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Curriculum priorities and the stages of schooling

Links to the stages of schooling

Pathways to post-compulsory education and training: level 6, 6 extension

The key issue for Years 9 and 10 is the provision of effective and successful pathways. For all students this will mean continuing development of literacy and numeracy. For some it will also mean an increasing specialisation, either within the key learning areas or by an increased focus on a particular learning area.

Students begin to make choices in preparation for undertaking the VCE or recognised vocational training and for transition to employment, either immediately after schooling or after further education and training. In Year 10, students often have the opportunity to begin the post-compulsory pathway by undertaking a VCE study.

The idea of essential learning within the key learning areas takes on a particular meaning at this final stage of the compulsory years. Some prospective pathways which build on sequential learning in areas such as Mathematics will require full attention to each of the strands at level 6 and into the extension outcomes. Other pathways may suggest different emphases.

Schools play a crucial role at this level in ensuring that all students maintain access to as full a range of pathways as possible while providing options that are likely to fully engage them.

During these years broad vocational learning becomes especially important. This involves both generic competencies, and specific knowledge and understanding of aspects of employment, the economy and the world of work. Generic competencies, including enterprise skills, can be developed across the curriculum. Their development has implications for both course design and teaching methods. This will often involve community and work-based learning. Content related to vocational learning is explicitly located in a number of key learning areas, particularly in English and SOSE.