Find out what coding clubs are available in your area at Code Club Australia – a network of coding clubs for children aged 8-15.

Encourage your local school to participate in coding, designing, gaming and other STEM challenges and enrol your kids to make the most of these opportunities. The Australian Computing Academy is a good place to start.

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Scratch is a free web-based programming language developed by the MIT Media Lab. If your child is interested in learning how to code, consider helping them to set up a Scratch account so that they can play, create and share games.

English S2

• EN2-4A Uses an increasing range of skills, strategies and knowledge to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on increasingly challenging topics in different media and technologies
• EN2-10C Thinks imaginatively, creatively and interpretively about information, ideas and texts when responding to and composing texts
• EN2-11D Responds to and composes a range of texts that express viewpoints of the world similar to and different from their own

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English S3

• EN3-1A communicates effectively for a variety of audiences and purposes using increasingly challenging topics, ideas, issues and language forms and features
• EN3-3A Uses an integrated range of skills, strategies and knowledge to read, view and comprehend a wide range of texts in different media and technologies
• EN3-5B Discusses how language is used to achieve a widening range of purposes for a widening range of audiences and contexts
• EN3-7C Thinks imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and critically about information and ideas and identifies connections between texts when responding to and composing texts
• EN3-8D Identifies and considers how different viewpoints of their world, including aspects of culture, are represented in texts

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Creative and Performing Arts S3

• VAS3.2 Makes artworks for different audiences assembling materials in a variety of ways
• VAS3.3 Acknowledges that audiences respond in different ways to artworks and that there are different opinions about the value of artworks

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English S4

• EN4-1A Responds to and composes texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure
• EN4-2A Effectively uses a widening range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for responding to and composing texts in different media and technologies
• EN4-3B Uses and describes language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts
• EN4-5C Thinks imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and critically about information, ideas and arguments to respond to and compose texts
• EN4-6C Identifies and explains connections between and among texts
• EN4-7D Demonstrates understanding of how texts can express aspects of their broadening world and their relationships within it

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Technology S4

• TE4-1DP Designs, communicates and evaluates innovative ideas and creative solutions to authentic problems or opportunities
• TE4-2DP Plans and manages the production of designed solutions
• TE4-3DP Selects and safely applies a broad range of tools, materials and processes in the production of quality projects
• TE4-4DP Designs algorithms for digital solutions and implements them in a general-purpose programming language
• TE4-9MA Investigates how the characteristics and properties of tools, materials and processes affect their use in designed solutions
• TE4-10TS Explains how people in technology related professions contribute to society now and into the future

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Visual Arts S4

• 4.1 Uses a range of strategies to explore different artmaking conventions and procedures to make artworks
• 4.4 Recognises and uses aspects of the world as a source of ideas, concepts and subject matter in the visual arts
• 4.5 Investigates ways to develop meaning in their artworks
• 4.7 Explores aspects of practice in critical and historical interpretations of art
• 4.8 Explores the function of and relationships between the artist, artwork, world and audience

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English S5

• EN5-1A Responds to and composes increasingly sophisticated and sustained texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure
• EN5-2A Effectively uses and critically assesses a wide range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for responding to and composing a wide range of texts in different media and technologies
• EN5-3B Selects and uses language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes, audience and contexts, describing and explaining their effects on meaning
• EN5-5C Thinks imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and critically about information and increasingly complex ideas and arguments to respond to and compose texts in a range of contexts
• EN5-6C Investigates the relationships between and among texts
• EN5-7D Understands and evaluates the diverse ways texts can represent personal and public worlds
• EN5-8D Questions, challenges and evaluates cultural assumptions in texts and their effects on meaning

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Visual Arts S5

• 5.1 Develops range and autonomy in selecting and applying visual arts conventions and procedures to make artworks
• 5.2 Makes artworks informed by their understanding of the function of and relationships between artist, artwork, world and audience
• 5.4 Investigates the world as a source of ideas, concepts and subject matter in the visual arts
• 5.5 Makes informed choices to develop and extend concepts and different meanings in their artworks
• 5.7 Applies their understanding of aspects of practice to critical and historical interpretations of art
• 5.8 Uses their understanding of the function of and relationships between artist, artwork, world and audience in critical and historical interpretations of art

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Photographic and Digital Media S5

