Rationale
In an increasingly complex, sedentary and rapidly changing world it is critical for every young Australian to not only be able to cope with life’s challenges but also to flourish as healthy, safe and active citizens in the 21st century. This is a strong investment in the future of the Australian population.Aims
The Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (F–10) aims to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to enable students to:access, evaluate and synthesise information to take positive action to protect, enhance and advocate for their own and others’ health, wellbeing, safety and physical activity participation across their lifespan
Key ideas
Health and Physical Education propositionsThe Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education has been shaped by five interrelated propositions that are informed by a strong and diverse research base for a futures-oriented curriculum:
Focus on educative purposes
Structure
Strands, sub-strands and threadsThe Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education is organised into two content strands: personal, social and community health and movement and physical activity. Each strand contains content descriptions which are organised under three sub-strands.
PDF documents
Resources and support materials for the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education are available as PDF documents.Health and Physical Education: Sequence of content
Health and Physical Education: Sequence of achievement
Health and …
Glossary
Foundation Year
Foundation Year Level Description
The Foundation Year curriculum provides the basis for developing knowledge, understanding and skills for students to lead healthy, safe and active lives. The content gives students opportunities to learn about their strengths and simple actions they can take to keep themselves and their classmates healthy and safe.
The content explores the people who are important to students and develops students’ capacity to initiate and maintain respectful relationships in different contexts, including at school, at home, in the classroom and when participating in physical activities.
The Foundation curriculum provides opportunities for students to learn through movement. The content enables students to develop and practise fundamental movement skills through active play and structured movement activities. This improves competence and confidence in their movement abilities. The content also provides opportunities for students to learn about movement as they participate in physical activity in a range of different settings.
Focus areas to be addressed in Foundation include:
- safe use of medicines (AD)
- food and nutrition (FN)
- health benefits of physical activity (HBPA)
- mental health and wellbeing (MH)
- relationships (RS)
- safety (S)
- active play and minor games (AP)
- fundamental movement skills (FMS)
- rhythmic and expressive movement activities (RE).
Foundation Year Content Descriptions
Being healthy, safe and active
Communicating and interacting for health and wellbeing
Contributing to healthy and active communities
Moving our body
Understanding movement
Learning through movement
Foundation Year Achievement Standards
By the end of Foundation Year, students recognise how they are growing and changing. They identify and describe the different emotions people experience. They identify actions that help them be healthy, safe and physically active. They identify different settings where they can be active and demonstrate how to move and play safely. They describe how their body responds to movement.
Students use personal and social skills when working with others in a range of activities. They demonstrate, with guidance, practices and protective behaviours to keep themselves safe and healthy in different activities. They perform fundamental movement skills and solve movement challenges.
Foundation Year Work Sample Portfolios
Years 1 and 2
Years 1 and 2 Band Description
The curriculum for Years 1 and 2 builds on the learning from Foundation and supports students to make decisions to enhance their health, safety and participation in physical activity. The content enables students to explore their own sense of self and the factors that contribute to and influence their identities. Students learn about emotions, how to enhance their interactions with others, and the physical and social changes they go through as they grow older.
The content explores health messages and how they relate to health decisions and behaviours, and examines strategies students can use when they need help. The content also provides opportunities for students to learn through movement. It supports them in broadening the range and complexity of fundamental movement skills they are able to perform. They learn how to select, transfer and apply simple movement skills and sequences individually, in groups and in teams.
Students also further develop their knowledge, understanding and skills in relation to movement by exploring simple rule systems and safe use of equipment in a variety of physical activities and games. Through active participation, they investigate the body’s response to different types of physical activities. In addition, students develop personal and social skills such as cooperation, decision-making, problem-solving and persistence through movement settings.
Focus areas to be addressed in Years 1 and 2 include:
- safe use of medicines (AD)
- food and nutrition (FN)
- health benefits of physical activity (HBPA)
- mental health and wellbeing (MH)
- relationships (RS)
- safety (S)
- active play and minor games (AP)
- fundamental movement skills (FMS)
- rhythmic and expressive movement activities (RE).
Years 1 and 2 Content Descriptions
Being healthy, safe and active
Communicating and interacting for health and wellbeing
Contributing to healthy and active communities
Moving our body
Understanding movement
Learning through movement
Years 1 and 2 Achievement Standards
By the end of Year 2, students describe changes that occur as they grow older. They recognise how strengths and achievements contribute to identities. They identify how emotional responses impact on others’ feelings. They examine messages related to health decisions and describe how to keep themselves and others healthy, safe and physically active. They identify areas where they can be active and how the body reacts to different physical activities.
Students demonstrate positive ways to interact with others. They select and apply strategies to keep themselves healthy and safe and are able to ask for help with tasks or problems. They demonstrate fundamental movement skills in a variety of movement sequences and situations and test alternatives to solve movement challenges. They perform movement sequences that incorporate the elements of movement.
Years 1 and 2 Work Sample Portfolios
Years 3 and 4
Years 3 and 4 Band Description
The Year 3 and 4 curriculum further develops students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in relation to their health, wellbeing, safety and participation in physical activity. In these years, students begin to explore personal and social factors that support and contribute to their identities and emotional responses in varying situations. They also develop a further understanding of how their bodies grow and change as they get older.
The content explores knowledge, understanding and skills that supports students to build and maintain respectful relationships, make health-enhancing and safe decisions, and interpret health messages from different sources to take action to enhance their own health and wellbeing.
The curriculum in Years 3 and 4 builds on previous learning in movement to help students develop greater proficiency across the range of fundamental movement skills. Students combine movements to create more complicated movement patterns and sequences. Through participation in a variety of physical activities, students further develop their knowledge about movement and how the body moves. They do this as they explore the features of activities that meet their needs and interests and learn about the benefits of regular physical activity.
The Year 3 and 4 curriculum also gives students opportunities to develop through movement personal and social skills such as leadership, communication, collaboration, problem-solving, persistence and decision-making.
Focus areas to be addressed in Years 3 and 4 include:
- alcohol and other drugs (AD)
- food and nutrition (FN)
- health benefits of physical activity (HBPA)
- mental health and wellbeing (MH)
- relationships and sexuality (RS)
- safety (S)
- active play and minor games (AP)
- challenge and adventure activities (CA)
- fundamental movement skills (FMS)
- games and sports (GS)
- lifelong physical activities (LLPA)
- rhythmic and expressive movement activities (RE).
Years 3 and 4 Content Descriptions
Being healthy, safe and active
Communicating and interacting for health and wellbeing
Contributing to healthy and active communities
Moving our body
Understanding movement
Learning through movement
Years 3 and 4 Achievement Standards
By the end of Year 4, students recognise strategies for managing change. They identify influences that strengthen identities. They investigate how emotional responses vary and understand how to interact positively with others in a variety of situations. Students interpret health messages and discuss the influences on healthy and safe choices. They understand the benefits of being healthy and physically active. They describe the connections they have to their community and identify local resources to support their health, wellbeing, safety and physical activity.
Students apply strategies for working cooperatively and apply rules fairly. They use decision-making and problem-solving skills to select and demonstrate strategies that help them stay safe, healthy and active. They refine fundamental movement skills and apply movement concepts and strategies in a variety of physical activities and to solve movement challenges. They create and perform movement sequences using fundamental movement skills and the elements of movement.