At Ochre, we have been lucky to work with a huge range of schools in all states and territories. During that time we have been fortunate to work with, and learn from, teachers teaching in classrooms with multiple year level and stages. We know how challenging that can be, and so we are proud to support teachers of composite classes with a range of composite curriculum plans and related materials.
Our support for composite classes includes:
Composite yearly overviews
English Years 3 to 6 (AC9, VC2 and NSW)
Mathematics Foundation to Year 6 (VC2)
Unit progression documents, showing the orders in which units could be taught to facilitate adjusting unit order to suit composites
Lesson progression documents, showing how our Mathematics lessons progress in complexity over multiple years.
Daily review master decks developed with composite classes in mind
How to use the composite yearly overviews
English
There are two kinds of yearly overviews for our English lessons, Cycle A and Cycle B. Common composite classes, like Years 3/4, rotate from Cycle A one year to Cycle B the next. The curriculum materials associated with the Cycle A units are available for use in 2025, with Cycle B units planned for release in time for the beginning of 2026.
Maths
For each of Years 1/2, Years 3/4 and Years 5/6 in our Victorian Curriculum materials, we have created a composite yearly overviews. These composite yearly overviews are designed to enable a class of students to learn the knowledge and skills addressed by each of the individual year level curricula. Each of the composite yearly overviews are accompanied by a scope and sequence document which describes the specific lessons that have been suggested for the year.
However, this sequence is a suggestion only - teachers of composite classes know their students best. If they feel that they need to either provide more support to students in the class, or extend them further than the composite lesson sequence suggests, then the lesson progression diagram can be used to select more appropriate lessons.
Advice for non-standard composite classes and other multi-age groups
For non-standard composites, we suggest that teachers consider how best to adjust existing Ochre content to ensure that all students can access the appropriate knowledge and skills. For example, with a Year 2/3 composite, a teacher might pick a single year level which might act as the ‘spine’ for the year, and then look carefully at what content needs to sit above and below this spine. Having a base lesson progression allows teachers to adjust the lesson and unit sequence based on their knowledge of their students.
In terms of classroom teaching, most classes use a particular instructional cycle as the core element of learning for all students, and then might provide additional scaffolding and support, or extension, for students during the independent practice phase of the lesson.
All our resources have been designed with the consideration that teachers can adapt them to suit their needs and context, so you are welcome to change them as you please.
Check out our detailed guide for how to adapt our resources here (insert link).
We have progression diagrams for maths F-2 and 3-6 which you can use as a reference when developing your scope and sequence to ensure that you're prioritising the right lessons in your teaching.
This short video explains how to adapt our maths daily reviews, with the same principles applying to all of our lessons.
Note: If you need editing access to our slides and worksheets, you can create your own copy (file > make a copy > entire presentation) and edit that copy.
This video demonstrates how we use difficulty gauges to show the difficulty level of certain questions. Careful selection of learning activities, by using information gained from checks for understanding, can aid in tailoring lessons to a wide range of achievement.
In terms of English specifically, we have a composite class implementation guide (insert link) that has some handy tips.
This video highlights how to approach intellectual preparation for our English lessons.
Composite classes FAQs
My students have already completed the Cycle A novel studies during the previous year and the Cycle B content hasn't been released yet. What can I use instead?
The unit plans and literature study guides for Cycle B (delivery in 2026) will not be available until closer to the end of 2025. However, you could follow the existing non-composite Yearly Overview for the older year level and adjust as required for your younger students. The novels in the non-composite yearly overview for the older students are the same as the ones that will be used in the Cycle B schedule, with some small exceptions in the latter part of Term 1.
If we are using the composite mathematics schedule, will the maths units be repeated for the next year? Does this mean the students will be learning the same content again?
It is possible to use the composite yearly overviews and scope and sequences for a second year with the same students. In this case, teachers are likely to make adjustments to the sequence of lessons in order to adjust for the different proficiency of their students. The lesson progression document can help with some of those choices.