Years 1 to 2
The Arts
ASARTVISY12
Years 1 to 2 Visual Arts Achievement Standard
4 statements aligned to content descriptors and elaborations
Achievement standard (as ACARA publishes it)
Achievement standard
Click any sentence to jump to its statement and linked content descriptors.
By the end of Year 2, students identify where they experience visual arts. They describe where, why and/or how people across cultures, communities and/or other contexts experience visual arts.
Students experiment with visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials. They make and share artworks in informal settings.
The 4 achievement standard statements
Open a statement to see the content descriptors ACARA links to it, then open a descriptor's elaborations.
By the end of Year 2, students identify where they experience visual arts.
Content descriptorAC9AVA2E01 Exploring and responding
explore where, why and how people across cultures, communities and/or other contexts experience visual arts
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration investigating a diverse range of artworks made by living Australian artists; for example, artworks from a local, national, state or regional collection
- Elaboration exploring when, where, how and why First Nations Australians use visual arts, crafts and designs to share knowledge about cultures; for example, during celebrations such as Aboriginal Children's Week, NAIDOC week, Reconciliation Week or to acknowledge significant occasions such as Sorry Day
- Elaboration using Viewpoints to co-develop questions to explore and investigate ideas and understandings about artworks, craft works or designs; for example, “What do I think is the story in this artwork?”, “What do I recognise in this artwork?”
- Elaboration using Viewpoints to co-develop questions to explore an artist and their practice; for example, “Who is the artist?”, “When and where was this artwork created?”, “What materials and techniques might this artist have used?”
- Elaboration identifying similarities and differences in artworks that represent subject matter or ideas they may be exploring in other learning areas; for example, exploring artworks that represent significant events from different times such as celebrations, or subject matter such as living creatures and their relationships with their environment
They describe where, why and/or how people across cultures, communities and/or other contexts experience visual arts.
Content descriptorAC9AVA2E01 Exploring and responding
explore where, why and how people across cultures, communities and/or other contexts experience visual arts
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration investigating a diverse range of artworks made by living Australian artists; for example, artworks from a local, national, state or regional collection
- Elaboration exploring when, where, how and why First Nations Australians use visual arts, crafts and designs to share knowledge about cultures; for example, during celebrations such as Aboriginal Children's Week, NAIDOC week, Reconciliation Week or to acknowledge significant occasions such as Sorry Day
- Elaboration using Viewpoints to co-develop questions to explore and investigate ideas and understandings about artworks, craft works or designs; for example, “What do I think is the story in this artwork?”, “What do I recognise in this artwork?”
- Elaboration using Viewpoints to co-develop questions to explore an artist and their practice; for example, “Who is the artist?”, “When and where was this artwork created?”, “What materials and techniques might this artist have used?”
- Elaboration identifying similarities and differences in artworks that represent subject matter or ideas they may be exploring in other learning areas; for example, exploring artworks that represent significant events from different times such as celebrations, or subject matter such as living creatures and their relationships with their environment
Content descriptorAC9AVA2E02 Exploring and responding
explore examples of visual arts created by First Nations Australians
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration exploring how artworks created by First Nations Australian artists feature places as a way to show us why where we are is a part of who we are
- Elaboration identifying where they might experience First Nations Australians’ cultural expressions in their lives and communities and as part of state and national events, taking notice of ways that artists observe protocols and respect Elders or knowledge holders
- Elaboration listening to the voices of First Nations Australian artists as they describe the importance of Country/Place to their art-making; for example, through direct engagement or using resources created or co-created by First Nations Australians
- Elaboration observing how visual conventions are used in artworks and designs created by First Nations Australians; for example, exploring colours, symbols and patterns used in artworks with representatives of the First Nations Australian community or through resources that are created or co-created by First Nations Australians
- Elaboration exploring artworks that represent First Nations Australians’ interpretations of the night sky, co-creating symbols and/or designs to represent shapes and patterns that can be seen at different times of the year with First Nations Australians who have cultural authority
Students experiment with visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials.
Content descriptorAC9AVA2D01 Developing practices and skills
experiment and play with visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials
Elaborations (6)
- Elaboration playing with a range of natural and/or constructed materials to experiment with visual conventions and visual arts processes; for example, creating mud sculptures, or using sticks, leaves and playdough to explore texture
- Elaboration unpacking a surprise bag of everyday tools and materials, and working silently in small groups to make something within limitations; for example, using materials of only one colour or making sculptural forms from paper or cardboard using only folding and tearing processes
- Elaboration using Viewpoints to develop questions to reflect on their arts experiences; for example, “What was challenging about working in a limited timeframe?”, “What was something new that I discovered about the material?”, “What failures led to new discoveries?”
