The above 2026 Yearly Unit Planner details the structure, content and timeline for teaching VCE Dance Units 3 and 4 within a predominantly high-achieving and high-SES mainstream government school context such as Albert Park College. The overall planner reflects principles of backward design, beginning with the required learning outcomes and assessment requirements before determining the knowledge, skills and learning experiences necessary to prepare students for successful completion of both school-based and external assessments (Lungu, 2025). Across the planner, practical and theoretical learning is interwoven, with theoretical understanding consistently reinforced through practical experiences, while practical learning is strengthened through theory. Due to the significance of summative assessment in VCE Dance, the planner prioritises the meeting of teacher-directed goals, pre-determined criteria and assessment outcomes at the expense of inclusive and socio-emotional aspects of dance education (Stinson, 2015). Through professional learning including collaborative planning with VCE Dance teacher networks, this planner may be adjusted to better balance these contending demands.

Week 1 begins with a diagnostic pre-test, intended to understand student skillset and interests to inform content delivery, teaching strategies and differentiation for the year (Karumpa K & Agus A, 2025). Unit 3 prioritises explicit teaching of prescribed solo analysis alongside the development of the skills-based solo and learnt group dance. In Unit 3, students will study two prescribed solo works (AoS 1) - Act V by Daniel Riley and excerpt from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Christopher Wheeldon, which were chosen due to the availability of resources on the choreographic process of both works, diversity of dance styles across the works (contemporary, ballet), and inclusion of First Nations perspectives (VCAA, 2019). The works are discussed together from Term 1 Week 1 - 9 to allow for student knowledge generalisation across the works, assisting the development of their ability to apply key VCE Dance concepts and terminology across a range of work types - an intentional pedagogical practice informed by expertise research (Sweller, 2024). Students complete weekly open-book practice SAC questions and scaffold tables in provided digital workbooks to build ownership, confidence and automaticity in shaping well-structured rubric-responsive answers (Eisner, 2002; Sweller, 2024). Scaffolds are introduced initially using explicit teaching strategies including I Do-We do-You do, group construction, teacher modelling, and worked examples before progressing to independent practice, gradually releasing student responsibility (Martin & Evans, 2018). By Week 9, students should have a completed scaffold and practice response for each required analysis element and prescribed solo work as detailed in the VCE Dance study design in preparation for the Semester 1 Week 8 written SAC. These scaffolds and responses are a continued source of formative self, peer and teacher assessment as students review, refine and consolidate these materials across the year.

Concurrently, students work on the development of the skills solo (AoS 2) and learnt group dance with a guest choreographer (AoS 3) culminating in a multi-night performance of both works in Semester 1 Week 15. The skills solo progression follows the ‘realising a dance work’ process, exploring the VCE Dance concept through application to improve student recall (Markant et al., 2016). However, progression through stages is flexible, Although students are encouraged to follow the pacing of the ‘realising a dance’ stages, they can accelerate with teacher approval. The skills solo digital journal provides ongoing opportunities for self-reflection and documentation of the ‘realising a dance’ process from Week 1 - 18, to be consolidated and reviewed in preparation for the Week 18 Written Skills Solo SAC. Weekly journal documentation functions as a metacognitive tool that encourages students to record choreographic decisions, justify artistic intentions, evaluate rehearsal feedback and reflect upon their creative process (McCrindle & Christensen, 1995). In Semester 1 Week 6, students will travel to the Top Class showcase for an excursion to improve their understanding of the assessment standard for VCE dance performance.

Learnt group dance lessons encompass technical training and choreographic development with a guest choreographer to diversify and strengthen student physical skills in different choreographic styles. The learnt group work digital journal encourages documentation of the learning, rehearsal, pre and post-performance experiences of the group dance work, providing ongoing opportunities for self-evaluation and written response practice in preparation for the Week 15 Learnt Group Dance Performance SAC and VCE Written Examination. Formative check-ins of both skills solo and learnt group dance journals are embedded into the teacher marking schedule to provide timely feedback and support to students (Hattie & Timperley, 2007).

VCE Dance Unit 4 begins in Semester 1 Week 19 and is the exclusive weekly class focus until Semester 2 Week 3. In VCE Dance Unit 4, students analyse one prescribed group dance work - Colossus by Stephanie Lake (AoS 1),  and analyse, choreograph and perform a cohesive composition solo (AoS 2) (VCAA, 2019). The skills explored in Unit 4 possess similarities to the prescribed solo work analysis (AoS 1) and skills solo (AoS 2) of Unit 3 hence, the sequence of Unit 4 mirrors that of Unit 3 AoS 1 and 2. Colossus by Stephanie Lake was chosen as the prescribed group work to ensure diversity of gender representation in showcasing skilled choreographers, accessibility of resources and connection to local dance networks. In Unit 4 AoS 1, students analyse Colossus by Stephanie Lake by completing weekly scaffolds, research and practice questions. The topic of the weekly scaffolds and practice questions shift with reference to the key skills and content of AoS 1, covering: intention, sectioning, movement vocabulary, choreographic devices, spatial relationships, group structures, elements of spatial organisation, choreographic influences and choreographic impact and legacy (VCAA, 2019). Instructional delivery of the scaffolds progress from teacher modelling to independent practice across successive weeks as students build skill and confidence (Martin & Evans, 2018). Scaffolds and responses undergo stages of peer-assessment and self-evaluation, providing opportunity for students to develop critical thinking skills through consistent refinement of student study resources (Ross, 2019). By Semester 2 Week 6, students will be completing intensive preparation for the VCE Dance Written exam, including timed practice questions. Alongside Unit 4 AoS 1, students simultaneously work on their cohesive composition solo, maintaining physical fitness (AoS 2).

The cohesive composition solo progression follows the ‘realising a dance work’ process while providing additional guidance through the integration of weekly guided choreographic explorations before independent devising. This is due to the choreographic demands of the cohesive composition solo which extends beyond physical skills to the application of choreographic devices and spatial organisation as acknowledged in the rubric (VCAA, 2019). Integration of weekly guided choreographic explorations help students develop understanding of choreographic tools and their method of application in a guided environment before independence (Eisner, 2002). Like the Unit 3 Skills Solo, students are provided with a cohesive composition solo digital journal to record evidence and build confidence in self-analysing their solo in preparation for the VCE Dance written examination. In Semester 2 Week 4, Unit 3 content is re-integrated into all weeks to prepare students for the VCE Dance examinations which will cover Units 3 and 4 (VCAA, 2019). Students revise the performance and process of their skills solo, and cohesive composition solo, and analysis of prescribed solo, group work, and learnt group dance. In Semester 2 Week 8, students complete a mock VCE performance examination of their skills and cohesive composition solo and in Semester 2 Week 10, students sit a full-length practice VCE Dance Written Examination.

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