Primary Matters

Primary Matters November 2004

extracted from Board Bulletin, volume 13, number 6

Contents

Primary school teachers attending statewide consultation meetings

The Board of Studies has been conducting a series of statewide meetings for primary school teachers as part of a consultation process around its response to teachers’ requests for greater clarification and support in relation to the K–6 curriculum.

In November 2003, the NSW Government accepted the recommendations of the report Time to Teach: Time to Learn by Professor Ken Eltis – a curriculum expert from The University of Sydney – who evaluated the impact of syllabus outcomes on teaching and learning and the assessment and reporting of student achievement in primary school. The findings of the report are consistent with the interim findings of the Board’s Primary Curriculum Project, conducted during 2002 and 2003, that teachers in all sectors were seeking clarification of the scope of the K–6 curriculum, the role of outcomes and indicators, appropriate curriculum integration, and assessment and reporting.

In response to these recommendations, the Board of Studies and Department of Education and Training have been working closely together with teachers, principals and key groups to provide enhanced guidance and support to primary schools.

The Board of Studies, which develops the K–12 curriculum, has been given responsibility for streamlining the primary curriculum to free-up time for primary teachers to better focus on the achievement of deeper learning for students in all areas of the curriculum. The Department of Education and Training has been given responsibility for developing advice on assessment practices in government primary schools and revised reporting templates for parents.

In relation to the Board’s K–6 curriculum, Professor Eltis found that primary school teachers were very positive about the importance of using learning outcomes as a basis for teaching. However, teachers felt that the curriculum had become overspecified with too many outcomes and they are unclear whether all outcomes are of equal importance or even mandatory. The report recommended that a set of mandatory syllabus outcomes be identified to provide greater certainty, consistency and assurance for teachers of the core knowledge, skills and understanding most students will develop in studying the primary curriculum.

To this end, the Board has worked very closely with primary school teachers, principals and school authorities to identify the most appropriate set of mandatory outcomes to make the primary curriculum more consistent and manageable and to give teachers greater assurance about the core knowledge and skills that students must develop. As part of this process, the Board brought together 33 highly experienced practising primary school teachers and executives from government and non-government schools to advise on the selection of the mandatory outcomes.

Board officers also met with curriculum advisers, consultants, key learning area managers and curriculum officers to check the draft set of mandatory outcomes to ensure their continuity, integrity and coherence, ahead of the consultation process currently under way.

A document titled Consultation Paper: Defining Mandatory Outcomes in the K–6 Curriculum was distributed to all primary schools and placed on the Board’s website in the first week of Term 4.

This document contains:

The consultation meetings are designed to provide teachers with an opportunity to explore the document and to give senior Board officers direct advice and feedback on the proposals.

In relation to mandatory outcomes, it is acknowledged that primary school teachers already give priority to those learning outcomes central to their students’ future learning and development, and they supplement these ‘priority’ outcomes with a range of other outcomes from across the curriculum as the basis for their teaching.

The Board’s identified set of mandatory outcomes is intended to give all primary school teachers the certainty and reassurance they have been seeking as to which outcomes should form the central basis for their teaching. The set of mandatory outcomes is not intended to restrict or reduce the valuable teaching and learning that is currently taking place in primary schools – teachers will continue to complement the key ‘mandatory’ outcomes with a broad selection of other outcomes to support and extend student learning and development.

In line with Professor Eltis’s recommendations, literacy and numeracy outcomes have been given primacy. Consequently, all current English and Mathematics outcomes will be mandatory as well as a range of key outcomes from each of the Science and Technology, Human Society and its Environment, Personal Development, Health and Physical Education and Creative Arts Key Learning Areas.

The sample timetables and time allocations are intended to illustrate one way in which primary teachers can program for ‘mandatory’ as well as other associated outcomes in 80% of the time available in the school week – leaving schools the valuable time they need to devote to critical extracurricular activities such as sports, religious instruction, values education and social/ ceremonial activities.

All primary teachers across the state are encouraged to become involved in the consultation process to help ensure that the final set of mandatory outcomes achieves the purpose of providing greater flexibility and freeing-up time for primary teachers to enable them to devote more time to planning and devising innovative learning experiences for their students.

For more information about the Board’s K–6 curriculum adjustment process please contact Margaret Malone, Inspector, Primary Education on 9367 8199 or Vilma Fyfe on 9367 8341.