UNDERSTANDING

Jason Beale, MEd (TESOL)

© 2012

THE NSW CURRICULUM

CONTENTS• The NSW Curriculum

• Unpacking a syllabus

• Working groups

• Reporting

THE NSW CURRICULUM

Kindergarten to Year 6 focuses on 6 Key Learning Areas (KLAs):

1) English2) Mathematics3) Human society and its environment4) Personal development, health and physical education5) Creative arts6) Science and technology

Year 7 to Year 10 focuses on 8 Key Learning Areas (KLAs)

1) English 2) Mathematics 3) Human society and its environment 4) Personal development, health & physical education 5) Creative arts 6) Science 7) Technology 8) Languages

Mandatory Requirements

Years K-6

• Approx 50% of time allocated for English and Mathematics

• 40% of time for the other KLAs and sport

• as part of the 40% allocation, 2 hours per week for planned

physical activity, including in Years 3 – 6 a minimum of 1

hour per week for sport

Mandatory RequirementsYears 7-10

• 500 hours per subject for English, Mathematics and Science across Years 7–10

• 400 hours for HSIE: In Years 7-8, 100 hours for Geography and 100 hours for History

and, in Years 9-10, 100 hours for Australian History and 100 hours for Australian

Geography

• 200 hours for Technology (mandatory) across Years 7-8

• 300 hours for PDHPE across Years 7–10, in each of the years

• 100 hours of one language in a continuous one-year period

• 100 hours for Music and 100 hours of Visual Arts

• 400 hours for electives (additional studies)

• 80–120 minutes per week for sport in each of the years

Other curriculum policy

There are requirements covering:

• Curriculum planning and programming

• Assessing students

• Reporting to parents

as well as development of:

• Homework policy

Other curriculum policy

There is also a set of core values for all classrooms

and school communities:

• representing the aspirations and beliefs of the

Australian community

• including its concern for equity, excellence and the

promotion of a caring, civil and just society

• common to a range of secular and religious world-views

and found in most cultures

UNPACKING A SYLLABUS

Elements of a Syllabus

• Principles

• Statements

• Stages

• Outcomes

• Content

• Assessment

Principles

At the beginning of every syllabus there are the following:

• Rationale

• Aim

• Objectives

It is important that the school and teachers of the syllabus

share a common understanding of these guiding principles.

Statements

In every syllabus there are Foundation Statement s

(or Stage Statements) relating to each stage of the course

• Each statement gives a summary of knowledge, skills and

understanding that students need to develop at that stage

• Curriculum planning addresses the Foundation Statements

and how they relate to each other across the stages

Stages

A stage is a period of learning typically of 2 years duration:

Early Stage 1 refers to KindergartenStage 1 Years 1 and 2Stage 2 Years 3 and 4Stage 3 Years 5 and 6Stage 4 Years 7 and 8Stage 5 Years 9 and 10

Although most students will achieve the outcomes of each stage in the years listed above, there are some students who will be working towards outcomes at an early or later stage.

Outcomes

Syllabus outcomes are statements of the knowledge, skills and understandings expected to be gained by most students

• Each individual outcome has its own code, for example in the English K-6 syllabus WS3.10 refers to...

Writing strand, Stage 3, Outcome 10Uses knowledge of sentence structure, grammar and punctuation to edit own writing.

• Curriculum programming addresses these outcomes and related course content

Content

Content for each outcome can be found in the form of:

• Indicators (K-6),

• Students learn about.. and Students learn to.. (7-10)

• Content (or Subject Matter) Overview

• Scope and Continuum (or Sequence)

• Stage 5 has additional Course Performance Descriptors

Indicators are statements of the behaviour that students might display as

they work towards the outcomes.

Indicators help teachers monitor student progress and make judgements

about student achievement.

Assessment

• Teaching programs incorporate assessment as an integral component.

• Teachers plan assessment strategies when developing teaching programs, and also make additional assessment judgments in the course of teaching and learning.

• Teachers collect and record assessment information to:

(i) guide ongoing teaching and learning

(ii) monitor and evaluate student progress

(iii) report achievement to parents

and relevant authorities

Working Groups

Working Group Proposal

To achieve the outcomes of each syllabus, teachers and schools

are required to develop appropriate teaching programs.

• Members of a working group can plan the school’s overall approach

to each syllabus, sharing information and ideas.

• Each group can conduct an assessment of student needs, available

resources, expectations and curriculum requirements.

• Under the guidance of a coordinator, individual members can

develop detailed teaching programs, and receive feedback.

Each working group and group coordinator would be responsible for

planning and programming one Key Learning Area (KLA) from K to 10.

1. Curriculum Planning

Review the syllabus and ensure that outcomes are chosen to

systematically cover all stages. Consult with management and

school community as necessary.

2. Designing Teaching Programs

Group members each design a program for one stage of the KLA,

including three term plans and relevant units of work.

Each teacher can implement, monitor and evaluate.

Writing Units of Work

Teaching programs will generally be composed of a range of

units of work.

A unit of work may be of any length, lasting from a few lessons through to a whole term.

In order to develop units of work, teachers should address the following two questions.

