English

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  • Foundation to Year 10 Curriculum
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Foundation Year  

Foundation Year Level Description

The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of language, literature and literacy. Teaching and learning programs should balance and integrate all three strands. Together, the three strands focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating. Learning in English builds on concepts, skills

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The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of language, literature and literacy. Teaching and learning programs should balance and integrate all three strands. Together, the three strands focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating. Learning in English builds on concepts, skills and processes developed in earlier years, and teachers will develop and strengthen these as needed.

In the Foundation year, students communicate with peers, teachers, known adults and students from other classes.

Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They listen to, read and view spoken, written and multimodal texts in which the primary purpose is to entertain, as well as some texts designed to inform. These include traditional oral texts, picture books, various types of stories, rhyming verse, poetry, non-fiction, film, multimodal texts and dramatic performances. They participate in shared reading, viewing and storytelling using a range of literary texts, and recognise the entertaining nature of literature.

The range of literary texts for Foundation to Year 10 comprises Australian literature, including the oral narrative traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, as well as the contemporary literature of these two cultural groups, and classic and contemporary world literature, including texts from and about Asia. Literary texts that support and extend Foundation students as beginner readers include decodable and predictable texts that range from caption books to books with one or more sentences per page. These texts involve straightforward sequences of events and everyday happenings with recognisable, realistic or imaginary characters. Informative texts present a small amount of new content about familiar topics of interest; a small range of language features, including simple and compound sentences; mostly familiar vocabulary, known, high-frequency words and single-syllable words that can be decoded phonically, and illustrations that strongly support the printed text.

Students create a range of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts including pictorial representations, short statements, performances, recounts and poetry.

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When planning for learning in Prep - Year 10 English Catholic perspectives include: 

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.

Exploration of Catholic perspectives in the area of English identifies the value of each person created in the image and likeness of God. Respectful interactions are encouraged so that everyone is enabled to flourish.

This would be explored as students communicate with a range of familiar and unfamiliar audiences in face to face and online environments.  Engagement with the traditions and contemporary perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres strait islander people, and Asian cultures should be interwoven with a Catholic perspective. How we respond to the objective dimensions of our identity arises from our relationships with God and the world; with others, institutions, and history. 

Catholic perspectives would be further explored through engaging with the English purposes of enriching the lives of students, developing a sense of English and its richness and power to evoke feelings, conveying information, forming ideas, facilitating interaction with others, entertaining, persuading and arguing. 

Thoughtful engagement with the selection of literature and resources should support critical analysis of contemporary culture and a synthesis of faith and life in the context of gospel values and Church teachings.  

Literature and resources used should aim to challenge students to think, to feel, to value and to act in accordance with Gospel values and should not shy away from an ethical dimension and the promotion of a critical response to dilemmas.  

Foundation Year Content Descriptions

The foundation of all Catholic Social Teaching is the inherent dignity of every human person because everyone is created in God’s image and likeness and therefore, valuable and worthy of respect. The Church calls for Integral Human Development, which concerns the wellbeing of each person in every facet of life including economic, political, social, ecological, and spiritual.  

Language
Language variation and change

Understand that English is one of many languages spoken in Australia and that different languages may be spoken by family, classmates and community

Language for interaction

Explore how language is used differently at home and school depending on the relationships between people


Understand that language can be used to explore ways of expressing needs, likes and dislikes

Text structure and organisation

Understand that texts can take many forms, can be very short (for example an exit sign) or quite long (for example an information book or a film) and that stories and informative texts have different purposes


Understand that some language in written texts is unlike everyday spoken language


Understand that punctuation is a feature of writtendifferent from letters; recognise how capital letters are used for names, and that capital letters and full stops signal the beginning and end of sentences


Understandand screen, including how books, film and simple digital texts work, and know some features of print, for example directionality

Expressing and developing ideas

Recognise that sentences are key units for expressing ideas


Recognise that texts are made up of words and groups of words that make meaning


Explore the different contribution of words and images to meaning in stories and informative texts


Understand the use of vocabulary in familiar contexts related to everyday experiences, personal interests and topics taught at school

Phonics and word knowledge

Recognise and generate rhyming words,patterns, syllables and sounds (phonemes) in spoken words