• 5.1 Develops range and autonomy in selecting and applying photographic and digital conventions and procedures to make photographic and digital works
• 5.2 Makes photographic and digital works informed by their understanding of the function of and relationship between artist, artwork, world, and audience
• 5.4 Investigates the world as a source of ideas, concepts and subject matter for photographic and digital works
• 5.5 Makes informed choices to develop and extend concepts and different meanings in their photographic and digital works
• 5.6 Selects appropriate procedures and techniques to make and refine photographic and digital works
• 5.7 Applies their understanding of aspects of practice to critically and historically interpret photographic and digital works
• 5.8 Uses their understanding of the function of an relationships between the artist, artwork, world, and audience in critical and historical interpretation so photographic and digital works.
• 5.10 Constructs different critical and historical accounts of photographic and digital works

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Visual Design S5

• 5.1 Develops autonomy in selecting and applying visual design conventions and procedures to make visual design artworks
• 5.2 Makes visual design artworks informed by their understanding of and relationships between artist, artwork, world and audience
• 5.4 Investigates and responds to the world as a source of ideas, concepts and subject matter for visual design artworks
• 5.5 Makes informed choices to develop and extend concepts and different meanings in their visual design artworks
• 5.7 Applies their understanding of aspects of practice to critically and historically interpret visual design artworks
• 5.8 Uses their understanding of the function of and relationships between artist, artwork, world and audience in critical and historical interpretations of visual design artworks
• 5.10 Constructs different critical and historical accounts of visual design artworks

English S2

• ACELA1483 Identify the effect on audiences of techniques, for example shot size, vertical camera angle and layout in picture books, advertisements and film segments
• ACELT1594 Discuss texts in which characters, events and settings are portrayed in different ways, and speculate on the authors’ reasons
• ACELT1599 Discuss how language is used to describe the settings in texts, and explore how the settings shape the events and influence the mood of the narrative
• ACELT1601 Create imaginative texts based on characters, settings and events from students’ own and other cultures using visual features, for example perspective, distance and angle
• ACELY1675 Identify the point of view in a text and suggest alternative points of view
• ACELY1678 Identify the audience and purpose of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts
• ACELY1680 Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to evaluate texts by drawing on a growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features
• ACELY1685 Use software including word processing programs with growing speed and efficiency to construct and edit texts featuring visual, print and audio elements
• ACELY1682 Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features and selecting print and multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose
• ACELA1496 Explore the effects of choices when framing an image, placement of elements in the image, and salience on composition of still and moving images in a range of types of texts
• ACELT1605 Discuss how authors and illustrators make stories exciting, moving and absorbing and hold readers’ interest by using various techniques, for example character development and plot tension
• ACELY1686 Identify and explain language features of texts from earlier times and compare with the vocabulary, images, layout and content of contemporary texts
• ACELY1690 Identify characteristic features used in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text
• ACELY1692 Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning to expand content knowledge, integrating and linking ideas and analysing and evaluating texts
• ACELY1694 Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts containing key information and supporting details for a widening range of audiences, demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features
• ACELY1697 Use a range of software including word processing programs to construct, edit and publish written text, and select, edit and place visual, print and audio elements

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Media Arts S2

• ACAMAM058 Investigate and devise representations of people in their community, including themselves, through settings, ideas and story structure in images, sounds and text
• ACAMAM059 Use media technologies to create time and space through the manipulation of images, sounds and text to tell stories
• ACAMAM060 Plan, create and present media artworks for specific purposes with awareness of responsible media practice

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Design and Technologies S2

• ACTDEK010 Recognise the role of people in design and technologies occupations and explore factors, including sustainability that impact on the design of products, services and environments to meet community needs
• ACTDEP014 Critique needs or opportunities for designing and explore and test a variety of materials, components, tools and equipment and the techniques needed to produce designed solutions
• ACTDEP015 Generate, develop and communicate design ideas and decisions using appropriate technical terms and graphical representation techniques
• ACTDEP016 Select and use materials, components, tools, equipment and techniques and use safe work practices to make designed solutions
• ACTDEP017 Evaluate design ideas, processes and solutions based on criteria for success developed with guidance and including care for the environment

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Digital Technologies S2

• ACTDIK007 Identify and explore a range of digital systems with peripheral devices for different purpose, and transmit different types of data
• ACTDIP010 Define simple problems, and describe and follow a sequence of steps and decisions (algorithms) needed to solve them
• ACTDIP011 Implement simple digital solutions as visual programs with algorithms involving branching (decisions) and user input