1. What programming approach should I use?

2. What elements should be included in the unit?

1. What programming approach should I use?

Selecting a programming approach involves deciding between a single strand model, a combined strand model or a combination of models.

• The single strand model means that teachers will develop units of work that draw only on subject matter and outcomes from one strand.

• The combined strand model is sometimes termed the ‘thematic approach’ because it draws two or more strands together to focus on a particular issue.

2. What elements should be included in the unit?

Having chosen an approach for programming, it is necessary to structure a format for each unit.

Ideally, the unit will include the following details:

• title of unit

• length of unit

• strand/s and outcome/s

• content

• teaching strategies

• learning activities

• resources and equipment

• assessment procedure

Reporting

Components of written reports

Schools provide parents with written reports on their child’s learning,

meeting the Policy Standards:

(i) use plain language

(ii) provide information on a student’s learning in each of the key learning

areas (KLAs) or subjects

(iii) compare the student’s achievement in each KLA or subject against

syllabus standards*

* Includes syllabus objectives, stage or foundation statements,

syllabus outcomes and content or indicators.

Components of written reports (cont.)

(iv) include teacher comments for each KLA or subject; comments identify

areas of student strength and for further development

(v) have information about the student’s attendance at school

(vi) provide information about student achievement in relation to school

programs that extend or are additional to syllabus requirements

(vii) provide information about the student’s social development and

commitment to learning.

Years K – 6

Schools report on the six key learning areas:

(1) English, (2) Mathematics,

(3) Science and Technology,

(4) Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE),

(5) Personal Development, Health and Physical

Education (PDHPE) and (6) Creative Arts.

In English and Mathematics, reports show achievement

information for each broad syllabus strand.

Years 7 – 10

Schools report on subjects studied in

the eight key learning areas:

(1) English, (2) Mathematics,

(3) Science, (4) Technology,

(5) Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE),

(6) Personal Development, Health and Physical

Education, (7) Creative Arts and (8) Languages.

In all KLAs, reports show information

for components of each subject.

Kindergarten

Reports describe how a child’s achievement compares with

syllabus standards through teacher comments

Years 1 – 10

Schools use a five point achievement scale:

A = outstanding B = high

C = sound D = basic E = limited

Years 11 – 12

Schools use a numerical score (1-100)

or use A-E achievement grades

Outstanding A

The student has an extensive

knowledge and understanding of the

content and can readily apply this

knowledge. In addition, the student has

achieved a very high level of

competence in the processes and skills

and can apply these skills to new

situations.

High B

The student has a thorough knowledge

and understanding of the content and a

high level of competence in the

processes and skills. In addition, the

student is able to apply this knowledge

and these skills to most situations.

Sound C

The student has a sound knowledge and

understanding of the main areas of content

and has achieved an adequate level of

competence in the processes and skills.

Basic D

The student has a basic knowledge and

understanding of the content and has

achieved a basic level of competence in the

processes and skills.

Limited E

The student has an elementary knowledge

and understanding in few areas of the

content and has

achieved very limited competence in some of

the processes and skills.

English as a second language (ESL) students

Schools use the following grades for ESL students

to report achievement in English –

ESL 6, ESL 5, ESL 4, ESL 3, ESL 2, ESL 1

The student’s report indicates that it shows achievement in

learning English judged in relation to the ESL Scales.

Achievement in the KLAs or subjects (other than English)

are reported using the five point achievement scale.

ESL 6 The student can communicate with developing accuracy and complexity of

language in formal and informal situations. With assistance, the student can

analyse complex texts and can improve their writing through planning and

revision.

ESL 5 The student can communicate with varying fluency and accuracy, ideas

about a range of topics. With assistance, the student can analyse unfamiliar

texts and write and edit using appropriate language and structure.

ESL 4 The student can communicate ideas about familiar topics using suitable

language. With assistance, the student can understand the main ideas and

details in texts and plan and write about a variety of familiar topics.

ESL 3 The student can take part in simple conversations in social and learning

situations. With assistance, the student can read and learn from simple texts

and can write stories and factual texts.

ESL 2 The student can communicate simple messages in familiar situations.

With assistance, the student can read and write simple texts about personal

experiences, events and ideas.

ESL 1 The student is beginning to learn English. Some students can

communicate using single words. Other students can communicate using

simple words and phrases and can read and write simple sentences.

Reporting to parents

In response to requests from parents, schools provide

information on how their child’s achievement compares

with the student’s peer group.

This information takes the form of the number of student

peers receiving each grade or achievement level.

(This does not apply to ESL students or peer groups of

less than 5 students)

Reporting to parents

Reports to parents should include the following statement:

You are encouraged to ask the school to provide you with

written information that clearly shows your child’s

achievement compared to his or her peer group at school.

This information will show you the number of children in the

group in each of the achievement levels.

Information taken from NSW Board of Studies syllabuses and NSW Department of Education policy documents,

especially

“Curriculum planning and programming, assessing and reporting to parents K-12”https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/curriculum/schools/curric_plan/PD20050290.shtml

and

“Curriculum Policy Standards (pdf)”https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/curriculum/schools/curric_plan/implementation_2_PD20050290.shtml

PowerPoint slides by Jason Beale, October 2012

QUESTION TIME