What is the SACSA Framework

1

AN OVERVIEW
2
The South Australian Curriculum, Standards and
Accountability Framework describes the curriculum
Key Ideas and Learning Outcomes all learners can
expect their education to be built on.
3

Curriculum is, and needs to continue to be, more
than ever before, dynamic.
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• The increasingly varied and mobile profiles of
  the communities served by our schools and
  childrens services
• The changes in the drivers, patterns and
  opportunities in our economic structures
• The growth, accessibility and fluidity of
  knowledge and information

5

• Our improved understandings of learning and
  learners
• The appearance of new patterns of exclusion and
  discrimination in society and educationthe
  persistence of old prejudices and alienations
• The expansion of the daily possibilities for
  teaching and learning activities

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The curriculum must have a strongly centred
corea framework that informs and guides
educators professional decisions.
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Characteristics of the SACSA Framework

• Birth to Year 12
• One cohesive framework
• Encompassing a broad and balanced curriculum
• A framework, not the whole curriculum

8
Characteristics of the SACSA Framework continued

• Based on constructivist theories of learning
• Focus on outcomes
• For all learners and inclusive of all learners
• Refinement of the past while leading into the
  future

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FEATURES OF THE FRAMEWORK
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The SACSA Framework

• CURRICULUM SCOPE
• Key Ideas to be taught through the Learning
  Areas and interwoven with Essential Learnings,
  Equity Cross-curriculum Perspectives and
  Enterprise and Vocational Education.
• STANDARDS
• Developmental Learning Outcomes (Birth to Age 5)
• Curriculum Standards (Reception to Year 10)
• Year 12 Standards
• CURRICULUM ACCOUNTABILITY
• For the government sector this component of the
  Framework describes the systems Curriculum
  Accountability requirements.

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CURRICULUM BANDS

• Early Years Band (BirthAge 3, Age 3Age 5, RYr
  2)
• Primary Years Band (Years 3, 4, 5)
• Middle Years Band (Years 6, 7, 8, 9)
• Senior Years Band (Years 10, 11, 12)
• The Curriculum Scope and Standards are organised
  in four Curriculum Bands, which are broad stages
  of learning within the birth to Year 12 continuum
• Introductions describe the key characteristics of
  learners and learning for each Band and the
  implications of these for the construction and
  delivery of curriculum

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EARLY YEARS BANDBIRTH to YEAR 2, with 3 phases

• Birth to Age 3
• Age 3 to Age 5
• Reception to Year 2

• Children in the Early Years
• are active learners with diverse potentials and
  expectations
• are rapidly growing, developing and changing in
  complex ways
• are particularly dependent on adults for physical
  and emotional wellbeing in the first three years
• are advantaged by reciprocal partnerships between
  educators and families
• move from one to one attachments to small group,
  collaborative learning
• 
  Continued

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EARLY YEARS BAND continued

• are social learners who construct and review
  their understandings through relationships,
  language based interactions, play, scaffolding
  and modelling
• are motivated to learn through curiosity,
  imagination and creativity
• learn in authentic, real-world situations
• represent their understandings in a variety of
  ways
• are developing and expressing autonomy,
  initiative and a sense of agency, mediating their
  learning environments
• learn through physical activity and develop a
  complex variety of capabilities
• use and enjoy repetition for practising and
  consolidating skills

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PRIMARY YEARS BAND YEAR 3 to YEAR 5

• Primary Years learners
• have high levels of energy and enjoy physical
  activity resulting in natural movement and noise
  in both class and play spaces
• are experiencing different kinds of friendships
  and exploring power dynamics
• are exploring the similarities and differences
  between being male and female
• are experimenting with identity and referencing
  themselves against peers
• are keen to extend their capabilities and
  self-expression
• are able to engage enthusiastically and expand
  their thinking in ways that are reflective and
  spontaneous.

15
MIDDLE YEARS BAND YEAR 6 to YEAR 9

• Middle Years learners are
• experiencing adolescence and the accompanying
  emotional, physical and sexual changes
• learning to form, articulate and manage
  relationships
• keen to develop greater interdependence with
  their peers and independence in their lives
• questioning schooling and their engagement with
  schooling, reflecting on who they are, where they
  belong, what they value and where theyre going
• developing their own voice, often challenging the
  voices of their parents/caregivers, teachers and
  society
• aiming for a stronger sense of belonging through
  participation in wider adolescent cultures
• becoming aware that they can make changes for
  themselves and others.

