New English and Mathematics syllabuses for the State’s youngest students were
released today, marking a major milestone in the NSW Government’s Curriculum
Reform agenda.
This is a comprehensive review that has come in more than 30 years, with year 1
and year 2 to be the first to benefit from the changes.
Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke said the Liberals & Nationals Government
are making the changes to the education space that will benefit our students now
and for years to come.
“One of the most important things the NSW Government can deliver to its
constituents is to provide a quality education,” Ms Cooke said.
“This new reform will allow our young learners to develop a solid foundation to grow.”
“This review will see a strong focus on the important foundations of literacy and
numeracy skills.”
Changes in the new K to 2 English and Mathematics syllabuses include:
Simple, concise language which identifies key knowledge and skills.
Easily accessed and navigated on a new Digital Curriculum platform.
Clear expectations on student reading progression.
Renewed focus on handwriting.
New supports for students with significant intellectual disability.
Emphasis on ‘reasoning’ in mathematics.
Advanced counting strategies.
Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning Sarah Mitchell said it is first time
the curriculum is completely online and comes with explicit teaching examples.
“The new online curriculum removes any ambiguity for teachers, and comes with
explicit teaching advice on an online platform. This will be particularly helpful for earlycareer teachers,” Ms Mitchell said.
“This reform is exactly what we have been needing to benefit out youngest of learners and I am so excited that this will come into teaching for 2022.”
The reformed curriculum will be delivered to schools on a new Digital Curriculum
platform, a $13.6 million NSW Government investment.
The new syllabuses are available at curriculum.nsw.edu.au. Implementation begins
next year, with all NSW schools teaching the syllabuses from 2023. The NSW
Government continues its work to deliver the new K – 12 NSW Curriculum by 2024.