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English S3

• ACELA1501 Understand that patterns of language interaction very across social contexts and types of texts and that they help to signal social roles and relationships
• ACELA1504 Understand how texts vary in purpose, structure and topic as well as the degree of formality
• ACELT1795 Use metalanguage to describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language features on particular audiences
• ACELY1701 Identify and explain characteristic text structures and language features use in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text
• ACELY1704 Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience
• ACELY1797 Use a range of software including word processing programs with fluency to construct, edit and publish written text, and select, edit and place visual, print and audio elements
• ACELT1613 Make connections between students’ own experiences and those of characters and events represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts
• ACELT1614 Analyse and evaluate similarities and differences in texts on similar topics, themes or plots
• ACELY1708 Compare texts including media texts that represent ideas and events in different ways, explaining the effects of the different approaches
• ACELY1711 Analyse how text structures and language features work together to meet the purpose of a text
• ACELY1801 Analyse strategies authors use to influence readers
• ACELY1714 Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, choosing and experimenting with text structures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate purpose and audience
• ACELY171 Use a range of software, including word processing programs, learning new functions as required to create texts

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Media Arts S3

• ACAMAM062 Explore representations, characterisations and points of view of people in their community, including themselves, using settings, ideas, story principles and genre conventions in images, sounds and text
• ACAMAM063 Develop skills with media technologies to shape space, time, movement and lightning within images, sounds and text
• ACAMAM064 Plan, produce and present media artworks for specific audiences and purposes using responsible media practices
• ACAMAR065 Explain how the elements of media arts and story principles communicate meaning by comparing media artworks from different social, cultural and historical contexts, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander media artworks

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Design and Technologies S3

• ACTDEK019 Examine how people in design and technologies occupations address competing considerations, including sustainability in the design of products, services and environments for current and future use
• ACTDEK023 Investigate characteristics and properties of a range of materials, systems, components, tools and equipment and evaluate the impact of their use
• ACTDEP024 Critique needs or opportunities for designing, and investigate materials, components, tools, equipment and processes to achieve intended designed solutions
• ACTDEP025 Generate, develop and communicate design ideas and processes for audiences using appropriate technical terms and graphical representation techniques
• ACTDEP026 Select appropriate materials, components, tools, equipment and techniques and apply safe procedures to make designed solutions
• ACTDEP027 Negotiate criteria for success that include sustainability to evaluate design ideas, processes and solutions
• ACTDEP028 Develop project plans that include consideration of resources when making designed solutions individually and collaboratively

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Digital Technologies S3

• ACTDIP018 Design a user interface for a digital system
• ACTDIP019 Design, modify and follow simple algorithms involving sequences of steps, branching and iteration (repetition)
• ACTDIP020 Implement digital solutions as simple visual programs involving branching, iterations (repetition) and user input

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English S4

• ACELA1528 Understand the way language evolves to reflect a changing world, particularly in response to the use of new technology for presenting texts and communicating
• ACELA1782 Understand how language is used to evaluate texts and how evaluations about a text can be substantiated by reference to the text and other sources
• ACELA1763 Understand that the coherence of more complex texts relies on devices that signal text structure and guide readers (and viewers, etc)
• ACELA1764 Analyse how point of view is generated in visual texts by means of choices, for example gaze, angle and social distance
• ACELT1619 Identify and explore ideas and viewpoints about events, issues and characters represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts
• ACELT1621 Compare the ways that language and images are used to create character, and to influence emotions and opinions in different types of texts
• ACELT1803 Discuss aspects of texts, for example their aesthetic and social value, using relevant and appropriate metalanguage
• ACELT1622 Recognise and analyse the ways that characterisation, events and settings are combined in narratives, and discuss the purposes and appeal of different approaches
• ACELT1625 Create literary texts that adapt stylistic features encountered in other texts, for example, narrative viewpoint, structure of stanzas, contrast and juxtaposition
• ACELY1765 Analyse and explain the effect of technological innovations on texts, particularly media texts
• ACELY1721 Analyse and explain the ways text structures and language features shape meaning and vary according to audience and purpose
• ACELY1723 Use comprehension strategies to interpret, analyse and synthesise ideas and information, critiquing ideas and issues from a variety of textual sources
• ACELY1724 Compare the text structures and language features of multimodal texts, explaining how they combine to influence audiences
• ACELY1725 Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, selecting aspects of subject matter and particular language, visual and audio features to convey information and ideas
• ACELY1728 Use a range of software, including word processing programs, to confidently create, edit and publish written and multimodal texts
• ACELA1543 Analyse how the text structures and language features of persuasive texts, including media texts, vary according to the medium and mode of communication
• ACELA1548 Investigate how visual and multimodal texts allude to or draw on other texts or images to enhance and layer meaning
• ACELT1626 Explore the ways that ideas and viewpoints in literary texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts may reflect or challenge the values of individuals and groups
• ACELT1806 Explore the interconnectedness of Country/Place, People, Identity and Culture in texts including those by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors
• ACELT1628 Understand and explain how combinations of words and images in texts are used to represent particular groups in society, and how texts position readers in relation to those groups
• ACELT1807 Recognise and explain differing viewpoints about the world, cultures, individual people and concerns represented in texts
• ACELT1629 Recognise, explain and analyse the ways literary texts draw on readers’ knowledge of other texts and enable new understanding and appreciation of aesthetic qualities
• ACELT1630 Identify and evaluate devices that create tone, for example humour, wordplay, innuendo and parody in poetry, humorous prose, drama or visual texts
• ACELT1768 Experiment with particular language features drawn from different types of texts, including combinations of language and visual choices to create new texts
• ACELY1729 Analyse and explain how language has evolved over time and how technology and the media have influenced language use and forms of communication
• ACELY1732 Analyse and evaluate the ways that text structures and language features vary according to the purpose of the text and the ways that referenced sources add authority to a text
• ACELY1733 Apply increasing knowledge of vocabulary, text structures and language features to understand the content of texts
• ACELY1734 Use comprehension strategies to interpret and evaluate texts by reflecting on the validity of content and the credibility of sources, including finding evidence in the text for the author’s point of view
• ACELY1735 Explore and explain the ways authors combine different modes and media in creating texts, and the impact of these choices on the viewer/listener
• ACELY1736 Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that raise issues, report events and advance opinions, using deliberate language and textual choices, and including digital elements as appropriate

