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Primary Matters March 1998

Primary Matters – March 1998

From Board Bulletin, March 1998

Update on English K-6

An Executive Summary of the English K-6 Revision Consultation Report will soon be distributed to schools. A copy of the full report can be found here on the Board's website: http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/k6/k6.html

HSIE K-6

Margaret Simpson, former principal of Sylvania Heights Public School, has received a Director-General's Award for her contribution to public education. Margaret's outstanding contribution to the Human Society and Its Environment key learning area is well known to primary educators. The members of the Board's HSIE K-6 Syllabus Advisory Committee, who nominated her for the award, were delighted to hear the news. The Board congratulates Margaret on her achievement and wishes her well in her retirement.

Update on HSIE K-6

This year the Board Bulletin will include a new section -- ‘Update on HSIE K-6'. This section will provide information about the progress of the syllabus and support documents prior to the scheduled release in Term 4. You can find the first ‘Update on HSIE K-6' on page 1 of this edition.

Science and Technology K-6

Current initiatives being undertaken in the area of Science and Technology K-6 include a work sample project to be produced on CD-ROM, a series of website articles and the development of additional teaching kits. A work sample project is currently under way with teachers from 14 primary schools across the state. The teachers involved in this project are implementing Science and Technology units of work with their students and collecting samples of students' work, including written texts, plans, models, photographs and video and audio recordings. A new section of K-6 News on the Board's website is also being developed. It will be entitled ‘Science and Technology in Action -- Reports from the Classroom'. This will begin with a three-part article, ‘Engaging Students in the Design Process', which will follow a unit of work undertaken by a teacher with her Years 5-6 students. Some of the issues discussed will be:

what to consider when designing;
the use of learning logs; and
resource management.

A set of teaching kits (Stages 1, 2 and 3) is currently being developed about using and understanding multimedia.

Personal Development, Health and Physical Education Teaching Kits

Watch Your Step (Stage 1), Safety First (Stage 2) and On the Scene (Stage 3) are three new books in the Board's PDHPE K-6 Teaching Kit series. Each book relates to the Safe Living strand in the Draft PDHPE K-6 Syllabus and Support Document (1992).

Each book includes:

background teacher information, safetyconsiderations and suggested teaching strategies, including handling sensitive issues;
a bank of learning experiences and activities suitable for students achieving at a range of levels across each stage, including pre-activity preparation, activity notes and extension ideas;
student activity sheets and overhead/blackline masters; and
suggested assessment strategies and recommended resources.

Six additional books are to be released in this series.

For more information about these projects and primary matters in general, contact Margaret Malone, Inspector, Primary Education on (02) 9367 8199.