Curriculum Alignment — Australian Curriculum v9.0
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The Nature-Led Year is a nature- and homestead-led program, but it deliberately covers the substance of the Australian Curriculum so you can evidence learning to your state/territory regulator. This page shows how.
🎓 Developed for the Australian Curriculum (v9), audited by early childhood educators and school principals — so the play-based, hands-on approach stays grounded in what children are expected to know and do at each stage.
ℹ️ Codes below use the v9.0 style (e.g.
AC9S4U01). The planner is organised by theme, not by year level, and most activities flex across Foundation to Year 6. Use the year-band that matches your child; the elaborations in each weekly plan ("Little Hands" / "Bigger Hands") help you pitch it.
Learning areas woven through the year
| Learning area | How the program covers it |
|---|---|
| Science | Biological (life cycles, ecosystems, adaptation, classification), Chemical (decay, materials, acids), Earth & Space (weather, seasons, water cycle, day/night, sky), Physical (forces, energy, light, flight) — plus Science Inquiry every single week (questioning, predicting, fair testing, measuring, recording, communicating). |
| Mathematics | Number, measurement (length, mass, volume, temperature, time, area), money & budgeting, ratio & fractions, data & statistics (tally, tables, graphs, average/range), space & geometry (symmetry, angles, mapping, scale). |
| English | Reading & viewing (read-alouds, research), and writing across text types — recount, procedure, information report, explanation, persuasive, poetry, and reflective journaling every week. |
| HASS | Geography (place, space, mapping, sustainability of resources), History (food, trade, tools, scurvy, seasonal calendars), and civic/community connection in Term 4. |
| Health & PE | Outdoor movement, focus/stillness, food & nutrition, safety (sun, water, heat, fire), and relationships/community. |
| The Arts | Visual arts (botanical drawing, printmaking, natural dyeing, mosaics), plus design in builds. |
| Technologies | Design & Technologies (food specialisation, materials, textiles, structures and the Term 4 builds) and process skills throughout. |
Cross-curriculum priorities
- 🌏 Sustainability — the spine of the whole program: cycles, waste, composting, water, energy, biodiversity, repair and seasonal eating.
- 🪃 Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures — featured in Term 1 Wk 6 (seasonal calendars) and Term 4 Wk 7 (sky knowledge), and invited respectfully through bush foods and seasonal reading. Always use community-authored sources and observe cultural protocols.
- 🌐 Asia & Australia's engagement with Asia — touched via food, trade and midwinter/seasonal traditions (Term 2 Wk 6, Term 4 Wk 8).
General capabilities
Literacy, Numeracy, Critical & Creative Thinking (inquiry every week), Personal & Social capability (homestead responsibility, community), Ethical Understanding (care for living things, giving back) and ICT (data recording, optional citizen-science apps such as FrogID and BirdLife counts).
Coverage by term
Term 1 — The Great Harvest
- Science: living things & life cycles, seed dispersal, pollination, decomposition/food webs, water cycle, seasonal change; inquiry & fair testing.
- Maths: measurement, data (tally/bar graph), estimation, fractions, ratio, money.
- English: journaling, procedure, letter, poetry, reflection.
- Other: food & nutrition (TE/HP), mapping & place (HASS), First Nations calendars, Sustainability.
Term 2 — Soil, Seeds & Slowing Down
- Science: soil & classification, decomposers & fungi, plant structure (roots), adaptation & survival, light/day-length & Earth's tilt, microbes/yeast.
- Maths: measurement & %, symmetry & sorting, ratio, temperature & data, time (daylight), money (repair vs replace).
- English: description, explanation, information report, procedure, recipe, reflection.
- Other: materials & repair (TE), food (TE/HP), trade & history (HASS), Sustainability, Intercultural understanding.
Term 3 — The Quiet Earth Wakes
- Science: conditions for life & germination, growth, reproduction & life cycles (eggs, frogs), structural adaptation (beaks), weather & water cycle, forces & flight, ecosystems & indicator species.
- Maths: ratio, line graphs & rate, time, mass, data & averages, angles & symmetry, percentage, estimation/measurement.
- English: diary/recount, explanation, poetry, research, compare & contrast, persuasive, instructions, reflection.
- Other: animal care (TE/HP), citizen science (ICT), Sustainability.
Term 4 — Bloom, Buzz & Build
- Science: reproduction & number patterns in nature, classification & biodiversity, structures & forces, energy (solar) & water, fire ecology, Earth in space, materials (natural vs synthetic).
- Maths: symmetry & number patterns (Fibonacci), data & classification, measurement/area/volume, money & costing, angles & time, ratio.
- English: description, information report, design brief, explanation, procedure, persuasive, audience-aware writing, extended recount.
- Other: design & build / textiles (TE), food & safety (TE/HP), community & relationships (HP), First Nations sky knowledge, Sustainability.
A note on registration
Each Australian state and territory regulates home education differently and most ask for evidence of learning rather than standardised results. Use:
- the weekly record template in How to use this planner,
- the nature journals as dated portfolios, and
- the codes above to demonstrate breadth.
Always confirm current requirements with your own regulator. This document is a teaching aid, not legal advice.