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Media Arts S4

• ACAMAM066 Experiment with the organisation of ideas to structure stories through media conventions and genres to create points of view in images, sounds and text
• ACAMAM068 Develop and refine media production skills to shape the technical and symbolic elements of images, sounds and text for a specific purpose and meaning
• ACAMAM069 Plan, structure and design media artworks that engage audiences
• ACAMAR071 Analyse how technical and symbolic elements are used in media artworks to create representations influenced by story, genre, values and points of view of particular audiences

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Design and Technologies S4

• ACTDEK029 Investigate the ways in which products, services and environments evolve locally, regionally and globally and how competing factors including social, ethical and sustainability considerations are prioritised in the development of technologies and designed solutions for preferred futures
• ACTDEK034 Analyse ways to produce designed solutions through selecting and combining characteristics and properties of materials, systems, components, tools and equipment
• ACTDEP035 Critique needs or opportunities for designing and investigate, analyse and select from a range of materials, components, tools, equipment and processes to develop design ideas
• ACTDEP036 Generate, develop, test and communicate design ideas, plans and processes for various audiences using appropriate technical terms and technologies including graphical representation techniques
• ACTDEP037 Select and justify choices of materials, components, tools, equipment and techniques to effectively and safely make designed solutions
• ACTDEP038 Independently develop criteria for success to evaluate design ideas, processes and solutions and their sustainability
• ACTDEP039 Use project management processes when working individually and collaboratively to coordinate production of designed solutions

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Digital Technologies S4

• ACTDIP027 Define and decompose real-world problems, taking into account functional requirements and economic, environmental, social, technical and usability constraints
• ACTDIP028 Design the user experience of a digital system, generating, evaluating and communicating alternative designs
• ACTDIP029 Design algorithms represented diagrammatically and in English, and trace algorithms to predict output for a given input and to identify errors
• ACTDIP030 Implement and modify programs with user interfaces involving branching, iteration and functions in a general-purpose programming language

