A teacher of students with individual learning needs selects the Year 8 unit of study: Landscapes and Landforms to develop age-equivalent learning activities to develop and enhance her students’ sense of wonder and curiosity about places and environments and to provide an authentic context for developing their individual communication skills. In a lesson focusing on an iconic landform in Australia, her students learn about the distinctive features of Uluru. The teacher provides a meaningful way for her students to access the Year 8 content by drawing from the Geographical Inquiry and Skills strand at an earlier year level to create a model of Uluru. She employs a range of verbal and non-verbal teaching strategies to develop their intentional communication skills as identified in the Literacy capability. In planning for, and implementing a lesson in geography for students with individual learning needs, the teacher demonstrates a number of approaches to personalise the teaching and learning program drawn from age-equivalent learning area content.
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Learning area
GeographyYear level
Year 8Content description
General capability
Teacher intention
To develop her students' communication skills as they learn about Uluru as a landform in a landscape.Personalised learning
Plan from age-equivalent learning area content:
The teacher plans from Year 8 Geography content to develop a teaching and learning program on Uluru as a landform within a landscape, drawing on the concept of environment.
• Draw from learning area content at different levels along the Foundation to Year 10 sequence to personalise the learning:
The teacher draws from the Geographical Inquiry and Skills strand at Foundation level to provide a meaningful way for her students to access the Year 8 content around landscapes and landforms.
• Use the General Capabilities and/or cross-curriculum priorities to adjust the learning focus and to personalise the learning:
The teacher uses the literacy capability to plan for the development of targeted communication skills within the geography teaching and learning program.
• Align individual learning goals with age-equivalent content to personalise the learning:
The teacher aligns the students’ individual communication goals with the geography content. The communication skills enable the students to access the geography content and gives an age-equivalent and authentic context for the students to apply their communication skills.
1. How do you design activities that are relevant to the diverse learning needs of your students?
2. What strategies do, or could you use to personalise a teaching and learning program developed from age-equivalent content?
3. How might you use the General Capabilities within the Australian Curriculum to develop the communication skills of your students?
Standard 1
Know students and how they learnFocus area 1.1
Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of studentsFocus area 1.6
Strategies to support full participation of students with disability
Clifford Park Special School (Rob Street Campus)
Toowoomba QLD Australia
School type
GovernmentSchool sector
SpecialSchool location
ProvincialSchool description
Clifford Park Special School in Toowoomba, Queensland, delivers educational programs to over 100 students aged from 12 to 18 years. Students at the school have individual learning needs.