Prep (Foundation) is a huge year. Children arrive knowing a few letters, or none, and leave reading short words and writing their own sentences. So what should a child know by the end of Prep? Here is what the curriculum actually expects, translated into everyday words, with simple ways to help at home and a reminder that every child gets there at their own pace.
First, what “expected” means
Every school year has an achievement standard: a short description of what most children can do by the end of that year. It isn’t a checklist for the first term, and it isn’t a test your child passes or fails. Children learn in spurts, and many reach some parts early and others late.
In Victoria the first year of school is called Foundation or Prep, and government schools teach the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0. English and Maths have been required since 2025, and Science since 2026. Most other states use the Australian Curriculum (Version 9.0), which says almost the same thing for Prep. NSW has its own syllabus, and in NSW and the ACT the first year of school is called Kindergarten. There’s a note on NSW further down.
Reading and phonics by the end of Prep
The Victorian Curriculum says that by the end of Foundation, children “blend, segment and manipulate phonemes in one-syllable words, and use knowledge of letters and sounds to read consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. They read some high-frequency words and identify boundary punctuation.”
| The curriculum says | In everyday words |
|---|---|
| Blend and segment phonemes in one-syllable words | Hear the sounds in a short word and push them together: c-a-t, cat. Or split a word into its sounds. |
| Read consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words | Read short words like sat, pin and dog by sounding them out. |
| Read some high-frequency words | Know a handful of very common words that come up on every page. |
| Identify boundary punctuation | Notice the capital letter at the start of a sentence and the full stop at the end. |
| Make connections between characters, settings and events and their own feelings and thoughts | Talk about who is in a story, where it happens and how it made them feel. |
The Australian Curriculum adds one thing directly: by the end of Foundation, children “name the letters of the English alphabet and know and use the most common sounds (phonemes) represented by these letters”. Both curricula mention reading decodable books, which use the sounds children have been taught. Our guide to heart words explains the common words that can’t be fully sounded out yet.
Writing by the end of Prep
In Victoria, by the end of Prep children “form letters and spell most consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words”. They retell stories and report information, “using familiar words and images where appropriate”, and they use “capital letters and full stops”. The Australian Curriculum says children “experiment with capital letters and full stops”, which is a good reminder that this is early days.
In everyday words: your child can write their own short words by listening for the sounds, like dog, sun or map, form most letters, and put a few words and a picture together to tell you something. Spelling longer words “the way they sound” is a normal and healthy stage.
Joined writing isn’t part of Prep. Even in Years 1 and 2, the standards still talk about “unjoined” letters.
Speaking and listening
Talk matters just as much as print. By the end of Prep, children “share thoughts and preferences” and give short spoken texts, “including retelling stories and reporting events”. Telling you about their day, explaining what they liked in a book or retelling a story to a grandparent all count.
Numbers and maths by the end of Prep
The maths standard is very similar in Victoria and the Australian Curriculum. Children connect number names, numerals and position in the sequence of numbers “from zero to at least 20”. They “use subitising and counting strategies to quantify collections”, and they “partition and combine collections up to 10 in different ways”.
| Area | In everyday words |
|---|---|
| Numbers | Say, read and order numbers from 0 to at least 20, and count a collection to find how many. |
| Quick looks | Know small amounts at a glance without counting each one, like the dots on a dice. |
| Parts of 10 | See that 7 can be 5 and 2, or 4 and 3, using fingers, blocks or a ten-frame. |
| Adding and taking away | Add to, take away from and share small collections, up to 10. |
| Patterns | Copy, continue and make simple repeating patterns: red, blue, red, blue. |
| Measurement and time | Compare which is longer, heavier or holds more by putting things side by side, and put the day in order: morning, lunchtime, night. |
| Shapes and position | Name and sort familiar shapes, and describe where things are: next to, under, behind. |
| Data | Sort and compare things to answer a simple question, like which fruit the class likes best. |
Victoria’s standard also mentions “simple financial situations involving money”, like playing shops. Reading a clock isn’t part of the Victorian Prep standard; that comes later. For quick-look games, see what is subitising?
