Blog 1

Year 6
Civics and Citizenship

What we are learning

Your child will be learning about “the roles and responsibilities of Australia’s three levels of government (ACHASSK144)” (Australian Curriculum Assessment, and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2018). This means identifying and examining the responsibilities of each level of government, figuring out which level/s of government are responsible for issues, and how multiple levels of government could be involved because of hierarchy of power. This knowledge will be found through your child’s developing skills in being able to “locate and collect information and data from primary and secondary sources (ACHASSI123)” (ACARA, 2018) as well as being able to  “work in groups to generate responses to issues and challenges (ACHASSI130)” (ACARA, 2018) and “use criteria to make decisions and judgements and consider advantages and disadvantages of preferring one decision over another (ACHASSI131) (ACARA, 2018).

Photo sourced from: https://questions.peo.gov.au/ 

Why we are learning this

This is an important learning journey for your child to encourage them to become an informed, active, invested citizen in Australia. An active citizen will use their knowledge to put their beliefs into action, rather than forming no opinion or keeping it quiet (Senate Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training, 1989). This involves acquiring an understanding of how the government works, how they individually impact on it, their role as an Australian citizen, and the importance of forming their own opinions and following through with their actions to align with their beliefs.

How we are learning

As a class, we will be learning about government throughout the year through forming and rotating through a simulation of government. The class will be separated into three groups, each representing a level of government. Beginning in the second term, each student will take a role within their level of government, such as ministers, premier, and council members; as well as being active citizens when their level of government is not ‘in session’. Using this format, decisions will be made about current local and national issues to simulate real decision making in government. Students will be required to investigate current issues, form their personal opinions, work in groups to take sides to fight for their cause, and debate positive and negative aspects of each decision. Through this, students will learn about current issues, the role that each level of government plays, and how decisions are made in each level, possibly involving multiple levels of government.

Your role

To support your child in this learning journey, I ask that you engage with your child outside of the classroom through discussing and encouraging further investigations. When discussing government with your child, please raise current issues with them, share your own opinions, but also inform them of differing opinions and allow them to form their own opinions and beliefs on these issues. To encourage your child, allow them to explore different media such as newspapers and online articles, to introduce them to learn about current issues, as well as building their research and inquiry skills.

References (Minimum of 2 references in APA format – not included in Word count)

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2018). Humanities and Social Sciences. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/humanities-and-social-sciences/hass

Senate Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training. (1989). Education for Active Citizenship. As cited in: Reynolds, R. (2014). Teaching humanities and social sciences in primary school.