Preliminary Health and Physical Education Stage 4

This course is organised into four sequential stages. Each stage includes a learning focus statement and examples of student learning. Each stage is designed to accommodate a learner’s level of readiness and reflects their stage of development. It may be likely that a learner will engage in only one stage of learning in their study of this course.

Through involvement in selected physical activities (including recreation and outdoor activities at a suitable level), and through exploring a range of appropriate health related topics, the learner will develop a variety of skills and knowledge.

The Preliminary to Level 1 suite of courses are designed for learners whose circumstances significantly impact their learning - in an ongoing manner or for extended periods of time.

These learners include:

• learners with disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1992 whose disability requires educational adjustments to support access and participation in learning 
• learners whose circumstances have significantly impacted their ability to attend school for extended periods of time or engage in courses with higher levels of complexity
• learners who require significant support for learning English as an additional language or dialect.

Preliminary Health and Physical Education requires learners to address content from two strands:

• Personal, Social and Community Health
• Movement and Physical Activity.

Each strand contains content descriptions which are organised under three sub-strands.

Preliminary Health and Physical Education has been structured to support an integrated and flexible delivery approach to address a breadth and balance of content across the Movement and Physical Activity and Personal, Social and Community Health strands.

Providers should endeavour to make regular explicit, timely and relevant links across the focus areas and experiences to foster an understanding of the interconnection that exists across the Health and Physical Education area.

Preliminary Health and Physical Education is designed to meet the needs of young adult learners by building on the Australian Curriculum - Health and Physical Education to prepare learners for their futures. The course addresses fundamental aspects of both health and physical education, and is designed to be flexibly delivered to meet the individual needs of learners.

Preliminary Health and Physical Education can help contribute to building a positive lifelong health culture in Tasmania and is designed to support and develop learners in the area of physical literacy, whilst also integrating an appropriate range of targeted and holistic health-related content and experiences to help them develop the skills and awareness to manage their health throughout their adult lives.

The development of physical literacy is a lifelong process that is ongoing and dynamic. It is not developed to a point of completion but requires continual refinement and re-focusing based on life stage and circumstances, paving the way for a healthy and physically active life.

This course focusses on building on learners’ strengths to help them feel positive about who they are, to positively embrace changes during various life stages, and to explore a range of experiences to build capacity for healthy, safe, responsible and fulfilled lives.

Provision of pathways and opportunities that enhance and support equity, gender inclusion, engagement and retention are common aims across the 11/12 HPE suite of courses

Preliminary Health and Physical Education aims to align with the F-10 Australian Curriculum - Health and Physical Education and seamlessly connect learners with a pathway provided in the TASC accredited suite of 11/12 Health and Physical Education (HPE) courses. The course format and design flexibility aims to support national and international initiatives and reinforce a culture of equity and inclusion with a particular focus on catering for the specific needs of learners.

With coactive support Preliminary Health and Physical Education aims to develop learners’ ability to:

• use information to recognise and enhance their own and others’ health and wellbeing, safety and physical activity participation
• develop and use personal, behavioural, social and cognitive skills to promote a sense of personal identity and wellbeing, and to build respectful relationships
• acquire and use movement skills to respond in a variety of physical activity contexts and settings
• engage in and enjoy regular movement-based learning experiences and activities.

On successful completion of this course, learners will be able to:

1. use movement skills and learn through movement
2. recognise physical and emotional development
3. recognise the benefits of being healthy, safe and active
4. communicate and interact for health and wellbeing.

This course focuses on progressing learners from an emergent to early intentional state. It encourages learners to develop their independence as they explore, participate and engage in the world around them. Expectations for learner achievement are set at four stages which are not associated with any set age or year level that links chronological age to developmental progress. As learners progress through these stages the level of coactive support required decreases as they proceed towards becoming independent learners.

Stage 1
Within Stage 1 learners experience a range of learning activities that will assist them to attend to and explore the world around them with as much independence as possible. Experiences are designed for learners at an emergent level. Learners require high levels of coactive support and focused attention from the teacher to assist them to engage, react and participate. Learners demonstrate some awareness and recognition of familiar people and routine activities.

Stage 2
Within Stage 2 learners are reliant on verbal and physical prompts to facilitate their learning. They begin to explore their world independently and engage in cause-and-effect learning activities. Learners are able to focus on structured learning activities for short periods of time. They respond to familiar people and events in a familiar environment and begin to use ‘yes/no’ responses.

Stage 3
Within Stage 3 Learners display the first signs of independence, are less reliant on partial physical prompts and respond more consistently to verbal and visual prompts and clear directions from the teacher. Learners begin to interact with their peers in social opportunities. They participate in structured activities alongside their peers and use pictures, photos and objects to communicate personal interests and experiences. They begin to use and link some familiar words and images to form a meaningful communication.

