Health and Physical Education included in the National Curriculum
This week the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood
Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) released its first 2010 Communique. The Communiqué refers to advice given to MCEECDYA by Professor Barry McGaw, Chair
of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
(ACARA) regarding national curriculum developments.
As a consequence, Ministers agreed that national
curriculum development should cover all eight learning areas listed in
the Melbourne Declaration and that the curriculum will define the core
knowledge, skills and understanding that all students should learn
across particular years of schooling.
ACHPER has advocated strongly for this and is
delighted with the announcement.
Ministers also agreed to “the prioritisation of
Health and Physical Education (HPE) within phase three of the curriculum
development plan; the inclusion of HPE as a core learning requirement
for all students in each year from K–10; and to maximise within the
overall package of required school learning the number of school hours
that students participate in quality physical education and sport”.
It is noteworthy that all phases of K–10 curriculum
development will be completed by the end of 2012. While the
implementation timeline is not yet resolved the Australian Curriculum in
English, mathematics, science and history for kindergarten to Year 10 -
currently the subject of public consultation – will be phased in from
2011. Substantial implementation will be completed by the end of 2013.
ACHPER has worked
hard advocating on your behalf for this inclusion and will continue to
be there to provide advice and assistance to ACARA as the process
unwinds. We will keep you up to date with announcements and progress
through our National ACHPER website and the e-newsletter.
View ACHPER's Media Release here.