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SENIOR YEARS BANDYEAR 10 to YEAR 12

• Senior Years students
• are generally 15 years of age and over, and
  include adults
• may be full- or part-time, local, interstate or
  international, continuing or re-entry students
• are dealing with issues related to lifestyles (eg
  youth subcultures financial a complexity of
  peer, family and other relationships sexuality
  or drugs) which may or may not be congruent with
  school values and expectations
• may or may not have developed and articulated
  goals for their future learning and employment
  pathways
• live with their parents/caregivers or
  independently, and experience differing levels of
  parental/caregiver influence and personal
  independence
• Continued

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SENIOR YEARS BAND YEAR 10 to YEAR 12 continued

• may be moving in and out of schooling to
  undertake traineeships, apprenticeships, work
  placements or other forms of educational and
  training provision
• may be in part-time employment or training
• bring a variety of social, economic and cultural
  backgrounds, interests, aspirations, capabilities
  and prior learning experiences
• are shaping and reshaping their lives and are
  forming and reviewing their personal values
• have complex lives, juggling their learning and
  living responsibilities as they face their future
  in an ever-changing world.

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CURRICULUM SCOPE

• The Curriculum Scope and Standards interweave
• Learning Areas
• Essential Learnings
• Equity Cross-curriculum Perspectives
• Vocational and Enterprise Education.

Key Ideas and Learning Outcomes comprise the
required elements of the SACSA Framework for all
government schools and childrens services.
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LEARNING AREAS

• These are constructions of knowledge or
  disciplines constructed by scholars, which have
  traditionally framed the curriculum.
• In the SACSA Framework the Learning Areas become
  more differentiated and specialised as learners
  move beyond the Early Years Band.
• Key Ideas comprise the fundamental concepts of a
  Learning Area (BirthAge 5), or strand of a
  Learning Area (R12) which are developed in
  complexity across the Bands.

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Birth to Age 3 Learning Areas

• The psychosocial self
• The physical self
• The thinking and communicating self

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Age 3 to Age 5 Learning Areas

• Self and social development
• Arts and creativity
• Communication and language
• Design and technology
• Diversity
• Health and physical development
• Understanding our world

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Reception to Year 12 Learning Areas

• Arts
• Design and technology
• English
• Health and physical education
• Languages
• Mathematics
• Science
• Society and environment
• Religious education (for some non-government
  schools)

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Reception to Year 12 Learning Areas

• Learning Areas from Reception to Year 12 are
  structured and organised through strands.
• These strands are the same for the Curriculum
  Scope as those used to frame the Curriculum
  Standards.

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ESSENTIAL LEARNINGS BIRTH to YEAR 12

• Essential Learnings describe the values,
  dispositions, skills and understandings that are
  considered crucial in the education and
  development of all learners in our care.
• The development of these Learnings is an ongoing,
  lifelong process and occurs in every context of a
  learners life.

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ESSENTIAL LEARNINGS BIRTH to YEAR 12 continued
Connect the curriculum from Birth to Year
12. Futuresdevelop the flexibility to respond
to change, recognise connections with the past
and conceive solutions for preferred
futures Identitydevelop a positive sense of self
and group, accept individual and group
responsibilities and respect individual and group
differences Interdependencework in harmony with
others and for common purposes, within and across
cultures Thinkingbe independent and critical
thinkers, with the ability to appraise
information, make decisions, be innovative and
devise creative solutions Communicationcommunicat
e powerfully using literacy, numeracy and
information and communication technologies.
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Futures
What knowledge, skills and dispositions are
required to maximise opportunities in creating
preferred futures?

• Learners develop
• a sense of optimism about their ability to
  actively contribute to shaping preferred futures
• capabilities to critically reflect on, plan and
  take action to shape preferred futures.
• This includes
• understanding patterns and connections within
  systems
• understanding world views when analysing future
  challenges
• building scenarios of preferred futures
• demonstrating lifelong learning.

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Identity
What knowledge, skills and dispositions are
required to critically understand self-identity,
group-identity and relationships?

• Learners develop
• a sense of personal and group identity
• capabilities to contribute to, critically reflect
  on, plan and take action to shape, relationships.
• This includes
• understanding self, groups and others
• understanding the social construction of
  identities
• relating effectively to and collaborating with
  others regardless of their identities.

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Interdependence
What knowledge, skills and dispositions are
required to critically understand the systems to
which lives are connected and to participate
positively in shaping them?

