Primary Matters

Considerable progress was made in reviewing the NSW Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus when the Board decided to suspend further work on this review in light of the development of a national curriculum in Science K-12.

Therefore the Board felt what had been learnt from the NSW developments would be helpful to assist in the consultation processes around the national curriculum in Science K-12. The Board has provided its draft Science and Technology materials to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) to support national curriculum developments.

To further support NSW teachers, four science units have been developed which address the current NSW syllabus outcomes but which are also clearly connected to the context of the national Science curriculum. These will be available shortly on the Board's website.

[Read more here]

The latest Board of Studies NSW Assessment Resource Centre (ARC) upload sent 102 new graded work samples for English and Mathematics online.

The award-winning ARC now holds more than 1800 real student work samples across all learning areas, graded to an agreed A-E scale by practising teachers.

This means teachers and parents can readily view the quality of work that is typically produced by, for example:

a student demonstrating a B grade level in Science at the end of Stage 4 (Year 8), or

a student demonstrating a C grade level in Mathematics by mid-Stage 3 (Year 5), or

a student demonstrating an A grade level in English at the end of Stage 1 (Year 2).

While the earlier development of the ARC concentrated on demonstrating student work for the end of each two-year stage of schooling, all of the most recent ARC additions are 'mid-stage' samples for English and Mathematics. This gives teachers and parents a clearer view of expected standards in Years 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9.

The ARC site includes full explanations of A-E grades, how to view a student's progress over time, and links to school-specific information about reporting achievement.

The ARC also holds the Board's standing invitation to teachers to contribute class activities and student samples to the project. In addition, teachers can comment directly to the Board on the grade allocations and make their own suggested grades. Every graded sample includes a 'grade commentary' written by the teachers who agreed on the grade for that piece of work.

Many parents have found the ARC a useful way to understand their child's progress. Some community language translations about the A-E grades are provided on the ARC.

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BOS 13/09

In the period February 2007-December 2008, the Board of Studies reviewed the current Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus. A draft syllabus has been under development in accordance with the endorsed Writing Brief. The original timetable included consultation on the draft syllabus during Term 2, 2009.

A podcast tour of Gallipoli, photographs of Australian nurses on Lemnos Island and a huge collection of Anzac teaching resources are available at www.anzacday.gov.au

The Board of Studies NSW developed this educational website in 2006. It features personal photos, sketches, transcripts, maps and other images of the Gallipoli campaign from the archives of the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney.

The rarely seen images are published with permission on the 'Anzac Day' website www.anzacday.gov.au and are an invaluable resource for all NSW students when they study Gallipoli and the Anzac legend in the NSW History syllabus.

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UPDATE: Hundreds of new subscribers have signed up for the Board's email service since the below article was published last week. Many others are now following the NewsAtBOS Twitter feed or reading updates on their own RSS feed. These subscribers won't miss out on new information on the Board's website - will you?

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The Board of Studies website is one of the largest and busiest education sites in the world. For anyone in the education community - teachers, principals, parents, students and others - this site contains essential reading.

So how do you keep track of what's new and what's important to you?

1. You can subscribe to the email notification service (see the box to the right of this article). When new items are published you will receive a message in your inbox the following morning containing links that you can follow if you're interested in the content. You will never get more than one email from us per day, sometimes less.

You can cut down your emails even more by only subscribing to Official Notice alerts (see the box at right). Official Notices are about important Board rules, procedures and syllabus changes. The last Board Bulletin for 2008 reminded schools that from 2009 Official Notices are only published online.

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and now...

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Board of Studies Liaison Officers (BOSLOs) are highly experienced teachers who are seconded by the Office of the Board of Studies to provide advice and assistance to schools and the community on matters relating to Board of Studies policies and programs. There are nine BOSLO offices located across the state. Three are situated in metropolitan Sydney and six are based in regional centres.

The Board of Studies website is one of the largest and busiest education sites in the world. For anyone in the education community - teachers, principals, parents, students and others - this site contains essential reading.

So how do you keep track of what's new and what's important to you?

1. You can subscribe to the email notification service (see the box to the right of this article). When new items are published you will receive a message in your inbox the following morning containing links that you can follow if you're interested in the content. You will never get more than one email from us per day, sometimes less.

You can cut down your emails even more by only subscribing to Official Notice alerts (see the box at right). Official Notices are about important Board rules, procedures and syllabus changes. The last Board Bulletin for 2008 reminded schools that from 2009 Official Notices are only published online.