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English S5

• ACELA1553 Understand that authors innovate with text structures and language for specific purposes and effects
• ACELA1770 Compare and contrast the use of cohesive devices in texts, focusing on how they serve to signpost ideas, to make connections and to build semantic associations between ideas
• ACELA1560 Analyse and explain the use of symbols, icons and myth in still and moving images and how these augment meaning
• ACELT1635 Explore and reflect on personal understanding of the world and significant human experience gained from interpreting various representations of life matters in texts
• ACELT1637 Investigate and experiment with the use and effect of extended metaphor, metonymy, allegory, icons, myths and symbolism in texts
• ACELT1772 Analyse text structures and language features of literary texts, and make relevant comparisons with other texts
• ACELY1739 Analyse how the construction and interpretation of texts, including media texts, can be influenced by cultural perspectives and other texts
• ACELY1742 Interpret, analyse and evaluate how different perspectives of issue, event, situation, individuals or groups are constructed to serve specific purposes in texts
• ACELY1744 Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse texts, comparing and evaluating representations of an event, issue, situation or character in different texts
• ACELY1745 Explore and explain the combinations of language and visual choices that authors make to present information, opinions and perspectives in different texts
• ACELY1746 Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that present a point of view and advance or illustrate arguments, including texts that integrate visual, print and/or audio features
• ACELA1564 Understand how language use can have inclusive and exclusive social effects, and can empower or disempower people
• ACELA1565 Understand that people’s evaluations of texts are influenced by their value systems, the context and the purpose and mode of communication
• ACELA1566 Compare the purposes, text structures and language features of traditional and contemporary texts in different media
• ACELA1572 Evaluate the impact on audiences of different choices in the representation of still and moving images
• ACELT1639 Compare and evaluate a range of representations of individuals and groups in different historical, social and cultural contexts
• ACELT1641 Analyse and explain how text structures, language features and visual features of texts and the context in which texts are experienced may influence audience response
• ACELT1642 Identify, explain and discuss how narrative viewpoint, structure, characterisation and devices including analogy and satire shape different interpretations and responses to a text
• ACELT1644 Create imaginative texts that make relevant thematic and intertextual connections with other texts
• ACELY1749 Analyse and evaluate how people, cultures, places, events, objects and concepts are represented in texts, including media texts, through language, structural and/or visual choices
• ACELY1752 Identify and analyse implicit or explicit values, beliefs and assumptions in texts and how these are influenced by purposes and likely audience
• ACELY1754 Use comprehension strategies to compare and contrast information within and between texts, identifying and analysing embedded perspectives, and evaluating supporting evidence
• ACELY1756 Create sustained texts, including texts that combine specific digital or media content, for imaginative, informative, or persuasive purposes that reflect upon challenging and complex issues
• ACELY1757 Review, edit and refine students’ owner and others’ texts for control of content, organisation, sentence structure, vocabulary, and/or visual features to achieve particular purposes and effects
• ACELY1776 Use a range of software, including word processing programs, confidently, flexibly and imaginatively to create, edit and publish texts, considering the identified purpose and the characteristics of the user

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Media Arts S5

• ACAMAM073 Experiment with ideas and stories that manipulate media conventions and genres to construct new and alternative points of view through images, sounds and text
• ACAMAM075 Develop and refine media production skills to integrate and shape the technical and symbolic elements in images, sounds and text for a specific purpose, meaning and style
• ACAMAM076 Plan and design media artworks for a range of purposes that challenge the expectations of specific audiences by particular use of production processes
• ACAMAR078 Evaluate how technical and symbolic elements are manipulated in media artworks to create and challenge representations framed by media conventions, social beliefs and values for a range of audiences

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Design and Technologies S5

• ACTDEK040 Critically analyse factors, including social, ethical and sustainability considerations, that impact on designed solutions for global preferred futures and the complex design and production processes involved
• ACTDEK041 Explain how products, services and environments evolve with consideration of preferred futures and the impact of emerging technologies on design decisions
• ACTDEK047 Investigate and make judgements, within a range of technologies specialisations, on how technologies can be combined to create designed solutions
• ACTDEP048 Critique needs or opportunities to develop design briefs and investigate and select an increasingly sophisticated range of materials, systems, components, tools and equipment to develop design ideas
• ACTDEP049 Develop, modify and communicate design ideas by applying design thinking, creativity, innovation and enterprise skills of increasing sophistication
• ACTDEP050 Work flexibly to effectively and safely test, select, justify and use appropriate technologies and processes to make designed solutions
• ACTDEP051 Evaluate design ideas, processes and solutions against comprehensive criteria for success recognising the need for sustainability
• ACTDEP052 Develop project plans using digital technologies to plan and manage projects individually and collaboratively taking into consideration time, cost, risk and production processes

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Digital Technologies S5

• ACTDIP038 Define and decompose real-world problems precisely, taking into account functional and non-functional requirements and including interviewing stakeholders to identify needs
• ACTDIP039 Design the user experience of a digital system by evaluating alternative designs against criteria including functionality, accessibility, usability and aesthetics
• ACTDIP040 Design algorithms represented diagrammatically and in structured English and validate algorithms and programs through tracing and test cases
• ACTDIP041 Implement modular programs, applying selected algorithms and data structures including using an object-oriented programming language