Primary Matters

Primary Matters November 1996

From Board Bulletin, Vol 5 No. 9 November 1996

English K-6

The English K-6 Review Committee is currently working on its final report to the Board. This report, which will suggest solutions to the issues raised in the first report presented to the Board in August (Report Part A -- Findings from the Consultation), will provide the Board with the committee's proposals on how the revised syllabus should handle several key matters arising out of consultation with teachers. In developing solutions to issues such as the nature and number of outcomes, the scope and sequence of content, grammar and its terminology, and the design and layout of the document, the committee will be conducting several focus group meetings to gauge the views of teachers and principals on possible solutions to each of these matters. These meetings will take place in late October. In addition to these meetings, the committee will be conducting advisory workshops to address issues related to specific areas of content that were identified by teachers in the review. In these workshops, teachers and academics with expertise in Reading, in Talking and Listening, and in Grammar, will be brought together to examine and discuss possible approaches to the teaching of these areas in keeping with a functional approach to language. The committee plans to have the final report completed for presentation to the Board at its February 1997 meeting. A copy of the Executive Summary from Report Part A -- Findings from the Consultation was recently sent to schools.

Support Documents: Students with special education support needs

The Board recently endorsed two support documents for students with special education needs. One of these documents, Literacy Support Document for Students Experiencing Difficulties in Learning, addresses the needs of students who require additional support in literacy acquisition. This document will serve as a support document to the current English K-6 Syllabus up until the replacement syllabus is released in 1998. The other document, entitled Support Document: Communication, has been developed to help students with high support needs in communication. This document adapts an individualised educational program model in the context of the English Key Learning Area. Schools will receive copies of both these documents in Term 1, 1997. A support document for students with special education needs in Personal Development, Health and Physical Education is also being developed by the Board. This document uses a case study approach focusing on students with specific needs. These needs range from students with sensory impairments, intellectual disabilities, physical disabilities and learning difficulties to students who have multiple disabilities and students with associated health or medical needs as well as emotional or behavioural difficulties. The document provides an account of approaches employed by teachers to enable individual students to participate in teaching-learning activities and describes how access to the content and outcomes of the syllabus can be provided using the particular case studies as examples. This document will be trialled in selected government and non-government schools during Term 4, 1996 and Term 1, 1997.

Physical Activity

Work on the development of the Personal Development, Health and Physical Education K-6 support document Physical Activity for Health and Fitness K-6 is nearing completion. This document will provide teachers with a range of teaching activities that draw on the content from the draft Personal Development, Health and Physical Education K-6 Syllabus. In addition to building on activities in the Fitness and Lifestyle strand of the draft syllabus, the Physical Activity for Health and Fitness K-6 support document provides a range of activities to support physical activity in some of the other strands in the draft syllabus. The document also presents advice on how schools can address physical activity from a school community context by considering opportunities for physical activity for students outside class hours. This document is expected to be released for trialling in schools in early 1997.

If you would like further information regarding these items or K-6 curriculum matters in general, contact Margaret Malone, Inspector, Primary Education (ph (02) 9927 8199 or fax (02) 9954 9218).

Draft Outcomes for Mathematics K-6

The consultation on the draft outcomes for Mathematics K-6 will now take place early in 1997, rather than during this term, as previously expected.