Melbourne Declaration

The Melbourne Declaration (MCEETYA, 2008) focuses on two main goals:

1. Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence
2. All young Australians become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, active and informed citizens.                            

To support students to achieve these goals, the Melbourne Declaration lists a range of strategies, which are supported by the Elements of Learning and Achievement.

They are as follows.

• Developing stronger partnerships – the Elements were developed in collaboration with a range of schools and community partnerships.
• Supporting quality teaching and school leadership – the Elements provide a relevant context through which quality teaching and school leadership can be supported and developed.
• Strengthening early childhood education, enhancing middle years development, and supporting senior years of schooling and youth transitions – the Elements have been trialled with preschool students through to senior years and make learning relevant and accessible across the full range of ages.
• Promoting world-class curriculum and assessment – the Elements are underpinned by the national curriculum and support all curriculum outcomes.
• Improving educational outcomes for Aboriginal youth and disadvantaged young Australians, especially those from low socioeconomic backgrounds – the Elements were designed to support disadvantaged young Australians in Schools for Specific Purposes (SSP) settings, the 8 Ways of Aboriginal Learning are also incorporated throughout the Elements.
• Strengthening accountability and transparency – the Elements give us a platform to demonstrate to other schools and our communities what the students are learning about and strengthen the accountability we have as teachers to present relevant, meaningful lessons to our students.

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