Victorian Curriculum Towards Foundation Levels A to D: A Parent's Guide

Your child's IEP references "Towards Foundation Level B." Their school mentions they're working on a "modified curriculum." You're not sure what this actually means for their learning, or how it connects to their disability support funding.

Here's a plain-language explanation of the Towards Foundation levels in the Victorian Curriculum, who uses them, and why they matter for IEP development and the Disability Inclusion Profile process.

What Are the Towards Foundation Levels?

The Victorian Curriculum F-10 is the standard curriculum framework for all Victorian schools. Foundation Level is the starting point — it corresponds to the beginning of formal schooling (Prep/Foundation year).

Towards Foundation Levels A to D are four additional curriculum levels that sit below Foundation. They were developed specifically for students with significant cognitive disabilities whose learning profile means that even Foundation-level content is above their current working level.

The levels are organized hierarchically:

• Level A: The most foundational level — sensory and early awareness responses, pre-intentional communication, emerging awareness of the environment
• Level B: Early intentional responses, beginning communication and basic cause-and-effect understanding
• Level C: Symbolic communication, basic literacy and numeracy precursors, simple functional skills
• Level D: More structured early literacy and numeracy, functional application of basic concepts, preparatory skills for Foundation

These levels are part of the official Victorian Curriculum F-10 Version 2.0 and are documented in VCAA guidelines. They are not a separate informal system — they are an official part of the curriculum framework.

Who Uses Towards Foundation Levels?

Towards Foundation levels are used for students who have significant intellectual disabilities or significant cognitive delays that mean Foundation-level Victorian Curriculum expectations are not yet appropriate for them.

In practice, this includes students in:

• Special Developmental Schools (SDSs)
• Specialist schools for students with intellectual disability
• Mainstream primary or secondary schools where a student's cognitive profile requires deep curriculum modification

A student can be chronologically in Year 6 but working at a Towards Foundation Level B curriculum level. This is not a failure of the student or the school — it reflects a genuine difference in cognitive profile that the curriculum framework is designed to accommodate.

The Connection to the Disability Inclusion Profile

The Disability Inclusion Profile (DIP) assesses a student's functional needs to determine their level of required educational adjustment. Under the NCCD framework, the deepest level of adjustment — "extensive adjustments" — includes students who require constant, pervasive individualized support and whose curriculum is heavily modified.

Students working at Towards Foundation Levels are typically receiving substantial or extensive adjustments under the NCCD. This positions them as likely candidates for Tier 3 funding under the Disability Inclusion model — but only if the DIP meeting accurately captures the functional demands of supporting them.

For families of students at Towards Foundation Levels, the DIP meeting is an opportunity to ensure that:

1. The full extent of curriculum modification is documented — specifically that the student is working at Towards Foundation Level [A/B/C/D], not just "below Foundation"
2. The level of individualised support required to deliver modified curriculum content is accurately described
3. The complexity of learning planning for Towards Foundation level students is reflected in the documentation

Writing IEP Goals at Towards Foundation Levels

The most common mistake in IEPs for students at Towards Foundation Levels is setting goals that are vague or disconnected from the curriculum framework. "Will improve communication skills" is not a useful goal. "Will demonstrate pre-intentional responses to familiar voices in 3 out of 4 opportunities" is a goal at Towards Foundation Level A that is specific, measurable, and curriculum-aligned.

Victorian DET policy requires that IEP goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Relevant, Time-bound) and explicitly linked to the Victorian Curriculum — including Towards Foundation Levels for students who work at those levels.

Examples of well-constructed Towards Foundation IEP goals:

Level A (early sensory responses): "By the end of Term 3, [student] will orient toward a familiar voice in the classroom on at least 4 out of 5 consecutive observations, as measured by teacher data recording."

Level B (early intentional responses): "By the end of Term 2, [student] will use eye gaze or reach to select between two preferred items in 3 out of 4 opportunities during structured snack time, as measured by daily ESO observation data."

Level C (early symbolic communication): "By the end of Term 4, [student] will use AAC device to make requests using 1-2 symbol combinations in 4 out of 5 opportunities during preferred activities, as measured by weekly speech pathologist observation."

Level D (functional literacy precursors): "By the end of Semester 1, [student] will identify their name in print and match their photo to their name card in 4 out of 5 consecutive sessions, as measured by daily teacher observation."

These goals are both measurable for IEP purposes and aligned to VCAA's Towards Foundation curriculum guidelines — which matters for NCCD reporting.

Modified Curriculum vs Towards Foundation Levels: Clarifying the Language

Victorian schools and families sometimes use "modified curriculum" as a general phrase for any curriculum adaptation. It's worth understanding what this actually means in the Victorian framework:

• Curriculum differentiation — adapting how content is taught while keeping the same curriculum level (used for most students with disability in mainstream settings)
• Curriculum modification — adapting what is taught, changing the curriculum content or level itself
• Towards Foundation curriculum — a specific, official set of curriculum levels that are the formalized version of curriculum modification for students with significant cognitive disability

If a school says your child is on a "modified curriculum" without specifying which level, ask them to clarify: are they working within the standard Victorian Curriculum F-10 with differentiation, or are they working at a named Towards Foundation Level? The answer matters for how goals are written in the IEP and how the DIP is assessed.

What This Means in Practice for Families

1. Ask the school explicitly which curriculum level your child is currently working at — by name (e.g., "Towards Foundation Level C") — and ensure this is reflected in the IEP
2. Request that IEP goals cite the specific Victorian Curriculum level they correspond to, including Towards Foundation levels if applicable
3. At DIP meetings, ensure the facilitator and the school team are documenting the educational planning complexity associated with delivering Towards Foundation curriculum — this is relevant to the level of adjustment assessment
4. Allied health professionals writing reports for DIP meetings should reference Towards Foundation Levels in their educational recommendations, not just clinical descriptors

The Towards Foundation Levels are the formal Victorian Curriculum framework for students with significant cognitive disabilities — and understanding them is essential for writing meaningful IEPs and navigating the DIP process accurately. The Victoria Disability Support Blueprint includes Victorian Curriculum-aligned IEP goal-writing templates across all curriculum levels, including Towards Foundation A to D.

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