- Elaboration identifying the difference between open lines and closed shapes; digitally filling a selection or colour block using a collage of closed shapes to form silhouettes of recognisable objects, people or other living things
- Elaboration examining artworks and trialling “layer + layer + layer” as a way of building surfaces, colour, texture and interest; for example, experimenting to create a layered world with pastels, then watercolour, ink and wax, and once the experiment is completed, identifying how each material could be used in a future artwork
- Elaboration exploring visual conventions using a wide range of materials; for example, creating lines using media such as pastels, chalk, paint, ripped paper, textiles and markers; or going on a “line hunt” to identify and photograph the different lines they see around their school environment using a digital camera, or creating rubbings
They make and share artworks in informal settings.
Content descriptorAC9AVA2C01 Creating and making
use visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials to create artworks
Elaborations (6)
- Elaboration using a combination of chaotic/accidental mark-making with more detailed intentional mark-making; for example, using blobs of paint with added outlines and detail, and using imagination and creativity to build on the shapes to see what emerges
- Elaboration using Viewpoints to develop questions as they experiment with arrangement and rearrangement to shuffle visual conventions, subject matter and materials around a designated area and to deliberately change the meaning of a visual story; for example, “What happens if I make the subject fill the page?” or “Can I change the meaning of my work by using darker or lighter tones?”
- Elaboration using visual brainstorming to build ideas for artworks and using Viewpoints to develop questions to push ideas further; for example, “What happens if I combine these ideas?”, “How can I adapt this idea?”, “What happens if I remove part of this design?”
- Elaboration creating a relief print through nature-printing, or creating collagraphs by creating a raised textured surface by using glue, thread/string and textured paper to create monoprints; cutting these shapes out and making a collage to create a recognisable form, such as a face or an animal
- Elaboration using 3D construction (sculpture) methods to represent subject matter or ideas being explored in another learning area; for example, building on their understanding of living things as a starting point to use modelling materials such as potato clay and found objects to represent the life cycle of an insect
- Elaboration using a combination of digital art and analog art-making, such as using photography or drawing apps for painting and drawing, to create a collaged abstract work that represents feelings and emotions; for example, responding with colour, line and shape to music to create work that communicates how the music makes them feel
Content descriptorAC9AVA2P01 Presenting and performing
share artworks and/or visual arts practice in informal settings
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration presenting an artwork they have made to the class, a small group or their teacher and explaining what they like about it
- Elaboration creating a spontaneous and experimental artwork and only showing a small portion of it to their audience as they dramatise the making of the work; or using unlikely objects for brushes, testing colours and “brush” strokes using expressive movements, and applying a cardboard “window” frame as a flourish across the finished painting to find the most “successful section”, trimming away the remainder and concluding the performance by cutting a “window frame” from paper to frame their final selection for display
- Elaboration using an everyday object as the starting point, drawing the object, then personifying it by adding character qualities, attributes and a name; then taking it in turns to match each student’s artwork with the appropriate object, explaining how they arrived at their decision
- Elaboration deciding on an appropriate audience and ways to share their artworks; for example, sharing with the class a work-in-progress or posting their work on a school learning management system to allow their families to see and appreciate it
This achievement standard describes the expected learning for Years 1 to 2 Visual Arts. Use it to plan teaching and assessment with the Australian Curriculum v9.
At a Glance
| Strand | Substrand | CDs | Elaborations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creating and making | Visual Arts | 1 | 6 |
| Developing practices and skills | Visual Arts | 1 | 6 |
| Exploring and responding | Visual Arts | 2 | 10 |
| Presenting and performing | Visual Arts | 1 | 4 |
| Total | 5 | 26 | |
Frequently Asked Questions
What should students know by the end of Years 1 to 2 Visual Arts?
By the end of Year 2, students identify where they experience visual arts. They describe where, why and/or how people across cultures, communities and/or other contexts experience visual arts. Read the full standard
How many Content Descriptors support this standard?
5 Content Descriptors support this Achievement Standard (Creating and making: 1, Developing practices and skills: 1, Exploring and responding: 2, Presenting and performing: 1).
Is this from the latest Australian Curriculum?
Yes, this Achievement Standard is from the Australian Curriculum version 9.0 (AC v9), the most current version published by ACARA.