Supporting your K-2 child at NSW Schools
Supporting your K–2 child at NSW schools
A parent and carer guide for the K–2 school years
You have an important role in your child’s learning in the early years of schooling. This guide provides information about the curriculum reform, NSW syllabuses and how to support your child at primary school.
The role of NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA)
The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) is responsible for setting and monitoring quality teaching, learning, assessment and school standards across NSW public, Catholic and independent schools.
NESA also develops Kindergarten to Year 12 syllabuses for NSW schools. The NSW syllabuses incorporate the Australian Curriculum.
NSW syllabuses:
Identify the essential knowledge, skills and understandings that students are expected to develop at each stage of learning contains outcomes and content which are intended to be inclusive of the learning needs of all students, including:
- Aboriginal students
- students with disability
- gifted and talented students
- students learning English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D)
communicate and guide connections between the learning outcomes, content and teaching practice.
Stages of learning
NESA sets the learning requirements for each stage of primary school. The 4 stages are:
EARLY STAGE 1 – Kindergarten
STAGE 1 – Years 1 and 2
STAGE 2 – Years 3 and 4
STAGE 3 – Years 5 and 6.
Syllabuses for learning
NESA develops syllabuses for these learning areas:
English
Mathematics
Science and Technology
Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE) (History and Geography)
Creative Arts
Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE)
Languages – optional for schools.
Adjustments for children with disability
All students are entitled to access and progress through the NSW curriculum. NESA syllabuses have been developed to be inclusive of the learning needs of all students.
Schools are obligated to provide adjustments to teaching, learning and assessment activities for some students with disability. The Disability Standards for Education 2005 describe the legislative requirements of schools to support students with disability. Decisions about adjustments are made through a collaborative planning process that involves the student, parent and carer, teacher and other professionals. Further information can be found in the Diversity in learning section on the NESA website.
Access content points to support learning.
Access content points have been developed to support students with significant intellectual disability who are working towards Early Stage 1 outcomes. These students may communicate using verbal and/or nonverbal forms.
In Early Stage 1, access content points provide content that help students with significant intellectual disability to work towards each outcome. The access content points are not additional content, but act as a supplement to support students’ learning of the curriculum. Teachers can use the access content points on their own, or in conjunction with other syllabus content. If students are able to access outcomes in the syllabus they should not require the access content points.
NSW K–2 English and Mathematics syllabuses
The NSW school curriculum has undergone the first comprehensive reform in 30 years after an extensive curriculum review and consultation.
The curriculum review has been informed by consultation with teachers and education experts from around the state, as well as a detailed examination of quality international education systems. In 2018 and 2019, parents and carers took part in the review through consultation.
Reform recommendations include the priority of building strong foundations for future learning with new English and Mathematics syllabuses for Kindergarten to Year 2. The reformed English and Mathematics K–2 syllabuses highlight foundational literacy and numeracy skills to develop competence in:
oral language
reading
writing
mathematics.
In this guide you will find an outline of the outcomes your child will learn while engaging with the reformed English and Mathematics K–2 syllabuses during their Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 years. Included in the outline are some suggestions about what you can do as a parent or carer to support your child in these important areas of learning. Use these suggestions to speak, read and write with your child in the language you know best.
English K–2
The organisation of outcomes and content highlights the importance of strong foundations in the early years across oral language, reading and writing. It supports the development of early literacy knowledge and skills, while continuing to acknowledge the importance of learning about and enjoying literature.
All the outcomes for English K–2 fall under:
Understanding texts
Creating texts.
Figure 1: English K–2 outcomes and content overview
Mathematics K–2
Learning Mathematics in K–2 enables students to become confident, effective users and communicators of mathematics. They develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of mathematical concepts and processes that helps them interpret and solve problems. Students make connections within mathematics and connect mathematical concepts with the world around them. They learn to understand and appreciate how mathematics is a relevant part of their lives.
The reformed Mathematics K–2 syllabus organises the outcomes and their related content into 3 areas:
Number and algebra
Measurement and space
Statistics and probability
The important role of Working Mathematically is incorporated into all areas of mathematics.
Figure 2: Mathematics K–2 outcomes and content overview