Recognise and name all upper and lower case letters (graphemes) and know the most common sound that each letter represents


Understand how to use knowledge of letters and sounds includingandto spell words


Know how toandsomeand other familiar words


Understand that words are units of meaning and can be made of more than one meaningful part


Segment sentences into individual words and orally blend and segmentandin singlespoken words, and isolate, blend and manipulate phonemes in singlewords


consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words by representing some sounds with the appropriate letters, and blend sounds associated with letters when reading CVC words

Literature
Literature and context

Recognise that texts are created by authors who tell stories and share experiences that may be similar or different to students’ own experiences

Responding to literature

Respond to texts, identifying favourite stories, authors and illustrators


Share feelings and thoughts about the events and characters in texts

Examining literature

Identify some features of texts including events and characters and retell events from a


Recognise some different types of literary texts and identify some characteristic features of literary texts, for example beginnings and endings of traditional texts and rhyme in poetry


Replicate the rhythms and sound patterns in stories, rhymes, songs and poems from a range of cultures

Creating literature

Retell familiar literary texts through performance, use of illustrations and images


Innovate on familiar texts through play

Literacy
Texts in context

Identify some familiar texts and the contexts in which they are used

Interacting with others

to and respond orally to texts and to the communication of others in informal and structured classroom situations


Use interaction skills including listening while others speak, using appropriatelevels, articulation and body language, gestures and eye contact


Deliver short oral presentations to peers

Interpreting, analysing, evaluating

Identify some differences between imaginative and informative texts


Readand predictable texts, practising phrasing and fluency, and monitor meaning usingand emerging contextual, semantic, grammatical andknowledge


Use comprehension strategies to understand and discuss texts listened to, viewed orindependently

Creating texts

short texts to explore, record and report ideas and events using familiar words and beginning writing knowledge


Participate in shared editing of students’ own texts for meaning, spelling, capital letters and full stops


Produce some lower case and upper case letters using learned letter formations


Construct texts using software includingprocessing programs

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Foundation Year Achievement Standard

Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)

By the end of the Foundation year, students use predicting and questioning strategies to make meaning from texts. They recall one or two events from texts with familiar topics. They understand that there are different types of texts and that these can have similar characteristics. They identify connections between texts and their personal experience.

They read short, decodable and predictable texts with familiar vocabulary and supportive images, drawing on their developing knowledge of concepts of print, sounds and letters and decoding and self-monitoring strategies. They recognise the letters of the English alphabet, in upper and lower case and know and use the most common sounds represented by most letters. They read high-frequency words and blend sounds orally to read consonant-vowel-consonant words. They use appropriate interaction skills to listen and respond to others in a familiar environment. They listen for rhyme, letter patterns and sounds in words.

Productive modes (speaking, writing and creating)

Students understand that their texts can reflect their own experiences. They identify and describe likes and dislikes about familiar texts, objects, characters and events.

In informal group and whole class settings, students communicate clearly. They retell events and experiences with peers and known adults. They identify and use rhyme, and orally blend and segment sounds in words. When writing, students use familiar words and phrases and images to convey ideas. Their writing shows evidence of letter and sound knowledge, beginning writing behaviours and experimentation with capital letters and full stops. They correctly form known upper- and lower-case letters.

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Foundation Year Work Sample Portfolios

 

Year 1  

Year 1 Level Description

The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of language, literature and literacy. Teaching and learning programs should balance and integrate all three strands. Together, the strands focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating. Learning in English builds on concepts, skills and p

Read full description ›

The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of language, literature and literacy. Teaching and learning programs should balance and integrate all three strands. Together, the strands focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating. Learning in English builds on concepts, skills and processes developed in earlier years, and teachers will revisit and strengthen these as needed.

In Year 1, students communicate with peers, teachers, known adults and students from other classes.

Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They listen to, read, view and interpret spoken, written and multimodal texts designed to entertain and inform. These encompass traditional oral texts including Aboriginal stories, picture books, various types of stories, rhyming verse, poetry, non-fiction, film, dramatic performances and texts used by students as models for constructing their own texts.

