Australian Curriculum Review: Health and Physical Education

Introduction

  • Presenter: Janice Atkin

  • Affiliation: ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority)

  • Purpose: Review of the Australian Curriculum for Health and Physical Education (HPE)

Aims of the Review

  • Overall Aim: Improve the Australian curriculum from Foundation to Year 10.

    • Key activities: Refining, realigning, and decluttering content.

    • Focus on reducing duplication and enhancing quality of content descriptions and achievement standards.

Objectives of the HPE Curriculum

  • Clarity in Learning: Establish clear expectations for students’ learning and corresponding teaching requirements for educators.

    • Utilization of research, key reports, and international curriculum updates to inform revisions.

    • Examination of successful curricula from countries with recent updates (e.g., Wales, Scotland, British Columbia).

Research and Engagement

  • **Investigative Areas:

    • Research into child and adolescent health issues

    • Trends in physical activity and sport participation

    • Current health and movement policy imperatives
      Stakeholder Engagement:

    • Collaboration with academics and professional associations representing diverse areas such as health and PE teachers, outdoor education, and home economics.

    • Teacher feedback was sought to understand their experiences implementing the existing curriculum.

    • Establishment of two reference groups:

    • Teachers group

    • Curriculum officers group

    • Additional reference group focused on Primary School expertise for feedback on curriculum manageability across various learning areas.

Key Areas for Improvement Identified

  • Essential Content Identification: Improve how essential content is recognized within the curriculum.

  • Achievement Standards Refinement: Remove duplication and enhance clarity.

  • Content Descriptions Refinement: Ensure clearer guidance for teachers' instructional planning.

  • Elaborations Refinement: Align elaborations explicitly with focus areas, general capabilities, and cross-curriculum priorities.

  • Inclusivity in Content: Adapt content to ensure it addresses the needs of all learners, with a particular emphasis on the movement stream.

Proposed Revisions to HPE Curriculum

  • Reduction in Content Descriptions:

    • Less content for more in-depth teaching opportunities.

  • Removal of Duplicated Content:

    • Specific removal of dance content duplicated in the Arts curriculum (Foundation to Year 4).

    • Exclusion of content overlapping with Years 7-10 Health and Social Studies regarding the natural and built environment.

  • Strengthened Content Focus:

    • Emphasis on developing skills and understanding for engaging in regular physical activity; initiating and sustaining participation in diverse activities and settings.

  • Alignment of Elaborations:

    • Clarity and alignment of elaborations with focus areas and general capabilities developed.

  • Illustrative Learning Sequences:

    • Creation of illustrations of learning sequences spanning Foundation to Year 10.

  • Additional Elaborations:

    • Inclusion of elaborations that genuinely reflect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures as cross-curriculum priorities.

Supporting Documentation

  • What’s Changed and Why Document:

    • A detailed account of all proposed revisions to the HPE curriculum.

  • Encouragement for Feedback:

    • Participants are urged to review the consultation curriculum and familiarize themselves with a survey for feedback collection.

    • Importance of positive and negative feedback emphasized for shaping future curriculum developments for the next generation.