PDHPE Year 7 to 10 is an integrated course, designed so that students would typically achieve the standards described through the outcomes and content in 300 hours.
When establishing a scope and sequence the following syllabus requirements need to be met:
- all strand and skill outcomes in each stage are to be addressed
- there must be study from each strand in each of the Years 7 to 10
- all essential content must be taught.
- make decisions about the relative emphases placed on strands or areas of content
- transfer content across stages to address issues at a developmentally appropriate time for their students
- include additional content (reflecting local needs and interests) linked to the outcomes.
When designing a scope and sequence, consider:
- student learning needs and school context
- involving students and members of the wider school community such as parents/caregivers
- availability of whole school resources and community facilities when planning practical units of work as many can be difficult to access at particular times of the year
- whole school activities for students (for example, extra curricular programs, carnivals, whole school events, assessment and examination schedules). Planned dates for these events should be identified on the school calendar
- devising teaching and learning strategies that provide students with sufficient opportunities to learn the expected content and use their skills to apply this content.
Faculties or stages should collaborate to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement.
Access the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) advice on programming and assessment for sample scope and sequences for Years 7 to10 PDHPE as a model for your own scope and sequence.
Use backward mapping as a structured framework to improve program design in order to develop and deepen students’ understanding. A backward mapping plan can be useful for assessing the quality of a teaching and learning program and facilitating professional discussion on current programs.
As a starting point for backward mapping, determine:
- the central concepts and skills for students by the end of the unit
- how you will assess student’s learning of these key concepts and skills and how well you expect students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding.
Plan for student needs
Content and learning experiences with students to identify their needs, backgrounds, interests and experiences.
Consider the five key student based questions throughout the programming and planning process:
- Do you know what to teach me?
- Do you know what I need to learn?
- Do you know how to teach me?
- Do you really know me?
- Are you preparing me to live in my world?
Outcomes, strategies and activities
The aim is to enable deep knowledge and understanding and application of skills.
- Use 3 to 4 outcomes per unit of learning. This ensures learning remains focused on a small number of key concepts.
- Select outcomes from within and across strands and combine with skill outcomes to form a focus for a unit.
- Integrate outcomes in a meaningful and cohesive way to present a clear purpose. You may choose to identify those outcomes that will receive a major emphasis and those that will be contributing outcomes.
- Identify the subject matter and context of the unit (e.g. net/ wall games, living safely) to guide the anticipated evidence of learning and selection of relevant syllabus content.
- Identify appropriate teaching and learning strategies, activities and resources.
- Integrate teaching strategies into a unit or program to explore key concepts and apply their knowledge, understanding and skills.
- Allow for integration of concepts to ensure relevance to student lives.
Sequence content, evidence of learning and evaluate programs
Consider the best sequence for exploring the content. It does not need to be in the order written in the syllabus.
- Identify the specific evidence of learning to be observed through the teaching, learning and assessment activities. This evidence will enable judgements to be made on achievement in relation to the outcomes and identified content.
- Use student-centred teaching, learning and assessment activities. Assessment for learning activities should occur as part of the teaching learning process to inform both learner and teacher of learning progress and effectiveness of teaching practice.
- Plan for and provide feedback to progress student learning.
- Evaluate the degree to which students have progressed as a result of the experiences and what should be done next to assist them in their learning.
- Evaluate programs by asking ‘have the learning experiences provided in the unit allowed students to learn what the syllabus expected and demonstrate how well they can apply this learning?’
Design effective learning and assessment
When designing learning and assessment activities consider whether the activity:
- has explicitly stated purposes that address the outcomes
- is integral to the teaching and learning program
- shows a clear relationship between the outcomes and content being assessed
- allows students to demonstrate the extent of their knowledge, understanding and skills
- focuses on what was taught in class and what students were informed would be assessed
- provides opportunities to gather information about what further teaching and learning is required for students to succeed
- provides valid and reliable evidence of student learning and is fair.
Maximise student success by clearly identifying the learning intentions and purpose of learning or assessments. Inform students of the criteria that will be used to assess their learning. They should be clear about the meaning of the language used, and the subject-specific terminology. They also need to be clear about any sources or stimulus material that are appropriate to the activity.
Provide students with models of quality responses and templates, or procedures to help them demonstrate the extent of their knowledge, understanding and skills.
Use a combination of assessment for learning, assessment as learning and assessment of learning strategies to make judgements about student learning and inform practice.
Access the NESA advice on assessment for more information.
Provide feedback to students
Use feedback to communicate to students how well their knowledge, understanding and skills are developing in relation to the outcomes. Feedback enables students to recognise their strengths and areas for development, and to plan with their teacher the next steps in their learning.
Student self-reflection and peer evaluation also provide valuable feedback to students.
- Provide students with regular opportunities to reflect on their learning.
- Focus feedback on the activity and what was expected.
- Provide meaningful information to students about their learning.
- Correct misunderstandings.
- Identify and reinforce students’ strengths
- State clearly how students can improve.
Forms of feedback include annotated work, verbal discussion with class, groups or individual students or general comments to the class about those aspects of the activity in which students excelled and those aspects that still need addressing.
Provide examples of quality responses to further student understanding of expectations and levels of progression and achievement. Peer feedback and self-evaluation are also important tools and require clear criteria and social support.
Consistent teacher judgement
Establish processes and structures for discussion about teaching, learning and assessment as a way to enhance consistency.
Consistency in relation to assessment occurs when judgements about student learning are not dependent on the individual teacher, student, location or time and are based on a shared understanding of syllabus standards of learning.
Consistency in making assessment judgements needs to develop across assessment tasks, teachers of different classes, key learning areas, time and schools.
Moderation can be useful compare to judgements with other teachers to either confirm or adjust them.
The process involves close collaboration and collegial discussion to establish a shared understanding of what achievement of syllabus standards look like and whether or not a student has demonstrated achievement of the syllabus standard. Teachers work towards making judgements that are consistent and comparable.
Moderation can support consistent teacher judgement by:
- developing shared or common interpretations of standards and expectations of what constitutes achievement of syllabus standards
- developing shared understandings of what students’ achievements look like
- developing accuracy and reliability in making judgements
- ensuring judgements are equitable in terms of implications for student learning
- strengthening the value of teachers’ judgements
- informing well-targeted teaching programs
- making judgements in relation to syllabus standards.
Develop consistency through:
- participation in professional dialogue with colleagues
- developing common tasks across a year group and marking together
- discussing individual work samples and what the student demonstrates through these samples
- building structured time in faculty or network meetings to discuss consistency
- reviewing work samples from other schools and discuss achievement against criteria or standards.
During a reporting period:
- consider what students are expected to learn at the beginning
- consider how well students have achieved at the end.
Use the department’s Curriculum planning and programming, assessing and reporting to parents K-12 policy.