The range of literary texts for Foundation to Year 10 comprises Australian literature, including the oral narrative traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, as well as the contemporary literature of these two cultural groups, and classic and contemporary world literature, including texts from and about Asia. Literary texts that support and extend Year 1 students as independent readers involve straightforward sequences of events and everyday happenings with recognisably realistic or imaginary characters. Informative texts present a small amount of new content about familiar topics of interest and topics being studied in other areas of the curriculum. These include decodable and predictable texts which present a small range of language features, including simple and compound sentences, some unfamiliar vocabulary, a small number of high-frequency words and words that need to be decoded phonically, as well as illustrations and diagrams that support the printed text.

Students create a variety of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts including recounts, procedures, performances, literary retellings and poetry.

Hide full description ›

When planning for learning in Prep - Year 10 English Catholic perspectives include: 

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.

Exploration of Catholic perspectives in the area of English identifies the value of each person created in the image and likeness of God. Respectful interactions are encouraged so that everyone is enabled to flourish.

This would be explored as students communicate with a range of familiar and unfamiliar audiences in face to face and online environments.  Engagement with the traditions and contemporary perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres strait islander people, and Asian cultures should be interwoven with a Catholic perspective. How we respond to the objective dimensions of our identity arises from our relationships with God and the world; with others, institutions, and history. 

Catholic perspectives would be further explored through engaging with the English purposes of enriching the lives of students, developing a sense of English and its richness and power to evoke feelings, conveying information, forming ideas, facilitating interaction with others, entertaining, persuading and arguing. 

Thoughtful engagement with the selection of literature and resources should support critical analysis of contemporary culture and a synthesis of faith and life in the context of gospel values and Church teachings.  

Literature and resources used should aim to challenge students to think, to feel, to value and to act in accordance with Gospel values and should not shy away from an ethical dimension and the promotion of a critical response to dilemmas.  

Year 1 Content Descriptions

The foundation of all Catholic Social Teaching is the inherent dignity of every human person because everyone is created in God’s image and likeness and therefore, valuable and worthy of respect. The Church calls for Integral Human Development, which concerns the wellbeing of each person in every facet of life including economic, political, social, ecological, and spiritual.  

Language
Language variation and change

Understand that people use different systems of communication to cater to different needs and purposes and that many people may use sign systems to communicate with others

Language for interaction

Understand that language is used in combination with other means of communication, for example facial expressions and gestures to interact with others


Understand that there are different ways of asking for information, making offers and giving commands


Explore different ways of expressing emotions, including verbal, visual,and facial expressions

Text structure and organisation

Understand that the purposes texts serve shape their structure in predictable ways


Understand patterns ofand contrast in simple texts


Recognise that different types of punctuation, including full stops, question marks and exclamation marks, signal sentences that make statements, ask questions, express emotion or give commands


Understandand screen, including how differentare organised using page numbering, tables of content, headings and titles, navigation buttons, bars and links

Expressing and developing ideas

Identify the parts of a simplethat represent ‘What’s happening?’, ‘What state is being described?’, ‘Who or what is involved?’ and the surrounding circumstances


Explore differences in words that represent people, places and things (nouns, including pronouns), happenings and states (verbs), qualities (adjectives) and details such as when, where and how (adverbs)


Compare different kinds of images inand informative texts and discuss how they contribute to meaning


Understand the use of vocabulary in everyday contexts as well as a growing number of school contexts, including appropriate use of formal and informal terms of address in different contexts

Phonics and word knowledge

Manipulate phonemes in spoken words by addition, deletion and substitution of initial, medial and final phonemes to generate new words


Use short vowels, common long vowels,digraphs andblends when writing, and blend these tosinglewords


Understand that a letter can represent more than one sound and that amust contain asound


Understand how to spell one and twowords with common letter patterns


Recognise and know how to use simple grammatical morphemes toword families


Use visual memory toandhigh-frequency words 


Segmentblends or clusters into separate phonemes at the beginnings and ends of onewords

Literature
Literature and context

Discuss how authorscharacters using language and images

Responding to literature

Discuss characters and events in a range of literary texts and share personal responses to these texts, making connections with students' own experiences


Express preferences for specific texts and authors andto the opinions of others

Examining literature

Discuss features of plot, character and setting in different types of literature and explore some features of characters in different texts