What is Foundation in Australia?

The first year of school, at about age 5. It is called Kindergarten in New South Wales and Prep in some other states. It lines up with a US kindergarten year.

Is there a Year 1 phonics check in Australia?

Several states run one, and education ministers have agreed to a nationally consistent check. A Year 1 numeracy check starts in South Australia and Queensland in 2026.

Australian Curriculum

Also called Australian Curriculum Version 9.0, ACARA, Foundation year, NAPLAN, NSW syllabus, NESA, Victorian Curriculum, Year 1 phonics check.

Ages Foundation to Year 10, about ages 5 to 16Grades K–10Planning A plan you adaptScreens Some screen timeShelf School curricula around the English-speaking worldUpdated November 2026

The Australian Curriculum, written by ACARA and now in Version 9.0, sets what children learn from Foundation, the first year of school at about 5, to Year 10. States and territories put it into practice, and the two largest, New South Wales and Victoria, publish their own versions. National NAPLAN tests in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 check reading, writing, language conventions and numeracy. This page explains the structure, the tests, the recent push on phonics, and what differs in NSW.

1 Where it came from

Australia's first national curriculum was developed by ACARA, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, from 2009. Version 9.0 was endorsed by education ministers on 1 April 2022 and schools have implemented it from 2023 on their own state's timeline. New South Wales writes its own syllabuses through NESA, which incorporate the national content, and Victoria publishes the Victorian Curriculum.

2 The big ideas

Eight learning areas. English; Mathematics; Science; Humanities and Social Sciences; The Arts; Technologies; Health and Physical Education; and Languages.
General capabilities. Seven capabilities, among them literacy, numeracy, and critical and creative thinking, run across the learning areas.
Cross-curriculum priorities. Three priorities are woven through the subjects rather than taught as subjects of their own; one of them is sustainability.
Version 9.0: stripped back. ACARA described Version 9.0 as more teachable, with less content, and it puts more weight on phonics and phonemic awareness in the early years than the version before it.

3 What a lesson looks like

A Year 2 class, as an illustration. The morning opens with a structured phonics lesson: a quick review of sounds, a new spelling pattern, blending and dictation. Then the class reads a shared text and talks about the author's choices. Maths is on place value: children build two-digit numbers with base-ten blocks, then partition them on paper. In the afternoon, a Humanities and Social Sciences lesson on the local area uses a map the class drew of the school grounds. In NSW, the same year is "Stage 1", and the first year of school is called Kindergarten rather than Foundation.

4 Reading and math

English is organised in three strands: language, literature and literacy. The phonics and word knowledge sub-strand covers phonological and phonemic awareness, alphabet and phonic knowledge, and spelling. Several states run a Year 1 phonics check, and ministers have agreed to a nationally consistent one, with a Year 1 numeracy check to follow. Mathematics runs from number and algebra through measurement, space, statistics and probability. NAPLAN tests reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

5 The adult's job

Teachers plan from the curriculum or their state's version. Parents receive NAPLAN reports in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 and school reports twice a year. At home, regular reading, spelling games and number talk support the curriculum, and a Year 1 phonics check is worth knowing about so a child who needs extra help with the code gets it early.

6 How progress is checked

NAPLAN, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy, is taken by every student in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 each year. Year 1 phonics checks run in several states, with numeracy checks starting in some (South Australia and Queensland from 2026). Senior secondary certificates in Years 11 and 12 are set by each state.

7 Strengths and criticisms

Strengths

One national framework. Families moving between states find broadly the same content, even where the state's version differs.
More focus on early reading. Version 9.0 and the Year 1 checks put early phonics on a firmer footing.
Public and searchable. The whole curriculum is online, year by year, with content descriptions and achievement standards.

Criticisms and watch-outs

State versions differ. NSW and Victoria have their own documents and names; check your state's.
Year names vary. The first year of school is Foundation nationally, Kindergarten in NSW and Prep in some states; Peabody shows Foundation.
Not specific enough for some. Some literacy specialists say Version 9.0 is still vague about which phonics content belongs in each of the first years.

8 What the research says

This page describes a system rather than testing it. The structure is from ACARA's own site and NESA's notices on the NSW English and Mathematics K–10 syllabuses. On phonics, a specialist's review of Version 9.0 notes the greater emphasis on phonics and the phonics and word knowledge sub-strand, while arguing it remains vague about year-by-year content. Reporting on the national Year 1 check says a phonics check is to reach all schools by the end of 2026 and a numeracy check by the end of 2028; we could not confirm a ministers' communiqué fixing those dates.

9 How to try it

Find the year. Foundation is the year a child turns 5 or 6; our curriculum finder puts Australia's years beside England's and US grades.
Check your state. In NSW, read NESA's syllabus for your child's stage; in Victoria, the Victorian Curriculum.
Practise the code in Foundation and Year 1. Short daily sessions of sounds, blending and spelling, then a decodable book.
Use NAPLAN as a check-up. Read the report for what your child can do, not just the band, and ask the teacher what to work on.

10 Using Peabody with it

Numbers on PeabodyNumber, algebra, measurement, space, statistics and probability in eight doors.
Peabody libraryFree books by reading level, including decodable books for Foundation and Year 1.
Reading passagesLeveled passages with questions for reading practice before NAPLAN years.
Curriculum finderFoundation to Year 8 beside other countries' years and grades.

Peabody is free and has no ads. Pages on peabody.kids are for children; pages here are for the adults teaching them.

11 Programs that follow it

Programs and materials often named with this approach: Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 (ACARA), NSW English K–10 and Mathematics K–10 syllabuses (NESA), Victorian Curriculum, NAPLAN.

Questions people ask

What is Foundation in Australia?: The first year of school, at about age 5. It is called Kindergarten in New South Wales and Prep in some other states. It lines up with a US kindergarten year.
When do children take NAPLAN?: In Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, each year. It tests reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.
Is there a Year 1 phonics check in Australia?: Several states run one, and education ministers have agreed to a nationally consistent check. A Year 1 numeracy check starts in South Australia and Queensland in 2026.

Sources

Australian Curriculum, Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
Updated English K–10 and Mathematics K–10 syllabuses released, NSW Education Standards Authority.
The Australian Curriculum Version 9.0, Spelfabet (2022).
Full steam ahead for national literacy and numeracy check, The Educator Australia.

New Zealand Curriculum (Te Mātaiaho): New Zealand's refreshed curriculum: structured literacy in every state school since 2025, year-by-year English and maths, and how NZ's years line up.
National Curriculum in England: England's year groups, key stages and national checks, with what each year expects in reading and maths and how it lines up with US grades.
Structured literacy and Orton-Gillingham: Explicit, step-by-step teaching of English sounds, spellings, syllables and word parts, each step building on the last; the root of most dyslexia programs.
National curricula abroad: How six other countries set what children learn: England's key stages, Australia's F–10, Canada's provinces, Singapore, Finland and Japan, side by side.
Every approach in the curriculum guide

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