• Learners develop
• a sense of being connected with their worlds
• capabilities to contribute to, critically reflect
  on, plan and take action to shape local and
  global communities.
• This includes
• understanding cultural and global connections,
  patterns and evolutions
• understanding what is needed for sustainable
  social and physical environments
• acting cooperatively to achieve agreed outcomes
• taking civic action to benefit community.

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Thinking
What knowledge, skills and dispositions are
required to develop particular habits of mind, to
create and innovate, and to generate solutions?

• Learners develop
• a sense of the power of creativity, wisdom and
  enterprise
• capabilities to critically evaluate, plan and
  generate ideas and solutions.
• This includes
• using a wide range of thinking modes
• drawing on thinking from a range of times and
  cultures
• demonstrating enterprising attributes
• initiating enterprising and creative solutions
  for contemporary issues.

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Communication
What knowledge, skills and dispositions are
required to construct and deconstruct meaning,
and to critically understand the power of
communication and its technologies?

• Learners develop
• a sense of the power and potential of literacy,
  numeracy and information and communication
  technologies
• capabilities to critically reflect on and shape
  the present and future through powerful uses of
  literacy, numeracy and information and
  communication technologies
• This includes
• understanding the complexity and power of
  language and data and their pivotal role in
  communication
• understanding how communication works
• making effective use of language, mathematical
  and information and communication technology
  tools
• using communication in a range of modes to
  achieve identified outcomes.

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Literacy, numeracy and information and
communication technologies

• In the Essential Learning, Communication, the
  skills of literacy, numeracy and information and
  communication technologies are explicit and
  developmental throughout the Framework in all
  Learning Areas.
• The Framework provides a basis for all educators
  to address these critical aspects of childrens
  and students education.
• Links are made with the National Literacy and
  Numeracy Benchmarks and the Year 10 accreditation
  of Information and Communication Technologies
  Competencies.

32
Literacy
Learners develop and use operational skills in
literacy to understand, analyse, critically
respond to and produce appropriate spoken,
written, visual and multimedia communications in
different contexts.
33
Numeracy
Learners develop and use operational skills in
numeracy to understand, analyse, critically
respond to and use mathematics in different
contexts. These understandings relate to
measurement, spatial sense, patterns and algebra
and data and number.
34
Information and communication technologies (ICT)
Learners develop and use operational skills in
information and communication technologies to
critically design and construct texts, search for
and sort information, and communicate with others.
35
Key Competencies

• Key Competencies are included explicitly
  throughout the Framework.
• KC1 collecting, analysing and organising
  information
• KC2 communicating ideas and information
• KC3 planning and organising activities
• KC4 working with others in teams
• KC5 using mathematical ideas and techniques
• KC6 solving problems
• KC7 using technology

36
EQUITY CROSS-CURRICULUM PERSPECTIVES
The SACSA Framework maintains and extends South
Australias reputation and tradition for
inclusive curriculum and practice.
37
The educational entitlements of groups of
learners

• Aboriginal learners and Torres Strait Islander
  learners
• Learners from linguistically and culturally
  diverse backgrounds
• Learners who have English as their second
  language
• Learners with disabilities or learning
  difficulties
• Learners from low socio-economic backgrounds
• Particular groups of girls and boys
• Learners from an isolated or rural background

38
Equity perspectives are represented across the
curriculum

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples'
  perspectives
• Multicultural perspectives
• Gender perspectives
• Socio-economic perspectives
• Disability perspectives
• Rural and isolated perspectives

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Equity perspectives are represented across the
curriculum

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples'
  perspectives which recognise that a cohesive and
  diverse society requires each child/student to
  develop a growing understanding and knowledge of
  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples'
  heritage, experiences and issuespast, present
  and futureand to engage all learners in a
  process of furthering the aims of Reconciliation.
  
• Multicultural perspectives which recognise that
  Australia's cultural and linguistic diversity is
  a resource to be developed for the benefit of all
  individuals and the nation as a whole.
• Continued...

40
Equity perspectives continued

• Gender perspectives which recognise that gender
  is a social construction organised upon unequal
  power relations which define and limit
  opportunities for girls and boys.
• Socio-economic perspectives which recognise that
  our society is structured upon an unequal
  distribution of wealth, and that this defines and
  shapes social, political and economic power.
• Disability perspectives which recognise that
  inclusive social and educational practices are
  necessary to ensure access and participation for
  all in our society.
• Rural and isolated perspectives which recognise
  that geographical location and other forms of
  isolation influence access and opportunities in
  various ways, and therefore are factors in
  shaping peoples world views.