2. You can subscribe to an RSS feed in your favourite News Reader (see the RSS icons to the right of this article). Read more about the Board's RSS feed.

and now...

3. Do you like your news in quick, short bites? Want to see BOS news as it happens? Want the choice of updates to your web-enabled mobile phone? Get your updates on Twitter by following NewsAtBOS

Position No: BOS/036

Salary: Total remuneration package valued up to $146,951 per annum includes salary ($119,872- $133,168), employer's contribution to superannuation and annual leave loading.

Location: Sydney

Job status: Temporary Full time

Responsibilities: Providing statewide leadership in curriculum development in the Primary learning area and in the wider educational context.

BOS 01/09

In light of the work being undertaken by the National Curriculum Board to develop a national curriculum in Science for K-12, the Board of Studies will consider the implications of proceeding with the revision of the NSW Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus at its meeting on 17 February 2009.

Contact

The Science and Technology K-6 Draft Writing Brief Consultation Report outlines the consultation that was undertaken and summarises key issues and actions arising from it. The Writing Brief has been amended to include specific advice to writers in relation to the key issues raised during consultation. The Board of Studies NSW endorsed the Science and Technology K-6 Writing Brief at its meeting on 16 September 2008. The Writing Brief provides the detailed blueprint for the development of the draft syllabus that will be distributed widely for comment in February 2009.

BOS 37/08 (Vol 17 No 3)

The Board wishes to advise that the Mathematics K–6 Support Document for Students with Special Education Needs has been published on the K–6 website.

The online document supports teachers in the planning, programming, assessment, implementation and evaluation of learning experiences that enable all students to demonstrate achievement in relation to the outcomes and content of the Mathematics K–6 Syllabus.

A printed introduction to the online document will be sent to all primary schools.

Effective: Immediately

Contact:
Susan Jones
Senior Curriculum Officer, Special Education
(02) 9367 8148
susan.jones@bos.nsw.edu.au

Teachers are invited to get involved in the Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus revision, with the Draft Writing Brief now available for consultation.

Teachers are encouraged to provide feedback by completing the Draft Writing Brief Survey. Completed surveys are due to the Board of Studies by 6 June 2008.

Teachers are encouraged to attend consultation meetings at locations across NSW. See the consultation schedule for the date and venue of your nearest consultation meeting.

Comments and suggestions from the meetings and survey will be considered and used to finalise the Writing Brief which will provide directions to writers of the draft syllabus.

For more information on the revision of the Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus contact Nicholas Perkins, Senior Curriculum Officer, Primary Education on (02)9367 8180 or nicholas.perkins@bos.nsw.edu.au.

Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus Draft Writing Brief

Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus Draft Writing Brief Survey

Teachers are invited to get involved in the K-6 Science and Technology syllabus revision, with consultation on the draft writing brief commencing in Term 2, 2008.

Board Bulletin (Vol 17 No 1)

On 11 December 2007, the Board of Studies approved the Broad Directions for revision of the K–6 Science and Technology syllabus.

This follows wide consultation with the education community, including surveys and a symposium held in August 2007.

John O’Brien, Director Curriculum, said, ‘The Broad Directions will now become the underlying principles for the final syllabus. One key direction will be to capture the wonder, curiosity and interest young students have for science and technology and develop that into a base for lifelong learning.

‘The consultation has shown that teachers are generally looking formore clarity in the syllabus and a clear continuumof learning in science and technology.’

‘These goals, as well as a user-friendly structure, are now included in the Broad Directions.’

Writers have begun developing these Broad Directions into a draft writing brief for the revised syllabus in Term1, 2008. Teachers will be invited to read and comment on the draft writing brief in Term2, and are encouraged to check the Board Bulletin and the Board’s website for details. (See Important Dates on page 11 in this issue.)

Board Bulletin (Vol 17 No 1)

Every primary, infants and central school principal recently received the Board’s new Parents’ Guide to the NSW Primary Syllabuses, launched by the Minister for Education and Training, John Della Bosca, on 5 February.

There has been an overwhelmingly positive response to the new booklet, which aims to give parents a straightforward explanation of the K–6 syllabuses, with examples of what their children might learn in each stage.

The Guide also explains important educational terms like ‘key learning area’ and ‘integrated units’, as well as giving suggested hours for each subject area, links to the Board’s Assessment Resource Centre and other useful information.

Mr Della Bosca said the Parents’ Guide built on the Board’s Foundation Statements to help parents better understand their child’s progress from Kindergarten to Year 6.