Science across Prep to Year 2
In Victoria, Science doesn’t have a separate Prep standard. Prep to Year 2 is planned as one band, and the standard describes the end of Year 2. Over those three years, children learn to observe and compare, group plants and animals, explore materials, notice daily and seasonal changes, and see how pushes and pulls move things.
In NSW and the ACT: Kindergarten
NSW uses its own English and Mathematics K–10 syllabuses (2022), which list outcomes rather than a single end-of-year description. The Kindergarten year is called Early Stage 1. Its outcomes include that a child “reads decodable texts aloud with automaticity”, “reads numerals and represents whole numbers to at least 20” and “sequences events and reads hour time on clocks”. So the big ideas match, with small differences in timing. If your child goes to school in NSW, the school’s own reports follow the NSW syllabus.
How it shows up on a Victorian report
Victorian government schools report at least twice a year, usually at the end of Terms 2 and 4. For English, Maths and Science, each child is rated on a five-point scale: Well above, Above, At, Below or Well below expected level. “At expected level” means your child is in the range expected for their year level at that point in the year, measured against the curriculum, not against other children.
At the end of Prep, a score at Foundation level, or half a level below it, is usually rated “At expected level”. A new standard report becomes required from Semester 1, 2027, so a report you receive this December may still look a little different.
Easy ways to help at home
- Read together every day. A decodable book your child reads to you, then a picture book you read to them.
- Play with sounds. “I spy something starting with /m/.” Say a word slowly, s-u-n, and let your child blend it.
- Build words. Use magnetic letters to make cat, then change one letter to make hat or cot.
- Write for real. A shopping list, a card for Nan, a label for a drawing. Praise the sounds they heard.
- Count real things. Forks on the table, steps to the door, pegs on the line. Go past 10, up to 20.
- Talk about the day. What did we do this morning? What happens after lunch? It builds both language and time words.
Next year brings the Year 1 Phonics Check in Victorian government schools. The everyday reading and sound games above are exactly the right preparation.
Questions parents ask
What should a child know by the end of Prep?
By the end of Prep, most children can blend sounds to read short words like sat and dog, read some very common words, form letters and spell most three-letter words, and count and order numbers to at least 20. Children vary, and the standards describe the end of the year.
Should my child be reading by the end of Prep?
Yes, at an early level. The curriculum expects children to read consonant-vowel-consonant words by sounding them out, to read some high-frequency words, and to read decodable books that use the sounds they’ve been taught.
How many words should a Prep child be able to spell?
There isn’t a number. The Victorian Curriculum says children “spell most consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words” by the end of Prep, which means short words like cat, pin and sun, written by listening for the sounds.
What maths should a Prep child know?
Numbers from zero to at least 20, counting and recognising small groups at a glance, making and splitting numbers up to 10, simple adding and taking away, repeating patterns, comparing length and weight, naming shapes and describing where things are.
Is Prep the same in every state?
The big ideas are very similar. Victoria uses the Victorian Curriculum 2.0, most other states use the Australian Curriculum, and NSW has its own syllabus, where the first year is called Kindergarten. Small details and names differ.
What does “at expected level” mean on a Prep report?
It means your child is in the range expected for Prep at that point in the year, measured against the curriculum. At the end of Prep, a score at Foundation level, or half a level below it, is usually rated at expected level.
Sources
- Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0: English, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA)
- Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0: Mathematics, VCAA
- Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0: Science, VCAA
- English: Foundation Year, Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)
- Mathematics: Foundation Year, ACARA
- English K–10 (2022): outcomes, NSW Education Standards Authority
- Mathematics K–10 (2022): outcomes, NSW Education Standards Authority
- Curriculum Programs Foundation to 10: policy, Victorian Department of Education
- Reporting teacher judgements of progress using a 5-point scale, Victorian Department of Education
