 Hi, I'm Rob Randall, Chief Executive Officer of ACARA. In this VODcast I'd like to talk to you about the importance of our national curriculum and how the curriculum links to ACARA's work and assessment. It's a challenging task deciding what every young person should learn as they progress through schooling. ACARA's role is to set national expectations for what's to be taught to students in Australian schools. To do this, ACARA has a rigorous national approach to curriculum development and draws on the best national talent and expertise that's available in each subject area. Our approach is inclusive, robust and cost effective because we can bring expertise, knowledge and resources from around the country to our work. Thousands of teachers, academics and members of the community have actively and productively participated in the curriculum development process in various ways via face-to-face meetings, emails or social media. And following this work, the Australian curriculum is only released after it's approved by the ACARA Board and endorsed by federal, state and Territory Education Ministers. An Australian curriculum means that no matter where students live, they now have access to the same curriculum content and their achievements will be judged against the same achievement standards. We understand that managing the change to an Australian curriculum will be challenging. While delivery of the Australian curriculum is the responsibility of states, territories and their schools and teachers, ACARA will continue to work with its partners as the curriculum is being implemented in schools. As a National Education Authority, ACARA has an important role to play in shifting the conversations about education from local and state-based to a national and global level, ensuring the curriculum has a 21st century focus. We do this by working collaboratively with our partners in each state and territory, with the common focus being to improve learning outcomes for all students, for the good of Australia. ACARA is working towards aligning the Australian curriculum and NAPLAN in 2016, or sooner if that proves possible, so that the National Assessment Program assesses what is being taught in classrooms. This means that the best way to prepare for NAPLAN tests will be to teach the national curriculum, which pays attention to the development of literacy and numeracy skills in English and mathematics and across other learning areas and subjects. If you'd like to read the Australian curriculum or find out what we're doing with NAPLAN, I invite you to take a look at the ACARA website. I'll continue to seek feedback about ways to improve the Australian curriculum and our testing programs. You can be part of these conversations via the website or Twitter. Thank you.