Stage 4
Within Stage 4 learners participate cooperatively in group learning activities with indirect supervision and gestural prompts. They express their feelings, needs and choices in increasingly conventional ways and combine and sequence key words and images to communicate personal interests and to recount significant experiences. They indicate beginning understanding of social rules and expectations and are beginning to reflect on their own behaviour.

Learners can enter the course at any of the four stages depending upon their level of readiness or ability. Providers will determine the entry point for learners based on each learner’s level of readiness.

All learners have a right to an education that meets their needs through full participation and engagement with learning. Providers enhance the quality of all students’ learning through responsive and planned learning programs that optimise achievement using inclusive practices.

Learners will have access to appropriate resources such as professional support staff; (or adult assistance), and equipment such as assistive technology or modified facilities, as required. The Disability Standards for Education Act, 2005 outline the obligations that educational providers must meet in supporting the needs of learners with disability through reasonable adjustments.

Adjustments include a range of supports and accommodations including but not limited to:

• supportive learning environments
• tailored delivery models
• visual and organisational supports
• multimodal learning and assessment opportunities
• varying levels of prompting and adult assistance
• access to appropriate technology.

‘Adjustment’ does not mean the lowering or removal of standards but rather it means allowing learners appropriate means to demonstrate their learning and achievement against standards.

In the instance of online, distance or flexible delivery, adjustments may be made in the delivery of the courses by providers to suit the individual student’s learning environment. This may involve differentiation to reflect the resources readily available to the learner within their home or community.

Preliminary Health and Physical Education builds on foundation concepts emerging from the Australian Curriculum Health and Physical Education F-10.

Preliminary Health and Physical Education provides a potential pathway to other HPE courses: Sport and Recreation Experiences Level 1, Personal Care Level 1, Outdoor Experiences Level 1, Fitness Experiences Level 1, and VET Certificate I in Sport and Recreation.

After completing Preliminary Health and Physical Education, possible vocational pathways may include any role where physical literacy, healthy lifestyle, communication and positive team skills are valued.

When conducting activities off site providers of this course must ensure that their Risk Management practices and planning meet the requirements of the Department of Education’s Procedures for Planning Off Campus Activities (or equivalent), which are aligned with the Australian Adventure Activity Standards.

Providers must consider the needs for spaces, equipment and transport to community facilities and also ensure that activity leaders have current qualifications appropriate to activities being offered.

This course has a complexity Preliminary to level 1.

Each stage of the course has a size value of 5 or 10 or 15 depending upon learners’ needs. A learner will undertake a minimum of 50 hours study in this course, through to a maximum of 150 hours. 

For example:

• A learner might study Preliminary to Level 1, Stage 3 of the course and complete it in 50 hours. This learner might then study Preliminary to Level 1, Stage 4 of the course and require 100 hours to achieve this. After successful completion, this learner might then undertake a Level 1 in the following year.
• In one year a learner might study Preliminary to Level 1, Stage 2 of the course and complete it in 50 hours. This learner might then also study Preliminary to Level 1, Stage 3 of the course and require 100 hours to achieve this.
• A learner may study Preliminary to Level 1 Stage 1 in 150 hours.

The sequence of delivery is at the discretion of the provider. A personalised learning program will be developed for each learner, dependent on their needs. Not all learners will achieve all stages of the course content.

Decisions about the specific timing, sequence and model for content delivery is the responsibility of provider. Planning decisions should take into account local needs, available resources, learner profiles and readiness, system and community priorities.

Content for Preliminary Health and Physical Education is organised within two strands:

• Personal Social and Community Health
• Movement and Physical Activity.

Learners are required to complete units of work across both strands of the course.

This stage has a size value of 5, 10 or 15.

Stage 4 provides the basis for developing knowledge, understanding and skills for learners to lead healthy, safe and active lives. Students learn about their strengths and simple actions they can take to keep themselves and their classmates healthy and safe. They learn about major body parts, their family, healthy eating, feelings and safety.

Learners explore the people that are important to them and develop the capacity to initiate and maintain respectful relationships in different contexts. They learn to show some consideration for the needs and feelings of themselves and others, including at school, at home, in the classroom and when participating in physical activities.

Students learn through movement by engaging in a variety of physical activities in a range of environments (indoor, outdoor and aquatic). Learners participate in simple games with support, to follow instructions and to remain on task. They develop and practise fundamental movement skills through active play and structured movement activities to improve competence and confidence in their movement abilities.