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ENTERPRISE AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
This focus reflects the national and state
education, training, work and lifelong learning
priorities made explicit in the National Goals of
Schooling which states that students leaving
school should have employment related skills,
and an understanding of the work environment,
career options and pathways as a foundation for,
and positive attitudes towards, vocational
education and training, further education,
employment and lifelong learning. (MCEETYA
1999)
42
Vocational learning
Vocational learning provides key and important
contexts for general education, and so is an
entitlement of all learners from Birth to Year 12
explicitly interwoven in the SACSA Framework.

• Key Competencies
• Enterprise education
• Career education
• Work-based learning
• Community-based learning

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Vocational Education and Training (VET)
In the school context this refers to nationally
accredited and industry-specific entry level
training programs which deliver competencies
endorsed within the National Vocational Education
and Training Framework and provide credentials
within the Australian Qualifications Framework.
44
STANDARDS

• Developmental Learning Outcomes(BirthAge 5)
• Curriculum Standards(R10)
• Year 12 Standards

• High expectations of all learners
• A common reference point for assessing and
  reporting on learners achievement
• A basis for tracking learners progress over time
  and across different educational sites
• Draw attention to particular aspects of
  performance which are significant along the
  continuum from birth to Year 12 progress is
  important rather than notions of pass or fail

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Developmental Learning Outcomes. BirthAge 3 and
Age 3Age 5

• Developmental Learning Outcomes describe the
  dimensions of learning and development towards
  which children make progress in the early years
  prior to school.
• The evidence related to each Developmental
  Learning Outcome suggests to educators the nature
  and qualities of the progress which they observe
  in their interactions with children.

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Developmental Learning Outcomes relate to

• Trust and confidence
• A positive sense of self and a confident personal
  and group identity
• A sense of being connected with others and their
  worlds
• Intellectual inquisitiveness
• A range of thinking skills
• Effective communication in a range of contexts
• A sense of physical wellbeing
• A range of physical competencies

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Curriculum Standards (R10)

• A standards-referenced approach to assessment and
  reporting
• Educators reference students performance in
  relation to described levels of quality or
  standards expected at particular points of
  schooling
• From Year 2 the Curriculum Standards are aligned
  with years of schooling

Towards the end of Year 2 Standard 1 Towards
the end of Year 4 Standard 2 Towards the end
of Year 6 Standard 3 Towards the end of Year
8 Standard 4 Towards the end of Year
10 Standard 5
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Curriculum Standards continued
Outcomes Describe what will be observed or
inferred through a childs or student's
engagement with the Curriculum Scope. Examples of
evidence Represent qualities which suggest the
child or student has achieved the particular
standard Annotated work samples Illustrate
standard-setting performance, each
accompanied by annotations which describe how the
Outcomes and examples of evidence are reflected
in the work sample.
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Year 12 Standards

• Year 12 Standards represent the performance
  expected of students at the end of Year 12. They
  comprise the Essential Learnings capabilities
  demonstrated along with standards from externally
  developed curriculum.
• External curriculum is quality assured at Year 12
  level by the accrediting authority under the
  Australian Qualifications Framework or equivalent.

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CURRICULUM ACCOUNTABILITY
The professional responsibility of educators,
site leaders and state office personnel to

• provide a comprehensive account of the
  Developmental Learning Outcomes and Curriculum
  Standards achieved by learners
• explicitly account for the steps taken to improve
  Learning Outcomes.

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Key dimensions of Curriculum Accountability
1. Constructing a responsive curriculum, based on
the SACSA Framework and on an understanding of
the diversity of learners and their
needs. 2. Providing ongoing feedback to learners,
based on a range of assessment strategies. 3. Impl
ementing intervention and support programs, based
on analyses of learner achievement
data. 4. Reporting to parents and caregivers and
the community, the Learning Outcomes and
Curriculum Standards achieved.
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Curriculum is dynamic. During implementation we
will continue to learn about

• constructivist approaches to teaching and
  learning
• Essential Learnings
• connections across Learning Areas
• smoothing the transitions between Bands
• Standards.

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The SACSA Framework is

• contemporary
• uniquely South Australian
• universal.

