This week, the NSW Government unveiled a revamped primary school curriculum, launching the last four syllabuses of the new K-6 curriculum which focuses on essential knowledge, with more detailed and specific content.
The Creative Arts, Human Society and its Environment (HSIE), Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE), and Science and Technology syllabuses, were released to teachers on 24 July, with updated Maths and English syllabuses already in classrooms from this year.
“This is a significant milestone in NSW Curriculum Reform that will reshape education in NSW for decades to come,” NSW Deputy Premier and Education Minister, Prue Car, said.
“For the first time, primary school teachers have a set of syllabuses that make sense together and will ensure students have a strong foundation upon which to build their knowledge.”
With all NSW primary school syllabuses developed at the same time for the first time in 50 years, the new curriculum also improves connections across different subject areas so children can better apply their new knowledge and skills.
The new integrated approach to teaching and learning will ensure students learn new concepts, information and skills in the right order and have more opportunities to apply it. For example, when a student begins learning about graphs in mathematics, they will then start using graphs in geography and science.
Under the Coalition government, teachers were only given one year to plan and prepare for thee new syllabuses, but feedback from teachers and advisory groups found that the curriculum reform schedule was unworkable.
The NSW Government revised the Curriculum Reform timeline, giving two years to familiarise themselves with the updated syllabus before it becomes mandatory in all NSW schools on day one, term one 2027. However, schools have the option of implementing the revised curriculum ahead of this deadline if they choose.
“Teachers will have clarity on exactly what they need to teach, based on evidence – taking away the guesswork and streamlining workload,” Car said, thanking the teachers of NSW who were part of the syllabus writing process and who contributed their thoughts and expertise to consultation.
“The result is a NSW Primary School Curriculum that is evidence-based, supports teachers and will set students up for success.”
NSW Education Standards Authority CEO Paul Martin called the new syllabuses are “rigorous” and “world-class”.
“Teachers will them find exciting,” Martin said. “They are sequenced, coherent, knowledge-rich, and infer a more explicit teaching practice. NSW teachers work with syllabuses every day, they deserve to be given the respect of clarity. I am pleased to be handing over syllabuses that do that.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Catholic Schools NSW welcomed the new syllabuses, calling them “a great improvement”.
“After too much emphasis on teaching practices that were not evidence-based and rigorous, this new K-6 curriculum sets NSW on the right track,” Dallas McInerney, CEO of Catholic Schools NSW said.
“It is a comprehensive, knowledge-rich curriculum that incorporates more explicit teaching practice. The curriculum also responds to current challenges, such as compulsory Civics and Citizenship content and understanding the healthy use of digital devices in the PDHPE syllabus.”
McInerney congratulated the NSW Government and the NSW Education Standards Authority for what he called “a significant achievement.”
“Both have been responsive and receptive throughout the consultation process, and Catholic Schools NSW is pleased to have had the opportunity to inform a curriculum that sets the benchmark for other states and territories to follow,” he said.
“We look forward to the rollout of the new and improved curriculum.”