Stage 4 providers need to select focus areas that are age appropriate and reflect the physical, social and emotional maturation of the student. The focus areas include, but are not limited to:

• alcohol and other drugs (AD)
• food and nutrition (FN)
• health benefits of physical activity (HBPA)
• mental health and wellbeing (MH)
• relationships and sexuality (RS)
• safety (S)
• active play and minor games (AP)
• challenge and adventure activities (CA)
• games and sports (GS)
• fundamental movement skills (FMS)
• lifelong physical activities (LLPA)
• rhythmic and expressive movement activities (RE)

Through a selection of one or more of the focus areas above, students will learn to:

• identify what they can do
• identify the major parts of the body by their names and sequence images of major stages of life
• understand different kinds of relationships and identify some private places, safe and unsafe places or situations
• practise personal skills of self-care, hygiene and independence
• practise social skills to interact with others
• identify emotional responses and describe their feelings using pictures and/or words
• explore what actions promote health, safety and wellbeing
• explore activities in outdoor settings and the natural environment
• practise simple gross motor and fine motor skills in a range of environments showing increasing control
• participate in simple games with support and begin to anticipate the next step in familiar physical routines
• explore how regular physical activity keeps them healthy and well
• identify their pathway through a space and use vocabulary associated with movement to describe how their body moves in relation to space, objects and people
• cooperate with others and demonstrate characteristics of a good sport when participating in physical activities
• test possible solutions to movement challenges by negotiating the space around them and manipulate objects
• follow basic safety directions, and familiar game rules when participating in physical activities.

Criterion-based assessment is a form of outcomes assessment that identifies the extent of learner achievement at an appropriate end-point of study. Although assessment – as part of the learning program – is continuous, much of it is formative, and is done to help learners identify what they need to do to attain the maximum benefit from their study of the course. Therefore, assessment for summative reporting to TASC will focus on what both teacher and learner understand to reflect end-point achievement.

The standard of achievement each learner attains on each criterion is recorded as a rating of ‘C’ (satisfactory standard) according to the outcomes specified in the standards section of the course document.

A ‘t’ notation must be used where a learner demonstrates any achievement against a criterion less than the standard specified for the ‘C’ rating. The ‘t’ notation is not described in course standards.

A ‘z’ notation is to be used where a learner provides no evidence of achievement at all.
Internal assessment of all criteria will be made by the provider. Assessment processes must gather evidence that clearly shows the match between individual learner performance, the standards of the course and the learner’s award. Providers will report the learner’s rating for each criterion to TASC.

NOTATION ON EVIDENCE OF LEARNING

Some of the criteria standard elements use the terms reacting, responding and recognising.

In the context of this preliminary level course reacting/responding might be defined as:

• an intentional repeatable and observable behaviour that can be interpreted simply, objectively and conclusively.

In the context of this preliminary level course recognising might be defined as:

• intentionally signalling identification of (someone or something) through gesture, facial expression or sound from having encountered them before.

Each provider is responsible for ensuring the integrity and validity of their assessment results against the requirements of the course, including standards, and for maintaining records and documentation that will demonstrate the integrity, accuracy and validity of the award decisions they make each year.

Under Section 55ZN of the Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification Act 2003, TASC may give a provider written direction regarding the provision and assessment of an accredited other education course.

The assessment of Preliminary Health and Physical Education Stage 4 will be based on whether the learner can:

• 1. use movement skills and learn through movement
• 2. recognise physical and emotional development
• 3. recognise the benefits of being healthy, safe and active
• 4. communicate and interact for health and well-being.

Preliminary Health and Physical Education to Level 1: Stage 1, 2, 3 or 4 (with the award of):

SATISFACTORY ACHIEVEMENT

PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT.

The final award for Preliminary Health and Physical Education Stage 4 will be determined by the provider from four (4) ratings.

The minimum requirements for an award in each Stage of this course are as follows:

Satisfactory Achievement (SA)

4 ‘C’ ratings

Preliminary Achievement (PA)
2 ‘C’ rating

The Department of Education’s Curriculum Services will develop and regularly revise the curriculum. This evaluation will be informed by the experience of the course’s implementation, delivery and assessment.

In addition, stakeholders may request Curriculum Services to review a particular aspect of an accredited course.

Requests for amendments to an accredited course will be forward by Curriculum Services to the Office of TASC for formal consideration.

Such requests for amendment will be considered in terms of the likely improvements to the outcomes for learners, possible consequences for delivery and assessment of the course, and alignment with Australian Curriculum materials.

A course is formally analysed prior to the expiry of its accreditation as part of the process to develop specifications to guide the development of any replacement course.

The accreditation period for this course is from 1 January 2019 until 31 December 2025.

During the accreditation period required amendments can be considered via established processes.

Should outcomes of the Years 9-12 Review process find this course unsuitable for inclusion in the Tasmanian curriculum, its accreditation may be cancelled. Any such cancellation would not occur during an academic year.

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