How does the Pre-primary to Year 10 curriculum work?

Curriculum and Assessment Advice – COVID-19 »

Schools use the Western Australian curriculum for Pre-primary to Year 10 to:

plan student learning programs
assess student progress
report student achievement to parents.

The Western Australian curriculum outlines the content for students to be taught each year. It is designed to be coherent and comprehensive. Achievement standards describe expected student performance in relation to the curriculum content for each year level.

The curriculum is organised into eight learning areas. Each learning area contains a year-level syllabus. This syllabus includes a year-level description, specific curriculum content and the Achievement Standard for each year of schooling, from Pre-primary to Year 10.

The eight learning areas.

+English

In the English learning area, students develop their Standard Australian English skills. There are three parts or strands in the English learning area. These are Language, Literacy and Literature.

+Health and Physical Education

In the Health and Physical Education (HPE) learning area, students learn about being healthy, safe, and active. They develop skills to live a healthy life. The HPE learning area is in two parts:

Personal, social and community health
Movement and physical activity.

+Humanities and Social Sciences

In the Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) learning area students learn about the world they live in. They study people and places and learn about the past and the present. HASS includes:

Civics and Citizenship – introduced in Year 3 and carries through to Year 10
Economics and Business– introduced in Year 5 and carries through to Year 10
Geography – introduced in Pre-primary and carries through to Year 10
History – introduced in Pre-primary and carries through to Year 10.

+Languages

In the Languages learning area, students learn languages other than English. While learning a new language, students build communication skills and learn about other cultures. *Languages has been mandated for Year 3 in 2018, with other years following consecutively until 2023 when implemented for Year 8.

+Mathematics

In the Mathematics learning area, students build numeracy skills and their understandings of mathematical ideas and processes. Numeracy helps students with their daily lives.

+Science

In the Science learning area, students develop a scientific view of the world and develop their understanding of science ideas and uses. They use this view to explore the world around them.

+Technologies

There are two subjects in the Technologies learning area. The first is Design and Technologies. The second is Digital Technologies. Students develop skills in creating solutions for now and the future in both subjects.

+The Arts

The Arts learning area consists of Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music, and Visual Arts. Subjects from The Arts build students’ creativity and communication skills. Students learn how to express their ideas and solve problems.