HOW TO CREATE A
Homeschool / Unschool Registration
learning plan
Victoria
FOR
Ultimate Guide
In Victoria your learning plan needs to require the following :
Your learning plan must include your childs full name and date of birth also it must include this 7 steps:
When and Where the "learning" will take place:
When : refers to the general schedule of learning. For example, will the instruction and learning take place on weekdays?
·
When: does not mean that you have to account for each hour, each day, each week or even each month. ·
Where : means the location in which the learning will take place throughout the year. For example, home, specialist locations such as a museum, library, swimming pool, school through a partial enrolment arrangement, etc. ·
Where: does not mean you must list every learning location you plan to use during the year.
if your are using a Unschooling -Natural learning approach
When :
As we are taking a natural learning approach to our educational plan there is hidden potential for learning ALL of the time.My childs learning is free to take place whenever and for however long my child feels necessary .Their learning will not be restricted to the normal school hours and days,as my child is always questioning and exploring so the "when" happens whenever learning opportunities come up an as natural learners -opportunities are endless.
Where :
As we are taking a natural learning approach to our educational plan my childs education will not only be limited to our home, but also within our community, on daily outings to shops,relatives and friends houses,at playgrounds,at the local swimming pool & the library and within our home ed groups.Also when other learning opportunities arise this could be food markets,shows,holidays and lessons my child wants to attend We love being amongst nature so their learning can also take place on outings to beachs ,bush walking and sight seeing. - note:
places we visit will be recorded down as they happen
How learning outcomes will be recorded :
The way you keep records is completely up to you -
you are not required to keep school like reports
You are required to keep records to show evidence / progress of your childs " learning"
- if your child is one of the end of year selected 10% families for review you can
provide the education department your records .
VRQA do not mandate what the evidence should be or how you must provide it as they understand everyone's approach to education is different..Your records do not require to be copious .
You do not to keep times and daily records or use a "school like" approach.There is various ways you can keep records of your childs learning , some ways include : create a blog, write down in a diary or journal , you can take photos and create a learning photo album,save any work samples in a folder,or you can use a online recording app.
VRQA provide optional record templates you can chose to use and provide if you are chosen for review listed below :
Here is some other examples from approved reviews using different recording methods :
if your are using a Unschooling -Natural learning approach
I will keep a diary i will jolt down things my child has done/ learned throughout the week i will included the date of the weeks begining. In this i will also list any resources my child has used or activities my child has done - i will also list what kla it has covered .I will keep a plastic sleeve folder to keep any "hard copy" work they have done like drawings,lists,things they have wrote on ect.I will also take photos of learning experiences as evidence- this will be kept in a photo album and will form a part of a end of year review "visual learning portfolio" .
You'll need to include if you are seeking a exemption
from any of the 8 KLA learning areas :
If you are seeking a exemption for any KLA subject you outline why it is unreasonable for your child to receive instruction for that subject on the initial registration form.You only have to put a X in that subject on your learning plan & you do not need to explain why -no medical or documentation is needed
You can seek exemption from one or more of the 8 key learning areas - max of 7 klas.
For example, if your child has recently disengaged from a registered school and is experiencing psychological stress, the recovery may mean a gradual reengagement with learning .You may want to focus on their health and wellbeing at first.
Or the exemption may relate to your child’s interests - you want their education program to focusses on that particular subject matter as you know it will benefit their learning .
Your child might have a disability or special learning needs that a exemption from a
particular KLA is necessary.
The grounds upon which you may seek an exemption are not limited and the VRQA will take into account the child’s particular circumstances, as reported by you.It’s you -as the parent’s judgement that is important .
VRQA won’t require medical specialist certificates and associated documentation.
Exemptions are granted for 12 months at a time.
for exemption you could say:
-
My childs dyslexia means we will concentrate on English and get a exemption on languages
-
My child needs time to recover from their school experience so we are temporary requesting exemptions on all 7 klas and concentration on mental health and well being -pdhpe
-
My child has chosen a career in science so we request a exemption in the arts and languages to help them focus on this
You'll need to add if you plan to have your child
partially enrolled in a public school
as well as home educate:
You are allowed to home educate some of the time while also sending your child to school for the rest of the time in Victoria.
In Victoria You can chose to partial enrol your child in a government school to teach your child certain subjects or activities . To do this you first approach a school ,You will need to make arrangements directly with the schools principal. Partial enrolment is at the discretion of the principal,
You and the school principal each have responsibilities in establishing a partial enrolment arrangement and the VRQA cannot intervene if a principal does not support your application. You should seek approval for partial enrolment from the principal before you apply for home education registration. If partial enrolment is agreed upon, indicate this arrangement on your home schooling registration form and attach the principal’s completed
Notice of Intention to Partially Enrol a Student form
to your learning plan application for home school registration.
Consider your childs needs:
This section is optional
You do not have to add this to your learning plan
Here you can explain your childs needs,you may give a summary of their areas of interests, what their strengths are and areas they need additional support with.You can explain what you hope to achieve for the year or what you would like to work on
If you are using a Unschooling/ natural learning approach
Note: This is a example for a child strengths and achievement hopes-for a child who enjoys playing roblox/gaming
My child X learns best following a natural child led learning approach.She has proven cable at taking charge of her education by following her own interests - at the moment her interests are online gaming- by allowing her to follow this interests her english reading and writing skills have formed and advanced .She is learning new mathematical concepts each day , and has a passion for virtual creative arts and design , she has been using online roblox studio to create her own online games and virtual clothing.She enjoys researching and studying at her own pace to help expand her knowledge of these interests via online youtube and google searches, She would like to start her own youtube channel creating, gaming videos , like the ones she watches , this year i will help her learn video editing techniques and maybe we can start creating her own youtube channel.
