VELS Level 5 - Years 7 and 8 at School

For most young people these years involve coming to terms with the move from primary to secondary school. In secondary school there are new friends to make, new rules and responsibilities to learn, new books to read, new uniform requirements and new challenges.

In Years 7 and 8 all learning areas have standards. These are the same learning areas as in Years 5 and 6. The table below shows the areas in which standards are set for assessment and reporting in these years.

	Victorian Essential Learning Standards - Years 7 and 8
Physical, Personal and Social Learning Health and Physical Education Interpersonal Development Personal Learning Civics and Citizenship	Discipline-based Learning The Arts English The Humanities – Economics The Humanities – Geography The Humanities – History Languages Other Than English Mathematics Science	Interdisciplinary Learning Communication Design, Creativity and Technology Information and Communications Technology Thinking Processes

Young people are now becoming more mature. The move to secondary school is often linked to a stronger sense of identity. Their approach to learning is more often linked to what they consider as important for their own personal goals. Parents can help their children think about what it means to be in this new environment and support them as they meet new challenges.

Standards in Years 7 and 8 in particular areas of learning are illustrated in the following examples.

English

The standards required in English include:

writing an argument and defining a personal position
using correct spelling, grammar and punctuation
critically evaluating the spoken language of others, asking clarifying questions and identifying important ideas while listening to other people
responding to a variety of texts that explore familiar as well as more challenging themes and issues.

The knowledge, skills and behaviour developed in the English and Communication standards are used in other areas of learning, for example in oral presentations and debates in science and history.

Mathematics

The standards required in mathematics include:

using knowledge of perfect squares when calculating and estimating squares and square roots of numbers
constructing two-dimensional and simple three-dimensional shapes according to specifications
calculating the surface area and volume of prisms and cylinders
solving simple equations using tables, graphs and inverse operations.

The Humanities and Personal Learning

In history, concepts of change and continuity are developed. Standards focus on the analysis of key events in ancient and medieval times, including:

features of community life
how societies were ruled and by whom
strengths and weaknesses of sources of historical information.

Similarly, in geography, studies of the Asia–Pacific region increase students’ knowledge of location, economics and social and cultural characteristics of communities and countries.

Students undertake integrated projects with a focus on, for example, sporting occasions or natural disasters and consolidate their knowledge of a range of areas of learning to make connections between them.

These studies assist students to:

develop research and develop their thinking skills
test developing opinions.

Students develop and implement plans to complete activities within short-term and longterm timelines. They describe their progress and achievements, suggesting how learning may have been improved. Students also develop learning styles that meet their personal needs.

Languages

At this point two pathways in languages other than English (LOTE) are offered. Students will take one pathway if they continue learning the same language they studied in primary school. They will take another pathway if they begin to learn a new language. Regardless of the pathway selected, the standards are organised to provide progressive and cumulative opportunities for students to develop language awareness and cultural understanding.

Josh's learning experience in design, creativity and technology and interpersonal development

Josh’s class is focusing on the environment. Students work in teams to design, make and evaluate a bird feeder that includes recycled materials. The design process Josh follows involves meeting standards at different stages in the making of the bird feeder. The standards identify the stages Josh and his team follow.

In a team, Josh:

develops research questions about local birds, bird feeders and materials
shares the research with others
draws labelled sketches of designs for the bird feeder
develops criteria to evaluate the finished bird feeder
makes a sequenced plan to produce the feeder.

When making the feeder, Josh:

safely uses tools and equipment to make the product
reviews progress and makes changes if needed
prepares and presents to the class an evaluation of the bird feeder
reviews how well the team worked and what could be improved.

National Assessment Program - Literacy And Numeracy (NAPLAN)

In Year 7 students participate in the national NAPLAN tests in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy. These national tests provide information on how students are progressing, support improvements in teaching and learning, and provides a framework to compare student performance around Australia. NAPLAN tests were introduced in 2008 and replaced the Victorian Achievement Improvement Monitor (AIM) tests.