YEAR LEVEL / LEARNING AREA / CURRICULUM CONTENT DESCRIPTIONS / LINKS TO PES COMMONWEALTH DAY PROGRAM
3 / HISTORY / Days and weeks celebrated or commemorated in Australia (including Australia Day, ANZAC Day, Harmony Day, National Reconciliation Week, NAIDOC Week, National Sorry Day) and the importance of symbols and emblems / Full sized flags of every Commonwealth country are hung overhead in the Main Hall
Descriptions of flags and their meanings are provided in a booklet given out to students
Every country’s emblems are listed on their individual information posters
National Day of every country is listed on each country’s information poster
Celebrations and commemorations in other places around the world / National Day of every country listed on each country’s information poster
3 / GEOGRAPHY / The location of Australia’s neighbouring countries and their diverse characteristics / There are 8 Commonwealth countries in Asia and 11 in Oceania.
Each country has an information poster (displayed by region) providing demographic and locational information
The similarities and differences between places in terms of their type of settlement, demographic characteristics and the lives of the people who live there / There are 53 Commonwealth country and each one has an information poster providing demographic, social, historical and other information
4 / HISTORY / The journey(s) of at least ONE world navigator, explorer or trader up to the late eighteenth century including contacts with other societies and impacts / Information about European Discovery (including the name of the explorer and their country), Colonisation and Independence are listed on each country’s poster
4 / GEOGRAPHY / The main characteristics of the continents of Africa and South America and the location of their major countries in relation to Australia / There are 19 African countries in the Commonwealth and 12 in Central and South America
Each country has an individual information poster which includes a map showing their location
5 / HISTORY / Reasons (economic, political and social) for the establishment of British colonies in Australia after 1800 / Information posters on each Commonwealth country (most are former British colonies) list when they were colonised and gives reasons why
5 / GEOGRAPHY / The influence of people on the environmental characteristics of places in Europe and North America, and the location of the major countries in relation to Australia / There are 3 European countries and 1 North American country in the Commonwealth
Each country has an individual information poster which includes a map showing their location
6 / HISTORY / Key figures, events and ideas that led to Australia’s Federation and Constitution / Commonwealth countries share the British influence on their systems of law and government
Country information posters list the Type of Parliament and Head of State
Stories of groups of people who migrated to Australia since Federation (including from ONE country of the Asian region) and reasons why they migrated / Information posters for each Commonwealth country list the predominant ethnic groups which indicate some of the major migrations trends historically in that country.
6 / GEOGRAPHY / The geographical diversity of the Asian region and the location of its major countries in relation to Australia / There are 8 countries from the Asian region in the Commonwealth
Each country’s information poster shows their location on a world map
Differences in the economic, demographic and social characteristics between countries across the world / The 53 Commonwealth countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, the Americas and Oceania have individual information posters (displayed by region) providing demographic and social information
The world’s cultural diversity including that of its indigenous peoples / Information posters list the major ethnic groups and Indigenous peoples of each Commonwealth country
The various connections Australia has with other countries and how these connections change people and places / There is a general Commonwealth display describing what the organisation aims to do by working together
Examples of how they are connected: CPA, foreign aid programs, CHOGM, Commonwealth Games
8 / HISTORY / Overview content:
  • Key features of the medieval world (feudalism, trade routes, voyages of discovery, contact and conflict)
  • Locating the major trade routes on a map and identifying the nature of the trade/contact
/ Information about the European Discovery (when, who) for most of the Commonwealth countries is listed on their individual posters
Information about Colonisation (when, who and why) for most Commonwealth countries is also provided
  • Transformation of the Roman world and the spread of Christianity and Islam
/ Information about the major religions practised in each Commonwealth country is provided
8 / HISTORY / Depth Study: The Spanish Conquest of the Americas (c.1492 – c.1572)
  • When, how and why the Spanish arrived in the
Americas, and where they went, including the various societies and geographical features they encountered
  • The nature of the interaction between the Spanish and the indigenous populations
  • The longer term effects of colonisation
/ There are 13 countries from Central and South America in the Commonwealth
Each country has information about European Discovery, Colonisation, the Indigenous peoples, and current demographic and social information
9 / HISTORY / Overview content:
  • The nature and extent of the movement of peoples in the period (slaves, convicts and settlers)
(identifying the numbers of slaves transported and the nations/places involved)
  • The extent of European imperial expansion and different responses, including in the Asian region
(Identify Asian societies that were colonised by the Europeans and those that remained independent) / Each country has information about Colonisation and reasons why, and many of the Commonwealth countries in Africa and the Americaswere affected by the slave trade
The information posters for each Commonwealth country list the predominant ethnic groups which indicate some of the major migrations trends historically in that country
There are 8 Commonwealth countries in Asia, each country’s information poster provides information about their Colonisation (who, when and why)
Depth Study: 1. Making a better world?Progressive ideas and movements (1750-1918)
  • The emergence and nature of key ideas in the period, with a particular focus on ONE of the following: Capitalism, socialism, egalitarianism, nationalism, imperialism, Darwinism, Chartism
/ Most of the Commonwealth countries were once part of the British Empire and many others were part of other European empires
Each country’s information poster gives details of which European empires they were part of, when and the main reasons they were colonised or settled.
  • The short and long term impacts of ONE of these ideas on Australia and the world (Imperialism)
/ Short term impacts of Imperialism: Country information posters include details about European discovery, colonisation, and significant migrations through the ethnic groups in that country today
Long term impacts of Imperialism: Country information posters include details about type of government, Head of State, languages spoken, religions all of which were influenced by imperial powers
9 / HISTORY / Depth Study: 1. Making a better world?Movement of peoples (1750 – 1901)
  • The influence of the Industrial Revolution on the movement of people throughout the world, including the transatlantic slave trade and convict transportation
/ Each country has information about Colonisation (when, who and why) and many of the Commonwealth countries in Africa and the Americas were affected by the slave trade
  • The short and long term impacts of the movement of peoples during this period
/ Some of the impacts can be seen in the ethnic groups, languages spoken, religions, and Indigenous peoples (especially in Americas as many of the Indigenous groups were wiped out by colonisation) as listed on each country’s information poster
Depth Study: 2. Australia and Asia. Asia and the World
  • Change and continuity in the Asian society during this period, including any effects of contact (intended and unintended) with European powers
/ There are 8 Asian countries in the Commonwealth
Each country has an information poster which provides information about European Discovery, Colonisation and current demographics