Support your Year 6 students in their Civics & Citizenship: Australia’s System of Governmentunit of work with the Saving a Society Assessment task.

Created to coincide with Year 6 Civics & Citizenship Australian Curriculum, this activity will provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the concepts related to the key institutions of Australia’s system of government, how it is based on the Westminster system, and the key values and beliefs of Western democracies (AC9HS6K06), and the roles and responsibilities of the 3 levels of government in Australia (AC9HS6K07).

Students begin the assessment by reading the Saving a Society: Letter prompt, which explains they will need to apply their knowledge of Australia’s system of government to create a new country. To begin the task, students develop questions to guide their investigation using the Saving a Society: Developing Questions resource. Following this, they will research the topic and record notes using the Saving a Society: Research Notesworksheets that break the investigation into manageable parts. Upon completing their research, students will apply their ideas and findings to create a presentation about their new country. Students are encouraged to showcase their new country in a creative format. Suggestions include a brochure, a poster, a news article, a written information report, a booklet, a diorama, a game, a digital presentation such as a video or a PowerPoint, a persuasive speech, an advertisement, a narrative, a comic, a song or even a poem. The possibilities are endless!

While we love the idea of allowing students to choose their style of presentation, as this allows them to be creative and cater to their strengths, we understand that this is not suitable for everyone. To cater for students who require scaffolding, we have included a Saving a Society: Brochure template that includes a blank version and one with headings.

This resource includes a page of useful website links for students to use while researching and a self-reflection on the inquiry process. Teachers can assess this task using the Saving a Society Assessment Rubric. A blank version of this document has also been included.