Describe the roles and responsibilities of the three levels of government, including shared roles and responsibilities within Australia's federal system (VCCCG009)

Identify and discuss the key features of the Australian electoral process (VCCCG010)

Identify the roles and responsibilities of electors and representatives in Australia's democracy (VCCCG011)

Explain how state/territory and federal laws are initiated and passed through parliament (VCCCL012)

Explain how and why laws are enforced and describe the roles and responsibilities of key personnel in law enforcement, and in the legal system (VCCCL013)

Use estimation and rounding to check the reasonableness of answers to calculations (VCMNA182)

Use efficient mental and written strategies and apply appropriate digital technologies to solve problems (VCMNA185)

Create simple financial plans (VCMNA191)

Choose appropriate units of measurement for length, area, volume, capacity and mass (VCMMG195)

Calculate the perimeter and area of rectangles and the volume and capacity of prisms using familiar metric units (VCMMG196)

Understand how texts vary in purpose, structure and topic as well as the degree of formality (VCELA309)

Investigate how the organisation of texts into chapters, headings, subheadings, home pages and sub pages for online texts and according to chronology or topic can be used to predict content and assist navigation (VCELA310)

Understand how to use banks of known words, syllabification, spelling patterns, word origins, base words, prefixes and suffixes, to spell new words, including some uncommon plurals (VCELA312)

Identify aspects of literary texts that convey details or information about particular social, cultural and historical contexts (VCELT313)

Recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed from different viewpoints, which can lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses (VCELT315)

Show how ideas and points of view in texts are conveyed through the use of vocabulary, including idiomatic expressions, objective and subjective language, and that these can change according to context (VCELY317)

Use comprehension strategies to analyse information, integrating and linking ideas from a variety of print and digital sources (VCELY319)

Analyse the text structures and language features used in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text (VCELY320)

Discuss how ethical principles can be used as the basis for action, considering the influence of cultural norms, religion, world views and philosophical thought on these principles (VCECU010)

Examine how problems may contain more than one ethical issue (VCECU011)

Discuss the role and significance of conscience and reasoning in ethical decision-making (VCECD013)

Explore and discuss behaviours that demonstrate sensitivity to individual, social and cultural differences (VCPSCSO029)

Define and recognise examples of stereotypes, discrimination and prejudice and discuss how they impact on the individual (VCPSCSO030)

Describe the characteristics of respectful relationships and suggest ways that respectful relationships can be achieved (VCPSCSO031)

Identify the characteristics of an effective team and develop descriptions for particular roles including leadership, and describe both their own and their team’s performance when undertaking various roles (VCPSCSO032)

Describe the various causes of conflict and evaluate possible strategies to address conflict (VCPSCSO033)

Identify and form links and patterns from multiple information sources to generate non-routine ideas and possibilities (VCCCTQ023)

Investigate common reasoning errors including contradiction and inconsistency, and the influence of context (VCCCTR024)

Consider the importance of giving reasons and evidence and how the strength of these can be evaluated (VCCCTR025)

Consider when analogies might be used in expressing a point of view and how they should be expressed and evaluated (VCCCTR026)

Examine the difference between valid and sound arguments and between inductive and deductive reasoning, and their degrees of certainty (VCCCTR027)

Explore what a criterion is, different kinds of criteria, and how to select appropriate criteria for the purposes of filtering information and ideas (VCCCTR028)

Investigate how ideas and problems can be disaggregated into smaller elements or ideas, how criteria can be used to identify gaps in existing knowledge, and assess and test ideas and proposals (VCCCTM031)

While exploring and delving in to finding their answers through the tour they can also cover what makes up Australian government how it works and other finer details covered by the government and democracy strand for level 5 and 6 of the Victorian curricula. 

The virtual tour of Parliament house as well as the how laws are created incursion are a great way to set up for more hands on activities. As much as the kids can’t get out to go see it in person at the moment, you can still move forwards with not only teaching about the Australian government, but also able to continue with the idea of creating a classroom government that covers many different aspects of the Victorian curriculum as well as being both inclusive and interactive. Students don’t just learn from text but also from experience (Cullen, 2005, Cole, 2008, Marsh, 2011, Rutherford, 2009). They tend to want to understand the real-world connection between what they are learning and how to put that information into use. The tour and incursion paired with the curriculum and resources above are solid stepping stones in creating a fun, inclusive and informative classroom. All students need a safe and inclusive place to learn. The resources above help to create such an environment when teaching about Parliament and government.  

Buchanan, J. (2013) History, Geography and Civics, teaching and learning in the primary years. Port Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.

Cole, R. (2008). Educating everybody's children. 2nd ed. Virginia: association for supervision and curriculum development

Cullen, M. (2005). Enhancing multiple intelligence through museum visits. SCIOS, 41(3). Retrieved from https://leo.acu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=3246945

Marsh, C. & Hart, C. (2011) Teaching the social sciences and humanities in an Australian curriculum (6^th edition), Frenchs Forest: Pearson 

Primary Connections | 5Es Teaching and Learning Model. (2019). Retrieved 26 August 2020, from https://www.primaryconnections.org.au/5es-teaching-and-learning-model

Reynolds, R. (2014) 3^rd ed. Teaching humanities and social sciences in the primary school. South Melbourne: Oxford Australia

Rutherford, P. (2009). Meeting the needs of diverse learners. Virginia: Just ask publications.