New Release Vic 2.0 English (F–1)

Understanding the New Text Types and Audio Support within our F-1 Assessments

Watch the video below for an instructional Guide for important recommendations:

Overview

The new Victorian Curriculum 2.0 English content for Foundation and Year 1 has been designed to reflect a more authentic, developmentally appropriate approach to early literacy assessments. Students engage with three distinct text types, ensuring assessments align with how young learners listen, read, and respond to texts in the classroom.

This approach supports:

• Curriculum fidelity to Vic 2.0.
• Fair and accurate assessment of early literacy skills.
• Consistent, defensible data across F–1 classrooms.
• An online interaction (not available as a paper-based version), so students have the opportunity to hear the text with supporting images and answer questions accordingly.

Aural Listening Texts (with Images) 👂       

Note: These are not available in a printed format.

Audio is automatically applied to the spoken texts as part of the assessment, even if the Audio setting  is OFF by default. This allows the student to listen to the spoken content that matches the images. If however, audio is left OFF by default, the students will be required to read the questions and answers independently which may impact the fidelity of the assessment.

This assessment type allows students to:

• Listen to a text supported by engaging visual images.
• Follow numbered prompts on each page, with a subtle bounce animation indicating where to begin and where to click next to hear the spoken text in sequence.
• Hear the text read aloud in a natural speaking voice to support comprehension.

This text type assesses listening comprehension rather than decoding and is ideal for Foundation students and early Year 1, reflecting authentic classroom practice where texts are frequently read aloud to support understanding.

Decodable Flipbooks  📖

Note: This is a digital-only resource and is not available in print format.

These texts:

• Strictly adhere to the F-2 Phonics Plus scope and sequence as provided by the Victorian Department of Education's Digital Learning Resources.
• Include only the sounds and words that students will be exposed to across  Foundation and Year 1 according to the F-2 Phonics Plus scope and sequence. 
• Students can “flip” through short, controlled texts designed to assess early decoding skills.

This ensures students are exposed to words that align with the  letter–sound relationships in the early years curriculum

Audio Support: What Schools Need to Know

• Audio support is OFF by default.
• Teachers must actively choose to enable audio if required.

👉 This is an intentional design choice to support consistent assessment conditions.

School-Based Decision Making

Whether audio is used or not should be a whole-school decision. See help guide: Should I enable audio support in English?

This decision should be documented in your school’s Norms of Practice for F–1 assessment.

A shared approach ensures:

• Consistency across classes and year levels
• Confidence when interpreting and comparing data
• Stronger moderation conversations

Audio can be enabled in two ways:

1. Whole-Class Audio

• Turn audio ON for all students in a class, or
• Leave audio OFF for all students (Default)

2. Individual Student Adjustment

Audio can be activated for individual students as a learning adjustment.

This may be appropriate for students with identified needs or learning plans.

📌 Important:

When audio is enabled for individual students, it is strongly recommended that teachers:

• Record an Assessment Note in the student’s profile
• Clearly document why audio support was provided

This ensures transparency and supports future data interpretation.

See Help Guide: How can I enable audio support for my classes? 

Best Practice Recommendations:

✔ Provide explicit teacher-led guidance for Prep and Year 1 students to know how to undertake this assessment. Watch this Loom instructional Guide for important recommendations ( 7:39 mins) 

✔ Build assessment-capable skills to support students using this checklist 

✔ Agree on audio use as part of your F–1 assessment norms

✔ Use listening texts to assess comprehension, not decoding

✔ Use decodable texts to assess phonics and early reading accuracy

✔ Apply learning adjustments thoughtfully and document them clearly

✔ Maintain consistency to ensure data is used to inform next steps in teaching