Child Studies

About the subject

Students critically examine attitudes and values about parenting and care-giving, and gain an understanding of the growth and development of children. They develop a variety of research, management, and practical skills, and work independently and collaboratively to achieve common goals. Students investigate contemporary issues that are relevant to children and their development.

Course Content

Students study the following five areas:

• Contemporary and Future Issues
• Economic and Environmental Influences
• Political and Legal Influences
• Sociocultural Influences
• Technological Influences

Assessment

Students demonstrate evidence of their learning through the following assessment types:

Information on the External Assessment - Investigation

The Investigation is a piece of writing of up to a maximum of 2000 words for the 20-credit subject, and 1000 words for the 10-credit subject. Students identify a relevant contemporary issue related to an area of study, which is stated as a research question or hypothesis.

The Investigation is double graded, firstly by the student’s teacher and secondly by an external assessor appointed by the SACE Board. The teacher and the external assessor make a decision about the quality of the investigation with reference to the performance standards.

Performance Standards

The Child Studies Subject Outline includes performance standards, which describe five levels of achievement that are reported with the grades A to E at the student’s completion of the subject.

The school-based assessments and the external assessment will be graded with reference to the performance standards.