Note: this is a approved example explaining childs disadvantages and hopes for child
My child X loves books but is not yet reading independently. In school his bewilderment with reading caused him to feel silly and embarrassed, this made him lack and fall behind in other subjects. Our primary focus for the year will be to nurture his love of books and provide a rich learning environment that is not dependent on reading. I will see how he goes with a gentle approach to reading and assess whether we need to explore possible supports for his reading development.
Add
how you will cover the subject mater for each
of the 8 key learning areas -
If you are applying for a exemption on a subject do not add anything to that category
In Victoria you are required to teach your child the 8 key subjects KLAS , - unless you are applying for exemption -you do not need to follow the Victorian curriculum like they teach in schools nor the Australian curriculum - how you deliver the Kla's as a home educator is up to you VQRA will take into account the plan as a whole.They do not access the subject matter based on the age of your child-as they understand each child learns differently and are at different levels in their learning.
8 KLA include:
sciences (including physics, chemistry and biology)
History & geography (humanities and social sciences )
PDHPE (health and physical education)
Technologies (information and communication technology, and design and technology.)
VQRA have templates you can print ,fill out and tailor to your child otherwise you can create your own learning plan Whether you're using one of the templates or designing your own,
they give you an idea of the level of detail you should include in your learning plan.
If your creating your own dont forget to add the resources and materials you will use, and also the kla area you are covering. If you are applying for an exemption do not add anything to that subject area
.
Make sure you list resources and materials you will use to cover each learning subject in both the templates or if your are creating your own plan: note: resources & materials must be in detail:
example if you are reading a book - do not just write book , you have to add the title and the author
The 2 templates are below :
Subject - based Learning plan template
This template helps those intending to follow a curriculum or structured learning approach. It divides your intended program across the learning areas.Please note many natural learners use this template also.
Here you List the subject matter to be covered under each learning area. For example, the subject matter for Science might include:
Space and solar systems ·
Solids and liquids and the influence of heat ·
Biology and the life cycle of different living things.
For each learning area (English, languages and so on) give specific details of how the learning area will be substantially addressed. Example: Languages:
Spanish – We will explore Spanish. We'll start by introducing basic words and greetings using an app that we access about twice a week. We'll also learn a bit about Spanish culture (humanities) by researching Spanish traditions online and making some Spanish food.
We will also make greeting cards in Spanish for family occasions (the Arts).
It's not enough to generalise into 'learn Spanish' or 'learning about Spain'.
If you're using a textbook, you can give details from the table of contents for each relevant learning area. If you've purchased a curriculum, summarise the subject matter in each learning area or submit the details issued by the provider. Make sure the purchased curriculum addresses each learning area, unless you've applied for exemption.
For Resources & Materials list things like:
specific details such as full book names, URLs, computer programs and apps, or specialist services such as private tutor, music lessons, sports teams and so on. It is not enough to list resources as 'books' or 'the internet'.
Activity - based learning plan template
This template helps those intending to unschool or follow a natural learning approach. It addresses the learning areas through educational activities.
Here you describe the skills and learning activities you will focus on like VQRA states :
They do not set the number of activities you need to include. It's up to you to make sure that the information you provide clearly shows that all learning areas, except exemptions, will be substantially addressed.
Think about what to include like:
What skills do my child and I want to develop in each learning area?
How are we going to build these skills (i.e. what is the approach we will take?)
What are the activities that we will use to achieve this?
In the Activities column, list the general activity your child will complete. This could typically be one word like: cooking, gardening, experiments
Or it could be a short sentence:
Helping with the renovations of our home, improving reading ability
In the Details column, list the activity's specific elements. This needs to be detailed and you may need several bullet points.
Example: a gardening activity:
Read the nutritional labels on different foods and discuss nutrition and the importance of healthy eating
Visit family friends who run a free-range chicken farm – talk about ethical practices, animal care, and how the eggs end up in our breakfast
Make and maintain a vegie patch – choose plants, design layout, monitor growth, harvest and eat!
Record growth of vegies – measure weekly and create table of growth in Excel – discuss what we can do to support growth
For resources & Materials list things like :
specific details such as full book names, URLs, computer programs and apps, or specialist services such as private tutor, music lessons, sports teams and so on. It is not enough to list resources as 'books' or 'the internet'.
Example: a gardening activity:
Food packaging
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation website
Victorian Healthy Eating Enterprise
construction equipment
garden tools
In the final column on the activities based template
list the learning areas relevant to the activity. Align each area to the descriptions in the Details column.
Example: a gardening activity covers KLAS
English ,HPE, HSS, ICTDT ,Mathematics ,Sciences
Also dont forget to
list the resources and material you will use to help cover the KLA's
for Unschooling/ natural learning approach
using VQRA templates
Once you have created your learning plan remember:
-
1 learning plan is required for each child, note: its okay if you use the same content for each learning plan and tailor it to suite each individual child you plan to homeschool
-
You email it through along with your initial registration application form, required id and any other relevant documents to VQRAs email or by postal address
-
It can take a average of 28 days for registration approval usually much less .
-
In Victoria you are only required to send in the ONE learning plan summary EVER for your child.Each year VQRA will contact you to ask if you still want to be on the homeschool registration,no need to send in a fresh learning plan
-
each year 10% of homeschool registered families are required to submit there learning recorded samples . this can be via email, once you have been selected your are exempt for 2 years for another review
-
If for some reason your plan is not approved, you will be notified and either dispute the outcome or your can create another learning plan and send through.
-
Most communication with Victoria education department VQRA is done through email and phone
For more information visit their site VQRA