The teacher, who is also the deputy principal, develops an integrated unit of work for a class of students ranging from 5 to 12 years of age. All of her students have individual learning goals. The teacher uses an integrated planning approach to link content from English and science across the primary year levels. In this video, the teacher makes deliberate connections between her English and science lessons as well as her students’ own experiences, including a recent class excursion. This approach encourages student engagement, makes the learning meaningful and ensures that the learning is respectful of each student’s age. The teacher also plans for her students to apply and develop their individual learning goals through these lessons. These goals are aligned closely with the general capabilities of literacy, numeracy, ICT and personal and social capability and provide the basis for her assessment and reporting.
A teacher of students with individual learning needs in a multi-age class selects the Year 8 unit...
Learning area
English, ScienceYear level
Years 3-4Content description
General capability
General capability
Teacher intention
In English, for her students to respond to a text and make connections with a recent class excursion; and to develop their individual communication skills by commenting and creating texts. In science, for her students to develop understanding of wind as a force that can make something move; and to develop their individual communication skills by commenting and predicting during a science investigation.Personalised learning
Plan from age-equivalent learning area content:
The teacher plans a science unit of work on ‘Forces’ drawing from content in the Science Understanding strand that aligns with the different ages of her students to provide the range of learning associated with the primary years.
• Draw from learning area content at different levels along the Foundation to Year 10 sequence to personalise the learning
The teacher draws from content at Foundation and Year 2 level from the Science as a Human Endeavour and Science Inquiry Skills strands to provide a meaningful way for her students to access the content around ‘Forces’.
• Use the General Capabilities and/or cross-curriculum priorities to adjust the learning focus and to personalise the learning:
The teacher uses the literacy and numeracy capabilities to plan for the development of targeted skills throughout the integrated unit of work.
• Align individual learning goals with age-equivalent content to personalise the learning:
The teacher aligns the students’ individual communication goals with the teaching and learning program. This provides an authentic and meaningful context for the students to apply their communication skills and demonstrate their understanding.
1. What techniques or strategies do you use to develop an integrated unit of work?
2. What are the different ways you can use the Australian Curriculum website to map a scope and sequence for a multi-age class or across year levels?
3. How does your school provide access to the full range of learning experiences for all students?
Standard 1
Know students and how they learnFocus area 1.6
Strategies to support full participation of students with disabilityStandard 2
Know the content and how to teach itFocus area 2.2
Content selection and organisationFocus area 2.5
Literacy and numeracy strategies
Adelaide West Special Education Centre
Taperoo SA Australia
School type
GovernmentSchool sector
SpecialSchool location
MetropolitanSchool description
Adelaide West Special Education Centre in Taperoo, South Australia is a specialist public school for students aged from 5 to 18 years with physical and associated disabilities. All of the students have individual learning needs.