In the Australian Curriculum, students become literate as they develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions to interpret and use language confidently for learning and communicating in and out of school and for participating effectively in society. Literacy involves students listening to, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating oral, print, visual and digital texts, and using and modifying language for different purposes in a range of contexts.

Literacy enables students to access, understand, analyse and evaluate information and ideas, express thoughts and emotions; present ideas and opinions; interact with others.

In the Australian Curriculum, students become numerate as they develop the knowledge and skills to use mathematics confidently across learning areas at school and in their lives more broadly. The Australian Curriculum states: Numeracy encompasses the knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that students need to use mathematics in a wide range of situations. It involves students recognising and understanding the role of mathematics in the world and having the dispositions and capacities to use mathematical knowledge and skills purposefully.

Applying mathematical skills and knowledge across the curriculum can enrich the study of other learning areas and helps to develop a broader and deeper understanding of numeracy. It is essential that the mathematical ideas with which students interact are relevant to their lives. Students need opportunities to recognise that mathematics is constantly used outside the mathematics classroom and that numerate people apply mathematical skills in a wide range of familiar and unfamiliar situations.

Critical thinking involves students analysing and assessing possibilities against criteria for judgement. They construct and evaluate arguments, and use information, evidence and logic to draw reasoned conclusions and to solve problems.

Creative thinking involves students learning to generate and apply new ideas, and see existing situations in new ways. They identify alternative explanations and possibilities, and create new links to generate successful outcomes.

Ethical understanding encompasses the knowledge and skills students require to identify ethical concepts, understand different ethical perspectives and apply ethical thinking in response to issues.

Ethical understanding involves students building a strong personal and socially oriented ethical outlook that helps them to manage context, conflict and uncertainty. They develop an awareness of the influence that their values and behaviour have on others.

Intercultural understanding encompasses the behaviours and dispositions that students need to understand what happens and what to do when cultures intersect.

Through learning to value their own cultural perspectives and practices and those of others, young people are supported to become responsible local and global citizens. They are equipped for living and working in an interconnected world.