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
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• How will learners benefit?
• The SACSA Framework places learners at the centre
  of the learning process.
• The experiences, expertise, interests and needs
  of all learners form the basis for constructing
  curriculum. The characteristics of learners
  within each Band, as well as the characteristics
  of groups of learners, are acknowledged by the
  use of appropriate teaching and learning methods.
  
• 
  Continued

56
How will learners benefit? continued... A
cohesive curriculum framework, rather than
isolated segments of content, will enable
learners to develop values, skills, dispositions
and understandings to

• respond to change and plan for futures
• develop a positive sense of self and group
• work well with a variety of others
• be independent critical thinkers
• communicate powerfully.
• 
  Continued

57

• How will learners benefit? continued...
• There are high expectations of all learners with
  the Standards providing common reference points
  for assessing and reporting learners achievement
  over time. Learners will
• receive feedback about their learning
• be identified for support or specific
  intervention strategies
• participate in determining their learning
  programs.

58
Whats new in the SACSA Framework? By building on
the strengths of existing frameworks, educators
current practice and current knowledge and
worldwide trends in curriculum, the SACSA
Framework explicitly captures for the first time

• a birth to Year 12 continuum which responds to
  the distinctive characteristics of learners and
  learning in each Curriculum Band
• Essential Learnings which are the understandings,
  dispositions and capabilities developed
  throughout life and to which all Learning Areas
  contribute
• Standards (Developmental Learning Outcomes,
  Curriculum Standards and Year 12 Standards) as
  reference points for monitoring, assessing and
  reporting learners achievement.
  
  Continued

59
Whats new? continued... The following features
are explicitly interwoven within the SACSA
Framework

• constructivist approaches to teaching and
  learning which enable curriculum to be built on
  what learners already know and can do
• Equity Cross-curriculum Perspectives which
  provide a focus for inclusive teaching, learning
  and assessing
• Enterprise and Vocational Education across the
  curriculum
• literacy, numeracy and information and
  communication technologies developed in all
  Learning Areas.

60
Whats different about the SACSA Framework in
relation to previous frameworks? For the first
time ever South Australian educators will work
from a curriculum designed as one framework birth
to Year 12. There is coherence and cohesion
across all Learning Areas within a Band and
throughout the Framework as a whole. Duplication
and overlap have been removed. These features
make cross-referencing between Learning Areas
easier, especially when educators are planning
integrated programs.

• The Framework comprises two required components
  for all educators curriculum planning,
  assessment and reporting Key Ideas and Outcomes.
• 
  Continued

61
Whats different? continued...

• The language of the Framework speaks to educators
  as professionals while maintaining a clear,
  consistent and direct style.
• The quantity of material has been reduced in
  comparison to previous frameworks. There is
  consistency in the use of Key Ideas and
  illustrative material, Outcomes and examples of
  evidence. This makes the Framework more
  manageable for local curriculum planning. It
  enables educators to make local decisions about
  the curriculum detail that will meet local
  priorities and the needs of their learners.
• Continued

62
Whats different? continued...

• There are fewer R12 Learning Area strands (28)
  than in the curriculum statements and profiles
  (37). There are no strand organisers.
• There are 5 Curriculum Standards in the SACSA
  Framework compared with 8 levels in the
  curriculum profiles.
• There are fewer Outcomes than in previous
  frameworks.

• In the Early Years there are 8 Developmental
  Learning Outcomes compared with 65 in the
  Foundation Areas of Learning.
• In the SACSA Framework there are 72 Outcomes per
  standard across all R12 Learning Areas compared
  with 112 per level in the curriculum profiles.
• Continued

63
Whats different? continued...

• The General Introduction has been streamlined
  into 3 accessible partsthe vision for the SACSA
  Framework a rationale for the new aspects of the
  Framework and a practical guide to using the
  Framework. A clear description of constructivist
  approaches to teaching and learning is provided.
• The Band structure of the SACSA Framework will
  assist educators to consider in their curriculum
  planning the distinctive characteristics of
  learners and learning at particular stages of
  their education and care.
• Continued

64
Whats different? continued...

• The Learning Areas have been transformed through
  the interweaving of the Essential Learnings,
  Equity Cross-curriculum Perspectives and
  Enterprise and Vocational Education. This is the
  most innovative and forward-looking feature of
  the Framework. Its effect is to describe learning
  actively, inclusively and practically. It offers
  educators a new basis for developing programs and
  learning activities that will actively engage
  children and students in their learning.