Identifying a progression of learning

It is important for schools to identify a coherent program of study for all students from Kindergarten to Year 6. This journey should move them from being naturally inquisitive explorers and makers in a fairly unknown world, to being inquisitive and competent, increasingly able to make decisions and choose courses of action based on a growing understanding of their world.

This is the progression that is described in the developmental series of outcomes in the Science & Technology K-6 syllabus. This project has developed developed big ideas to clarify syllabus outcomes and to ensure that the full scope of syllabus content is addressed.

The progression acknowledges that learning is cumulative, building on earlier experiences and moving through identifiable stages. Not all will move through the progression at the same rate, nor even in the same sequence.

However, the learning environments that we as teachers create should challenge students to build on and expand their expertise continuously, identifying where they are at present, where they have come from and, most importantly, where they are headed.

It is necessary that school and class planning is based on the syllabus outcomes and their related big ideas rather than pre-determined topics or units of work

Time to reflect...

What mechanisms or arrangements are in place within your school that ensure that student learning benefits from a planned approach to progression?

How are syllabus outcomes used to structure student progress?

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