provide teaching in religion other than general religious education.

Religious celebrations and festivals

General religious education may include teaching about, and acknowledgement of, religious celebrations or festivals. This may include recognition of, and educational activities relating to, key religious celebrations such as Christmas, Eid al-Adha, Dwali or Hanukkah. For more information about the role of special religious instruction instructors at general religious education events refer to School celebrations and cultural events in Special Religious Instruction.

Guest speakers

General religious education classes or events may include guest speakers who are representatives of a particular faith to explain the workings and belief structures of their religion. However, the guest speakers must not provide instruction in their religion or promote the religion. They must comply with the department’s policy on Visitors in Schools. For information about organisations that can provide guest speakers representing particular religions, refer to Guest speakers for Teaching about world religions in the Resources tab of this topic.

Related policies

• Assessment of Student Achievement and Progress for Foundation to 10
• Career Education Funding – Accountability and Reporting Requirements
• Holocaust Education – Delivery Requirements
• Languages Education
• Physical and Sport Education – Delivery Requirements
• Reporting Student Achievement and Progress for Foundation to 10
• Sexuality and Consent Education
• Special Religious Instruction
• Teaching and Learning Resources – Selecting Appropriate Materials

This guidance contains the following chapters:

• Developing and implementing curriculum programs Foundation to 10
• Victorian Lesson Plans

Developing and implementing curriculum programs Foundation to 10

The following guidance is provided to support schools to develop and implement quality school-based curriculum programs across Foundation to Level 10.

Note: This guidance is for curriculum programs for Foundation to Level 10. For information on senior secondary curriculum, please see the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) webpages:

• Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) including the VCE Vocational Major
• Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC)
• Vocational Education and Training (VET)

VCAA F-10 curriculum planning guidelines

The VCAA provides the F–10 Revised Curriculum Planning and Reporting Guidelines to support schools in the design and delivery of curriculum programs. These Guidelines acknowledge the need to approach key stages of school differently, given the diverse learning needs from early childhood to secondary school. The minimum requirements at each learning stage are summarised:

Learning stages

The VCAA also provides an online Curriculum planning resource, which includes a self-assessment tool for schools and sample school-based curriculum plans. These resources support schools to develop curriculum programs that cater for all students and reflect the decisions, resources and priorities of the school. They involve 4 layers for schools to consider: school, curriculum area, year level and unit/lessons.

Schools are expected to align the design and delivery of school-based curriculum programs to advice provided by VCAA.

Resources

Framework for Improving Student Outcomes 2.0

Online supports for the Teaching and Learning and Assessment elements of FISO 2.0 are available on the Guidance and Resources tabs of the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO 2.0) policy.

The department has produced Using FISO 2.0 to plan school improvement (PDF) to support school leaders and School Improvement Teams (SITs) to plan and implement change.

Using the FISO 2.0 improvement cycle, the guide presents a series of guiding questions and key actions to support planning.

Other departmental guidance on curriculum development and implementation

Additional guidance is available to schools to support them to comply with departmental policies on curriculum program design and delivery.

Languages Education guidance includes the following topics:

• What makes a quality language program
• Start a new language program
• Staffing a language program
• Language assistants’ program
• Language program funding, resources and support
• Approaches to teaching languages
• Complementary language providers
• Promote learning a language
• Languages data and research.

Holocaust Education guidance includes the following topics:

• Why study the Holocaust
• Characteristics of a quality Holocaust Education program
• Overcoming barriers to quality provision.

Career Education resources are available on the VCAA website and include the following topics:

• What do students need to learn?
• What can schools do?
• Why does it matter?
• Department of Education and Training support for career education.

Selecting Teaching and Learning Resources Guidelines include the following topics:

• Overview
• Questions to ask when selecting teaching and learning resources
• Selecting films and computer games
• Staging public events or school performances
• Controversial topics
• Resolving issues concerning objections to teaching and learning resources.

Resources

Minimum standards for school registration

The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority Guidelines to the Minimum Standards and Requirements for School Registration outlines that schools are required to provide all students with a planned and structured curriculum to equip them with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to complete their schooling and to make a successful transition from school to work, training or further education.

F–10 curriculum planning guidelines

• The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) provides curriculum planning guidelines for schools to support them in the design and delivery of high-quality school-based curriculum programs: VCAA Victorian Curriculum F-10 Revised curriculum planning and reporting guidelines.
• The VCAA also provides a comprehensive online Curriculum Planning Resource, which includes a self-assessment tool for schools and sample school-based curriculum plans.

Victorian Government priorities and departmental policies

The department provides information on the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM) and its elements to support schools’ to enact their curriculum programs.

Resources are available to schools to support them to comply with departmental policies.

Victoria’s approach to teaching reading F-2 implementation supports available to schools include:

• English lesson plans aligned to the Big 6, the English Curriculum 2.0 and the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0. This includes the Phonics Plus program in F-2 which uses a systematic synthetic phonics approach to teach reading
• webinars and other professional learning opportunities to support implementation of this approach to teaching reading
• teaching resources, to be available on ARC from term 4, 2024.

Learning sequences in English and mathematics for Levels 5 to 8 include links to:

• Victorian Curriculum-aligned learning and teaching resources
• differentiated and cross-curriculum-enriched content
• advice for planning, delivery, and assessment.

Physical and Sport Education resources include links to useful websites.

Languages Education resources include links to:

• information resources for schools, regions and reviewers (login required)
• the Victorian Curriculum: Languages
• department learning and teaching resources
• help for parents/carers to find a languages program in a Victorian government school.

Holocaust Education resources include links to:

• teacher professional learning
• background reading/viewing for teachers
• learning and teaching resources.

Sexuality and Consent Education resources include links to:

• professional learning
• useful websites
• department resources
• external resources
• information on working with parents and or carers
• external support services.

Career education resources include a dedicated Career Education resources website produced by the VCAA. Resources are available for all learning areas and capabilities of the Victorian Curriculum.

Teaching and Learning Resources – Selecting Appropriate Materials resources includes a template Parent Consent Form for viewing M/MA films or computer games.

Teaching about world religions

Teaching about Islam

Schools can book a Muslim guest speaker who is able to speak with students about the key tenets of Islam and their lived experience as adherents of the Islamic faith. This can contribute to a school’s program of teaching about major religions and world views (PDF) as part of the Victorian Curriculum F–10.

The Islamic Council of Victoria can provide Muslim guest speakers who have:

• a current Working with Children Clearance
• experience speaking with school-aged students
• familiarity with the department’s policies, including the Special Religious Instruction policy and Visitors in Schools policy.

The normal time for a presentation is about 45 minutes. On most occasions this will include the opportunity for questions and answers. Schools can discuss with the council any particular issues or focus points they would like the speaker to address. The council will help to match appropriate speakers with schools, giving consideration to factors such as geographic location.

While not required, schools are requested to make a payment of $300 to the Islamic Council of Victoria when a speaker is booked. This is to cover administrative costs, travel costs and other sundry expenses. Additional expenses may be involved if a speaker is travelling a long distance or where overnight accommodation is required.

Bookings can be made by contacting the Islamic Council of Victoria:

• phone: 03 9328 2067
• email: admin@icv.org.au
• key contact: Adel Salman, president.

For information on the key considerations for schools in teaching about Islam, refer to: A discussion with Adel Salman – President of Islamic Council of Victoria on Arc.

Teaching about other world religions, for example, Christianity and Judaism

Please refer to contacts listed within the Special Religious Instruction policy that can assist schools in identifying appropriate guest speakers for other religions.